AMES, Iowa (AP) After losing its offensive coordinator to the NFL, Iowa State is taking a wait-and-see approach to finding a replacement.
The Cyclones shuffled their offensive coaching staff Friday, moving three assistants into new positions to compensate for coordinator Tom Manning’s jump to the Indianapolis Colts.
Graduate assistant Jeff Myers will take over as the offensive line coach. Passing game coordinator Jim Hofner will be a senior offensive analyst and an assistant to head coach Matt Campbell. Joel Gordon, an offensive analyst during Campbell’s first two seasons, is now the quarterbacks coach.
Even with all those moves, Iowa State will head into spring workouts without an official coordinator.
Instead, the Cyclones will take a collective approach to the unit – with a ton of help from Campbell, who was an offensive coordinator at Toledo before becoming a head coach.
But Campbell also didn’t rule out naming someone as his coordinator at some point before the season starts on Sept. 1 against South Dakota State.
”We’ve got some really sharp young guys in that office,” Campbell said. ”Once we come out of spring (workouts) we’ll have a better idea of exactly (if) that term will be used somehow, some way.”
The Colts announced late last month that Manning, who was also Iowa State’s line coach, will work with their tight ends under new coach Frank Reich.
Iowa State averaged 29.2 points per game last season under Manning, the third-highest total in school history. The Cyclones will bring back quarterback Kyle Kempt, star running back David Montgomery and many of its top wide receivers in 2018 after finishing 8-5 and beating Memphis in the Liberty Bowl.
Campbell has long been a big fan of continuity, which he believes he maintained by promoting from within.
”Everyone going in the right direction is what has allowed us to have really great success. Everybody that touches our organization understands the expectations, understands where we’re going,” Campbell said. ”Here are three guys who have been integral to our success.”
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