2015 was a fantastic year to be an Iowa football fan. That year the team went 12-0 in the regular season. Winning every game in the regular season for the first time since 1922 (1). I was lucky enough to have been an assistant strength and conditioning coach on this team. To me the 2015 12-0 team would not have happened if it was not for the 2014 team which went 7-5 and lost in the bowl game. Yes, the 2015 team did lose in the B1G championship and in the Rose Bowl - so it was not the fairy tail ending. There was still massive lessons to be learned from going 7-5 one year to 12-0 the next.
Talent was never the issue between the two teams. if you look at the roster make up much of the same guys were on the 2015 team that were on the 2014 team. Sure there was a new QB when we switched from Ruddock to Beathard - but CJ was on the team in 2014 and won a game in Purdue - and some might have said should have been the guy the whole time. I digress. The point remains, talent was on the roster in 2015. If anything, at the time we thought there was more talent in 2014 as Brandon Scherff had just graduated and he was the all world OL.
At the end of the 2014 season the S&C staff was reading a book - The Slight Edge by Jeff Olson (2). I still think this is the 2nd best book you will ever read outside of any religious text. We read it as a staff during the end of the regular season - and still remember not being able to put the book down when I got it. Cody Myers, now the assistant head football S&C at Iowa, was my roommate one road trip and I remember leaving our room to walk on the treadmill and read the book.. I had not felt this way since I read The Energy Bus from Jon Gordon.
After the bowl game from the 2014 season the coaching staff and senior players all got a copy of the book. The S&C staff got to talk about the book and the many lessons from the book. This was AMAZING to me because of how much I loved the book. I was able to help lead discussions and talk about it with the players - I felt like I was becoming a head S&C coach. Now that I look back on it - this probably helped shape me when becoming the head football S&C coach at Towson University before turning 30.
Anyways, fast forward to the 2015 season the team starts off slowly, but starts picking up wins and starts picking up notice from the outside world. This was the story of the water hyacinth from Slight Edge. The guys were holding each other accountable when they saw someone doing something incorrect. Little by little the guys were living the slight edge - simple daily disciplines repeated over time leading to staggering results. 4-0 lead to 5-0 which next thing you know it 8-0, then comes 10-0. Then finally the whole season had nothing but wins.
it was amazing, but that was never the goal. The goal was focused on being the best possible version of ourselves in preparation to play football. In the end losing a close game to Michigan State left some version of a hang over in our mouths. That coupled with what felt like forever in a hotel leading up to the Rose Bowl resulted in that game. But none of that should take away from the body of work, a 12-0 regular season. Changing how guys talked and acted in the locker room.What was the biggest change? Players believing in the cause, and beliving in one another.
Ya, talent had a little bit to do with it too. Looking back that roster was STACKED with talent. Literally not enough time to go through the whole roster, but here goes.
Desmond King, George Kittle, CJ Beathard, Josey Jewell, Ben Niemann, Jake Gervase, Ike Boettger, Greg Mabin, Jaleel Johnson, Austin Blythe, Tevaun Smith, OJ, Josh Jackson, James Daniels, Anthony Nelson.
15 dudes from that team were in the NFL. Thats crazy to think about. This is why talent + culture is what matters for teams to win. Speaking of culture, we also read Extreme Ownership by Jocko and Leif earlier in the year thanks to Pat Angerer recommending it to us. So we added the E.O principle about not tolerating bad behavior to our definition of culture. Therefore, in 2015 we came up with the simple math equation for culture
culture = (actions + behavior) - what you tolerate
Sure you might say you want to do something (behavior). But if you are not doing those things (actions). Then you don't have a good culture. In addition to this, if you do say the right things (behavior) and do the right thing (actions) but allow some people to not do them - you are tolerating bad things, and ruining your culture.
To wrap it up - the 2015 Iowa Football team taught me a ton on leadership and life. I am thankful everyday that I get to draw on that experience and team. I know I would not be where I am without it. So thanks for letting me be apart of it fellas.
Sources
1. https://bleacherreport.com/articles/276687-iowa-hawkeyes-football-facts-every-iowa-fan-should-know-about#:~:text=There%20are%20only%20four%20undefeated,%2C%20and%201922%207%2D0.
2. https://www.hawkcentral.com/story/sports/college/iowa/football/2015/10/01/slight-edge-chris-doyle-culture-change-taxslayer-bowl-iowa-hawkeyes/73149944/
