Iowa State QB Rocco Becht Joins Josh Pate | Exclusive Interview

you know my affection for Roco be not able to pronounce his last name I am able to respect his game that dude came on more and more as last year went on several offers to leave there he stayed there that team is one of the top five most experienced returning rosters in college football this year in this post Brock py world of ours Iowa State can do magical things at the quarterback position I think they've been building towards this year Roco back at Iowa State one of the most under the radar underrated quarterbacks in college football just open rooting for Iowa state is it unprofessional um no I don't think so at all so go clones could be one of the breakout players in college football this coming fall that time of year kickoff right around the corner every team about to be in action Iowa State no different quarterback Roco joining us from Ames Iowa I'm ready to go man like I I look at the big 12 and I look at Iowa State and I think they got just as good a shot as anyone else up there but I'm not on the field with you camp every day so take me through spring take me through fall like what's the vibe around that team right now yes sir well I appreciate you having me on um so going into the fall you know we had there's so much excitement going on know I feel like the confidence level was high uh with everybody coming back um we were super stoked for the season um and I feel like Coach Campbell put us in a lot of situations during this fall Camp to get us ready and prepared uh for this season coming in the week one so uh ex excitement is high confidence is high and uh I think we're ready for week one a lot of people know the name Matt Campbell they know head coach at Iowa State like fans have watched him from afar almost no one's gotten to play for him though you get to play for him you're his quarterback so take folks inside the program what's it like playing for him and if you had to describe him like a scouting report of your head coach what would it look like yeah Coach Campbell he's awesome um he's really the big reason why I came here uh he doesn't just continue to focus on football um he does have a life outside of football and He does care about us outside of football um and I felt like that was the biggest thing for me uh just his family um how involved they are with this team how involved he is with you know our families and so that was the biggest thing for me but you know in in the facility um he's a hard-nosed guy you know he'll tell you straight uh he'll be honest with you and that's what I love about him you know I don't want a coach tell me lies uh tell me that you know what I did that day is good um I want him tell me the wrong things I did to help me prepare for you know that next practice um or that next game and so I feel like he's done a good job of that with me um and this whole team and you know no matter if you're a walk-on or a scholarship guy he treats you like the same dude um and so that's also you know just another thing to add on to and why I love about him so he's awesome hey you grew up with a dad who played the game at a high level coaches the game so you probably had a version of that already growing up not every guy has a version of that and so I got to imagine especially if I'm a quarterback back so I'm supposed to wear that se on my chest anyway I look around my locker room sometimes and maybe everyone doesn't take coaching maybe everyone doesn't take hard coaching well how important is it like how important do you feel it is especially with the younger guys to make sure they understand how to process that feedback it's not someone hating on you it's someone trying to make you get better exactly you said it perfect perfectly I mean my dad growing up he was always hard on me but you know I knew for a fact that he was just helping me you know get better and preparing me for these moments um and you know everybody's going to have a coach like that uh in college in high school you know maybe in Pop Warner um depending on what team you playing on the coaches you have but uh they're just preparing you for you know the future and helping you get better uh they're not Downing you um they're not making you feel worse about yourself but they want to help you prepare yourself and come back that next day um and ready for those situations and helping helping you you know succeed in life talking about Iowa State quarterback Roco Beck here I got to be honest with you man when you guys came on at the end of last season everyone put the spotlight on you and all of a sudden you're at the Forefront of a lot of these conversations and then you hear these rumors and you look at all these dudes in the transfer portal and you hear about these big offers behind the scenes they're getting I heard a lot of those Rumblings about your name and yet you're sitting right there in Ames Iowa just like you were at the end of last year why are you there and what was that process like behind the scenes for you from the end of last year until this point yeah I felt like for me knowing that that everybody was coming back I the guys on the outside jayen no and Jaden Higgins and I've got a couple you know just guys that entered from the transfer portal and I've got a dog stacked up running back room with as well as you know an allamerican freshman tight end and Ben bramer um just everybody coming back on the offensive line as well I didn't feel like there was a need for me to leave um you know all that money and all that talk that's not really about me um I just want to win games and you know help a program win um just the Big 12 championship and that's why I came back um because I do feel like we have the parts uh to go and win a big 12 Championship we just got to put everything together uh and hit on the Precision and detail you know weekend and week out and just you know focus on one game uh and take a dub every single week is there somewhere you look for you could call it inspiration or guidance whatever you want to maybe Beyond coaches Beyond family are there examples like some guys would look at other athletes some guys would look at other teams in a years past wherever you draw it from where do you draw on proper place to get my mentality and proper place to make sure I'm wired the right way from I feel that comes from the coaches and the guys and the the people that are around you um I was lucky enough to grow up in a household where my dad and my mom uh they helped me grow up that way just having that mental capacity um and just having the main thought just train of thought just throughout my my life and so I feel like that's prepared me for what I've gone through here um and just the guy the people that I have around me you know they put me through situations and you know in practice and off the field and you know in the facility where you know I gota own up to my mistakes and you know just continuing to succeed and so I feel like that like you said just having that mental capacity um is huge for me um and I feel like that's just a reason why where I am right today every year early to mid August everyone goes and buys their preview magazine everyone starts to brush up on who's returning and you guys are right up there near the top of the country and return earning production sometimes that means that teams take a big Leap Forward Michigan did that last year for example other times teams disappoint and you're like all these returning starters but it kind of plateaued and it even regressed a little bit uh what specific measures do you take and and do you guys collectively take to make sure not only are we coming back but collectively we're going to be better than we were last year like how do you specifically make sure that happens yeah that's everybody's mindset is to be better than last year and I I'm glad that you said that because Coach Campbell does hit on that a lot uh there are teams who return a lot of starters just like you know we kind of did in 20121 and you know we just they didn't live up to the hype that was you know just around them and and then there's teams where they do live up to the hype and so but they don't live up to the hype because they did the same thing as what they did last year it's because they continued to do what they did but at a better and you know greater stamina and so that's what we want to do um and we I feel like we do have the guys in the right mental state to do that um we're mature enough this team is mature enough and um I feel like we do have the team to just continue to be greater at everything we do and the Precision and the detail that's huge for us um going into this season and so I do feel like we have been put in a place where there is a lot of talk about how we may come back and just not succeed to those expectations but um at the end of the day we're you know blocking that out and we're playing our game um and our game is to continually do things right take care of the ball um and you know focus on one game at a time if I'm not mistaken I walk out that door and down the hall just a little ways I arrive at the offensive coord coordinator room and there is a a different guy in that room than we had there last year introduce me and introduce the world to your offensive coordinator yeah coach Mouser um he's a he's a unique guy um he he will just like I said Campbell he will tell you straight he will literally tell you straight he doesn't care um he has no filter and so I love that about him uh because he he does he has his own unique personality and that's what makes him him and that's what makes us as you know the offense love him and so he's been a great addition to us um you know just the physicality and the mentality that he has and how he walks into this facility every single day um it's it's just you know pouring on to us as you know as uh as players and so I feel like the offensive line room I feel like it's you know poured into them just tremend tremendously and so uh just everybody around our mentality has just you know gone through the roof because of him and so he's going to bring a different Dynamic to this offense this season um and I'm excited to see it how important is it to you when you have maybe churn at a coordinator position that the guy who gets the job was already in the building there there are other coaches out there who would insist on going outside to bring someone in and instead you've got a guy who's been there continuity I've got to imagine is valuable there but also for for a guy in Matt who preaches having it in the building and believing in culture I look at it and I say well that's how you back it up you just Elevate from within yeah I mean there were probably conversations about going to get a guy outside of the facility but um you know just like you said having a guy inhouse who knows the offense who has been here for as long as Coach Campbell has been here um has seen the good has seen the bad um has understood things in the pass and who is who came from a position in the tight end room where you do have to know a lot of things because tight ends have to block and they have to run and you know catch the ball and so he understood the whole offense before he became the OC and I felt like it was his time and um it was a good opportunity for him to you know as as an OC to mature and so I feel he's done a good job from that and um I'm excited to see what he he puts into play this season because I do like what he what he you know pray preaches to us and uh you know and with him throwing the ball and so I'm excited for this season and uh I can't wait how differently do you think you see and process this game mentally from when you first steep foot on a college campus yeah I feel like my mental capacity has you know tremendously grown uh when I first got here I felt like everything was moving too fast um and that just came with reps that came with film study um that came with you know just going over my notes you know every single night and so I felt last year it did get a lot better but you know as you mature into an offense and get more comfortable in it you are going to have a bigger mental capacity and I felt like this season we do have a lot of stuff that's in um and we do have a lot more rules within a play call and so my mental capacity of things has you know gone up and I feel like I've gotten way better at that and just remembering the things and you know knowing the wrongs and the rights to each play and where where to go with the ball in certain certain scenarios and um just my mental capacity has grown over these past you know few years and you know that's just credit to these coaches and putting the trust in me and having the trust in me to you know go out there and you know remember these things and uh produce good football in the field if I wake up any given morning I may look at my calendar and I may have a contract negotiation with an agent at nine and I may have a speaking engagement at 11:30 and then I've got a meeting at one or two and oh by the way I've got to do a show I've got to do my job that night but that's in like the the far down the road Adult World or at least it used to be but now if you're a college football player especially if you're a college football quarterback your schedule starts to kind of look like that and especially at the quarterback position you're in demand there are Avenues at your disposal because of nil that didn't used to be there and yet the only way to maintain your value is to put blinders on and to stay focused so how do you balance all that especially because none of you at the college level have ever been through this before it's the first time for everyone yeah I mean from you know when I wake up to when I go to bed it's dark and so I don't really leave this facility unless I have to go to class during the afternoon but other than that when we have a certain time set for a meeting us quarterbacks and you know sometimes the receivers are in there before that certain time and so our meetings start earlier than the that regular start time and so it's an all day thing and especially the as school on top of it we're working two jobs not only me but this whole team and so um that's just preparing for that is tough but I feel like having the ability with me going into my third year just getting into a rhythm having a routine and having a schedule is huge and so that's what's helped me over these past three years um and just continuing to do that um just not listen to the outside noers because if you do that then you will get off course uh you will get off schedule and it will hurt you in the long run so I'm gonna go ahead and tell you ahead of time this will be the toughest question that I'm going to give you I don't know if you're aware of the talk on the streets but there is a huge ground swell of support out there for the Sino logo it has never died a lot of us love it just like we used to love it and I I understand the frosted glass behind you has the black eye logo and that's wonderful and it probably got approved by a focus group however a lot of us prefer the Sino logo I saw Matt Campbell step to the press conference Podium not too long ago wearing it right there on his chest so so he's on team Sino do you fall anywhere it's a political season everything's a hot button issue do you fall anywhere on this um I do like the logo I feel like there is a time and place where we can make that you know that that change and just not even a full change but a certain game um but I do love the logo I do actually have a hat uh that's actually the same as what sweatshirt he was wearing and I love it I wear it all the time um and people do comment about it they do ask where I got it but um you know I do like that logo so I'm on whoever whoever side that is and um I I preach for having a uniform for that in the future there you go we've got all the endorsements we possibly need for the movement I appreciate it Roo Beck man hey good luck this season we appreciate you taking time to join us and wish you guys and your entire team there the best of luck and success in 2024 thank you Josh appreciate it [Music]