Jon Heacock is hanging it up after 43 years in coaching. The longtime Iowa State defensive coordinator announced his retirement on Tuesday after spending the last decade running the Cyclones’ defense under Matt Campbell. He’d been in Ames since 2016 and was one of the most respected voices in the Big 12 during that stretch.
Heacock’s name doesn’t come up a lot in casual fan conversations, but everyone in the sport knows what he built at Iowa State. His 3-3-5 system became the go-to answer for defending Big 12 offenses that used to shred teams with tempo and spacing. What started as a unique look in Ames turned into something other programs started copying. It worked, and Iowa State’s defense was consistently one of the toughest groups to deal with in the league.
This wasn’t a quick two- or three-year stint, either. He was there for 10 seasons. That’s a long time in today’s college football world, especially for a coordinator. He could’ve gone to other places or tried to move up, but he stuck with Matt Campbell and helped build something sustainable.
There’s no word yet on who steps in to replace him, but new head coach Jimmy Rogers now has another hole to patch this offseason in Ames. Heacock didn’t just coach players. He built a system that guys bought into year after year, and Iowa State leaned on it even when other parts of the program were shaky.
He coached for 43 years. 10 of those came in Ames. That’s a solid run by any standard, and it’s hard to imagine the defense looking the same without him.
