When ISU football coach Matt Campbell first landed in Ames on Nov. 29, he had already made a plan — or at least the beginnings of one.

One of his first orders of business: Meeting with every person in the ISU football organization, even the 100-plus players on the team. He accomplished that in four days. 

But something stuck out to him in his one-on-one meetings with players: The team’s attitude through all of the change.  

“I left them thoroughly impressed with the character and the type of kid that we have,” Campbell said. “At the early stage of it, I think there [are] really good kids and kids that I’ve been impressed with in terms of character and person.”

Campbell added that it’s still early in the process, but the team has left an impression on him already, especially some of the leaders on the offensive and defensive side of the ball.

No coaching change is easy for a variety of reasons: A new staff, new plays and new attitudes. That is particularly true in Iowa State’s case after firing former coach Paul Rhoads last month, who had headed the program for seven seasons.

But some players have made it easier for the coaching staff to convince the locker room of its new message. 

“There’s been a multitude of guys that have stood up,” Campbell said. “Joel [Lanning] has been one of them on the offensive side of the ball and defensively [it’s been] Levi Peters and Brian Peavy. Guys who have really stood out and said, ‘You know what, we’ve got a really bright future. We’ve got to get this rolling and here’s what we’re going to do.’”

But it’s only two weeks and a few days into Campbell’s tenure as the ISU head coach. The hard part, Campbell said, is when the calendar flips to February, March and April and football gets underway. 

That’s when adversity arises. 

“It’s easy to lead right now because things haven’t changed,” Campbell said. “That’s when it’s going to be really fun to watch who steps up and comes to the forefront. We have really good guys who step up and that’s what I’ve been most impressed with is the character of our kids so far.”

In the past few years, the football team has struggled to effectively deal with problems when adversity came to the forefront. It didn’t help that the team constantly faced it, only winning eight games in the past three seasons. 

Campbell has a little different outlook on adversity. He recognizes that it is coming no matter what. There is no way to avoid it in life or especially in college football.

It all comes down to the process that he implements on a day-to-day basis, particularly being consistent.

“If you don’t have a process and you don’t have [consistency], it looks like this: You ride the highs and lows of football,” Campbell said. “You’re high with the wins and your low with the losses, and you can never get yourself a sense of consistency. I think that’s something that is important from my standpoint is consistency having a process.”

Consistency will be crucial if the team wants to get to its ultimate goal of playing in a bowl game each year. Last week, ISU defensive lineman Demond Tucker said Campbell promised the seniors a bowl game in 2016. 

Since it is still early, Campbell said he is unsure if the team will be in a bowl game next season. 

“Do I think there are some really good pieces? Yes,” Campbell said. “Am I guaranteeing you right now that I think we are a bowl team? I don’t know that.”

Campbell did add that his goal for years to come is to make a bowl game in each season and eventually fight for a championship. 

“My goal is year in and year out to be a bowl team and year in and year out has a chance for a championship,” Campbell said. “Ultimately, that’s your end goal, and that’s where you want to get this program. Are we there yet? Boy, I don’t know. And I think that’s one of the things that I think that will really unfold and really show its face.”