Jon Heacock expecting tremendous strides from Cyclones’ defense
Iowa State Defensive Coordinator Jon Heacock walks along the sideline against Texas Saturday November 18, 2023 at Jack Trice Stadium. (Lynn Harrington/stayaliveinpower5)
AMES, Iowa — He’s approaching his 10th season of orchestrating Iowa state’s defense, and still learning on the job as the game of College Football constantly evolves.
Jon Heacock’s longevity in the Big 12 speaks volumes, and he knows the league’s style of play like the back of his hand. Understanding the speed, physicality and coaching it takes to succeed in the conference goes a long way. Heacock is no stranger to adjusting on the fly, navigating through injuries and dealing with adversity. After all, it’s what he prepares his players for, and his 2025 squad is no different.
It’s no mystery that the Cyclones couldn’t stop the run last season, and Heacock is putting a huge emphasis on getting stronger up front as they approach the end of fall camp. At this point he has a handle on who a couple of starters will be, but it’s still up in the air on a lot of the positions. Which is why practice is getting more intense, and Heacock wants some playmakers to emerge from the shadows.
“You really have to be good at what you do, and I think that’s learning through repetitions,” Heacock said. “Specifically on defense, you gotta be able to know how to fix problems as a player, and the only way you can fix that is through simplicity.”
Heacock is enjoying the way the players are battling it out on the defensive line, and in the secondary, considering quality depth is a concern. The Ohio native plans on giving the No. 1’s plenty of reps, and will finalize the rest of his starters, as Iowa State shifts to game preparation for Kansas State.
There’s pressure due to playing a conference foe in week zero, and it being a top-25 matchup. Not to mention the Big 12 will start player availability reporting, in which programs will be required to submit daily reports beginning three days before each game. Iowa State hasn’t opened up the season against a ranked opponent since 2003, so the urgency is there for Heacock to start fast out of the gates. He feels the Cyclones didn’t perform up to expectations on defense last season, and places some of the shortcomings on himself.
“I don’t feel like I was a great coach a year ago, I think we were playing a bunch of defenses, not playing defense, and that happens a little bit through injuries, and guys filling in,” he said. “Unfortunately our guys on offense and defense fought like crazy, but it doesn’t mean they weren’t trying, it just means as a Coordinator I can do a better job of coaching defense, and that’s what we’re trying to do since January.”
Heacock is putting an emphasis on establishing mental toughness, because he wants his players to respond the correct way when dealing with adversity. Having defenders who are emotionally intelligent, and play with discipline is vital in close games. However, Heacock understands that mistakes will happen, and players often times have to have a short-term memory.
“I think you never know until it hits the fan, you never know until adversity strikes, and it’s going to at some point in time,” the 64-year old said. “You work at it, talk about it, try to practice it, show videos of it, but you never really going to know how somebody is going to react.”
The No. 23 Cyclones are eager to show that last season’s success wasn’t a fluke, and Heacock has an All-Big 12 caliber defender at every level of his defense. The right pieces are already in place, including ballhawk corner Jontez Williams, safety Jeremiah Cooper, who’s the general of the secondary and linebacker Kooper Ebel, who’s the leading-returning tackler.
Finishing 109th nationally against the run won’t cut it for Iowa State’s defense this fall though. Heacock is trying to combat that, and intends on blitzing the quarterback more often. Still, the Cyclones should field one of the best secondaries in country again.
The No. 17 Wildcats will definitely be a measuring stick for Heackock’s defense, with the way they love to pound the ball. He’ll find out a lot about his defense in Ireland, including the unit’s adjustment to a different time zone.
“We’re still in camp trying to figure out who we are a little bit, and that’s a bit of a challenge, then all of sudden we’re kicking into game week here shortly, so I think just the timing of it all, and in the first game there’s complete unknowns to be honest.”
