Iowa State Football: Cyclones hire former Illini standout as running backs coach
Iowa State football announced the addition of Nate Scheelhaase as the Cyclones running backs coach. The former Illini star is rising quickly in the coaching ranks.
Nate Scheelhaase will be joining the Iowa State coaching staff as running back coach. Scheelhaase has only been in the coaching profession for three seasons but is a rising star according to Iowa State coach Matt Campbell.
Scheelhaase graduated in 2012 from Illinois and left behind quite the legacy. The former quarterback is Illinois all-time total offense leader and seventh in Big Ten history with 10,634 yards.
The only quarterback to lead Illinois to back-to-back bowl victories began his coaching career at Illinois in 2015 as their running backs coach and was retained after a coaching change. Lovie Smith kept Scheelhaase as an offensive analyst for the past two seasons.
Scheelhaase will inherit a running back room full of talent led by junior to be David Montgomery. Montgomery was a first-team All-Big 12 selection this past season and has star potential. According to Pro Football Focus, Montgomery graded out as the best running back in the Big 12 and forced the most missed tackles this past season.
David Montgomery set the PFF record for most forced missed tackles, and finished as the Big 12's highest graded RB pic.twitter.com/eZa46qLEOY
— PFF College (@PFF_College) January 24, 2018
Montgomery will likely be an All-American this season and will not be the only star in the Cyclones backfield. Sheldon Croney and Mike Warren have both played significant snaps for the Cyclones, and will provide a lot of depth at the position.
Former running backs coach Louis Ayeni was instrumental in the Cyclones hanging onto football and development of the running backs. According to Matt Campbell, Scheelhaase will bring a ton of energy, a high football I.Q. and is a great fit with the current staff.
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Matt Campbell wants Iowa State to be the Big 12 midwest option. Scheelhaase should have plenty of midwest recruiting ties. These will hopefully allow Iowa State to steal some prospects out of Illinois and surrounding states.