AMES – As the Cyclones continue to move toward the upcoming season, the offensive and defensive lines are being built on leadership, development and competition.
When building towards the season, it’s always important that the players who have experience in the program set the tone and that’s exactly what’s happening in Iowa State’s offensive and defensive line rooms.
“I’ve always believed that the o-line sets the tone for the game and that’s my challenge to them,” offensive line coach Ryan Clanton said.
In particular, senior interior defensive lineman Domonique Orange has taken on more of a leadership role as he enters his senior season after the departure of last season’s defensive line captain J.R. Singleton.
“[Orange] has grown as a leader,” redshirt junior defensive lineman Ikenna Ezeogu said. “He’s more vocal, talks to the guys at the end of practice, makes sure everyone’s doing what they have to do, staying on track. I think he’s grown immensely from his freshman year to now.”
“[Orange] is being a great leader, and that’s not Dom, but he is working at being a great leader right now, which I’m proud of him for doing that,” defensive line coach Eli Rasheed said.
Having leaders like Orange and others in the locker room is important as Rasheed has emphasized finding depth in the trenches. The younger players in those rooms are getting a chance to learn and grow under the veterans, which will be valuable not just in the upcoming season, but for seasons to come.
“It’s going to take all 15 [spring practices] and the summer and a little bit of fall camp before we know what we really have,” Rasheed said. “Hopefully we can get three-deep of guys who can rotate, that’s going to be a challenge.”
With Clanton entering his third season as Iowa State’s offensive line coach, continuing to learn and grow has been a focus for his group as well.
“You still gotta understand football,” redshirt senior offensive lineman Tyler Miller said. “He always tries to bring something different, something new to the room every year to help guys learn. Everyone’s continuing to grow.”
Competition has also been on the forefront of spring practices, as players are not only preparing for their opponents in the upcoming season, but competing against each other for playing time.
Clanton emphasized this is the mindset the players need to have in order to get the best out of each other.
“You should be really tight-nit when you’re in the o-line room and then when you go to the field your eyes roll back and you see red, and those guys are like that,” Clanton said. “Those guys are like that in individual drills, they’re like that in team periods, it’s really what you want.”
This competition isn’t contained within the position room. In fact, the real competition might be when the offensive and defensive lines meet on the field and give each other everything they can handle.
“Credit to our team and our defense,” Clanton said. “If you’re slow, you’re gonna get lit up pretty hard.”
“With the defensive line, a young group, we have a really veteran offensive line that’s really helping us out in the next 15 practices, and we’re gonna need all 15 of them,” Rasheed said.
While this level of competition is taking place five months before any real snap is played, it’s what is laying the foundation for what Iowa State will look like in the 2025 season.
