AMES — As the spring season starts up for the Iowa State football team, defensive coordinator Jon Heacock begins the search for consistency and his next difference-making defensive back.
With the loss of All-Big 12 cornerback T.J. Tampa, Heacock plans to utilize the next several months to find the NFL prospect’s replacement. During his press conference Tuesday, Heacock highlighted redshirt senior Darien Porter and redshirt sophomore Jontez Williams as possible candidates.
“You feel like you’ve got some numbers, finding out exactly who those guys are, that is the challenge of spring ball,” Heacock said.
Porter, who primarily played special teams during his first three seasons with the Cyclones, has continued to earn more time on the field the past two seasons. The Iowa native broke up three passes last season, showing off the potential of his 6-foot-4 frame.
While he has not been trusted with a big role yet at Iowa State, Porter’s veteran presence is valued by Heacock and his teammates, who believe in him to make a jump this upcoming season.
“I think [Porter’s] ceiling is unlimited,” Heacock said. “I think he’s earned our confidence, I think we all believe in him.”
“[Porter] is a freak athlete,” safety Beau Freyler said. “He’s just constantly been working on his craft this offseason so the sky is the limit for him.”
Freyler joins veteran safeties Jeremiah Cooper and Malik Verdon who will all share respective roles in strengthening the defensive back room during spring ball.
The trio of Freyler, Cooper and Verdon each saw their respective success last season. While both Cooper and Verdon missed time during the 2023 season, they are at full strength going into spring ball.
“I’m just excited to play with [Verdon and Cooper] again,” Freyler said. “The sky is the limit for us, we just got to come in every day with the mentality to get better, continue to grow and be the best version of ourselves.”
Other than finding someone to fill the snaps that Tampa will leave behind, Heacock is looking for consistency on his side of the ball. While the Cyclones finished as one of the top defenses in the Big 12, tackling issues and blown coverages plagued the team throughout the season.
“I think we played really well at times, I think we played very average at times and I think at times we didn’t play very well on defense,” Heacock said.
Heacock has his players locked in heading into the spring season. Outside of the initial excitement to play football again, guys like Freyler are looking forward to getting better and rounding out the struggles they had last season.
When head coach Matt Campbell and his team got back together in January following the loss in the Liberty Bowl, one of the first things he noticed was the energy everyone had in the building.
“It is probably one of the things I haven’t felt in a long time,” Campbell said. “I think there is some confidence in what we can do, I think belief in what we can be because there is videotape evidence of that.”
After following up a 4-8 season in 2022 with a 7-6 season in 2023, concluding in the Cyclones’ sixth appearance in a bowl game under Campbell, the team is hungry for more. As Iowa State starts to prepare for the 2024 season, leaders of the team look to build off last season’s success and continue to change the narrative.
“I feel like we are setting the expectations even higher this next year,” Freyler said. “That entails a different mindset. That is what we’ve been preaching this offseason is changing our mindset, going from underdog to top dog.”
