Iowa State football: ESPN interviews RB coach Louis Ayeni

Iowa State running backs coach Louis Ayeni talks about his new gig and what his thoughts are with the running game in an interview with ESPN.

Brandon Chatmon of ESPN caught up with one of the Cyclones’ newest position coach to ask him about how things were going, what his plans are with the stable of running backs, what his feelings are with the depth, and why he’s even coaching to begin with.

Here are the highlights:

• Paul Rhoads talked him into the job by explaining about the family culture and how great of a fanbase Iowa State has.
• His first spring with the program went well considering there were a lot of new faces on the coaching staff. He wasn’t the only one that had to work through the beginner’s course with Rhoads.
• Consistency and establishing roles are the two main goals that Ayeni has for the running back squad.
• His goal in learning about the football team was watching what they accomplished instead of reviewing the entire body of work. He took the good stuff and explained to each player how they could be even better with their talent.
• Ayeni believes that Aaron Wimberly has some of the best talent in the country and DeVondrick Nealy has a great skills set. Rob Standard is a bigger back, hinting that he could be a used in a different way (like that lockdown short-yardage or goal line back that every team loves to have).
• While Ayeni’s dream was to play football, he found out that he was pretty good at coaching and went back to his alma mater, Northwestern, to pursue it.
• He’s played at both safety and running back while playing football, giving him an understanding of where his players will be at from both sides of the ball.
• At the end of the interview, Ayeni said that “loyalty is my biggest asset.” Loyalty is what Iowa State and being a Cyclone is all about.