In his seventh season as Defensive Coordinator at Iowa State, Jon Heacock has transformed Iowa State’s defense into one of the best nationally. The Cyclone defense routinely holds opponents below their season average, keeping Iowa State in every game. Iowa State is currently leading the Big 12 Conference in total defense (284.4), rushing defense (110.6), passing defense (173.9) and scoring defense (16.3 ppg). In the 26 year history of the Big 12, only two schools have ever led the conference in all four defensive categories. He has helped in leading defensive end Will McDonald to just one sack shy of the Big 12 career record. McDonald, who had just one sack as a freshman, has 33.0 career sacks. McDonald is one of many incredible individual stories as Heacock has coached five All-Americans at Iowa State and an astonishing 52 times a defensive player has been recognized by the league’s coaches on the All-Big 12 teams. Heacock’s innovative 3-3-5 defense has been adopted by many, but its the Cyclone defensive unit’s ability to have all 11 players swarming the ball on every play that hasn’t been matched by many.
