Iowa State football coach Paul Rhoads says the defense made progress this spring but still has a ways to go. The Cyclones capped off spring practice with an intrasquad game last Saturday and Rhoads says there were too many missed tackles.
Rhoads says they want to come out of every game with single digits in missed tackles, and there were more than that Saturday. Rhoads says they have to crawl before they can walk and right now they are up and walking as the learned the fundamentals and schemes.
Rhoads says the players are putting forth the effort needed to get better. He says the advances in strength and conditioning give him confidence as he says you have to develop the athletes to advance as a program.
Overall, Rhoads says he was pleased with spring drills. He says there is not an area of the team that doesn’t need improvement, so everywhere they look there is concern and caution. That said, he believes they improved in all areas.
Rhoads will debut as the ISU coach September third when the Cyclones host North Dakota State.