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Campbell shrugs off NFL interest to remain at Iowa State

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ARLINGTON, Texas - Matt Campbell has never put much thought into being an NFL coach, even though several pro teams expressed interest in the 39-year-old Iowa State coach in the past year.

''Well, my goal initially wasn't even to be a college head football coach,'' Campbell said Tuesday at Big 12 media days. ''My goal and dream was to be like my father who was a high school head football coach.''

Campbell is going into his fourth season at Iowa State. The Cyclones, coming off consecutive 8-5 seasons, were picked third in the preseason Big 12 poll - behind only four-time defending champion Oklahoma and Texas, the two teams who played in the league championship game last season.

''My greatest passion is to develop and help 18-22 year-old men go from a young man to a chance to leave as a 22-year-old man,'' said Campbell, who was Toledo's head coach for five seasons before going to Iowa State.

Iowa State is coming off consecutive 8-5 seasons and is the Big 12 preseason pick to finish behind Oklahoma and Texas. The Cyclones have quarterback Brock Purdy, who in 10 games as a true freshman last season threw for 2,250 yards and 16 touchdowns.

The lofty outside expectations are a big change from when Campbell first got to Ames before the 2016 season.

''If we worried about what the expectations of our football program were outside of our walls, the first three years, I think we would have crumbled really fast,'' said Campbell, who drew interest from several NFL teams this past offseason. ''So what we've been able to do is handle our own expectations and making our own expectations way loftier than anything that could be said outside of our walls.''

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