Iowa State head coach Matt Campbell put on a press conference at Big 12 Media Days in Frisco, Texas, that was brimming with both confidence in the direction of his program and acknowledgment that the Cyclones still have a lot of work to do.

Campbell was asked about a number of subjects, from the boon the program received by beating Oklahoma on the road last season to the potential “ceiling” Iowa State has.

Campbell was effusive in his praise of redshirt senior quarterback Kyle Kempt when asked about the boost Iowa State got from the now-sixth-year senior in the 2017 season.

“What young man, especially at the quarterback position, is going to wait that long [four years] till he actually gets an opportunity to prove himself?” Campbell said. “I think that says everything that we need to know about who Kyle is as a person.”

Campbell also gave his thoughts on the new redshirting rule that will go into affect in the 2018 season. 

Said Campbell: “[Our] core philosophy won’t change. I’ve always told young men that we’ve recruited, ‘I’d rather play you too late than too early.’ We’ve put a lot of thought into that, how we’ll continue to build our program and how we’ll continue to develop those young guys early in their career.”

He explained that the new rule could help a team like Iowa State, ending his response by saying that, “It’s something that would have certainly helped us a year ago and it could be a deciding factor for us moving forward.”

There was one lighter question, as well. Asked about the potential to mix and match the new uniforms that the Cyclones unveiled last week, Campbell said that the new set was still a “hot topic in Ames.”

Campbell said that the school’s new look was ‘sleek’ and added that players would have input on what uniform combination would be worn for each game. 

The full press conference can be seen on the Big 12 Conference’s YouTube page.