Peterson: Iowa State’s Jirehl Brock, who could have transferred but didn't, is the definition of loyalty
AMES — Analyze quarterback Hunter Dekkers taking over for Brock Purdy on Sept. 3 against Southeast Missouri State inside Jack Trice Stadium all you want.
Wonder to your heart's content if Anthony Johnson Jr. will be as good starting at safety as he's been at cornerback.
Does life after Mike Rose, one of the best linebackers to don a Cyclones uniform, concern you? You’re probably not alone.
But take this one to the bank:
Not surprisingly, the running back position should be just fine, despite Breece Hall going somewhere early in the NFL Draft in a couple of weeks.
More: Peterson: Iowa State's Jirehl Brock has been waiting a long time for this opportunity
Do you think anything will block this opportunity Jirehl Brock’s been waiting for since he and Hall snapped a picture together after coincidentally attending the same Iowa State junior day back before their senior years of high school?
Unlikely.
He’s deserving of a successful season, if not because he’s been an always-ready backup, but because he stuck with the program.
In this transfer age, in which athletes are almost free to do as they please, Brock has stuck it out. It’s not his fault he played behind a two-time All-American. As well as Brock has played in practice, Hall was better, and that wasn’t changing.
Yet he’s been as loyal a Cyclone as there’s been.
“My parents raised me the right way,” Brock said recently. “It’s not like I struggled as a child. I’ve been pretty blessed that I learned from them. They taught me the lessons that not everybody gets a chance to learn.”
They taught him finish what you start and to believe in yourself, and that if you did, good things can and likely would come from it. Despite receiving what would have likely been plentiful opportunities to start at running back, maybe even at the Power Five level, by entering the transfer portal, Brock has followed his parents' advice at Iowa State.
He's finishing what he started. And he's believing in himself.
“My parents stressed, 'Never give up,'” he said. “I prayed about it. I had a prayer. God spoke. I felt like this is a place that I can fly, and this is the place I will continue to be.”
Loyalty like that has to count for something, right?
“When I committed to Iowa State, I committed to Iowa State for the next four or five years,” Brock said. “I knew that’s where I wanted to be. I didn’t just commit to play football. I committed for the culture of the team. Coach (Matt) Campbell has built a culture that’s unmatched. Any other place I would have gone — it wouldn’t have been the same.
“I know that I’m always going to work harder, and keep going. I’ll show my resilience.”
That, he’s already shown.
Brock had 63 yards of offense after Hall opted out of last year’s Cheez-It Bowl — 42 yards on 14 rushes and 21 yards on three receptions. He’s played behind both Hall and Kene Nwangwu, never once flinching in his Cyclones allegiance.
He exudes loyalty.
Has your son ever quit on anything?
“Maybe just playing the clarinet,” Resha Brock responded, to which we both got a wonderful chuckle. “When you’re in fourth grade, does that really count? He wanted to play clarinet, then got busy with other things. I've still got the clarinet. That’s the only thing I can remember that he ever stopped doing.”
Her son especially wasn’t leaving Iowa State, regardless what supportive fans back in Quincy, Illinois, were wondering.
More: Peterson: Don't forget about the other 'Brock' for Iowa State — running back Jirehl Brock
“I mentioned it just one time,” his mother told me. “When you talk to other people, or they talk to you, they think he should transfer. They think he should do this, and that he should do that.
“He’s loyal. He put that talk down so quickly. He said it wasn’t an option. He said he made a commitment, and that he will keep that commitment.
“Kids commit, then they de-commit. Where did de-commit come from, anyway? I know you can, but it doesn’t always work out. Jirehl knew he was supposed to be at Iowa State. It's like being with family.”
Mom pointed out an example.
“When Jirehl was being recruited, in 2018, my mother was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer," she said. "The coaches knew about that, and every single time we talked, they’d always asked about my mom, and they continued to ask about my mom up to the day she passed last May. Even when my mom passed, coach asked about her and sent flowers.”
And here's another example.
"Jirehl was in hospital getting his tonsils out last January — when the coaches were on winter break. Every day," Resha said, "they’d check in on him.
“When you have that many people who have gone above and beyond, you don’t leave. You never know what you might get into. I told my son that, 'You’re a winner, and quitting is not an option.' It’s not like he had to be told that. He already knew.”
That’s the backstory. Flip forward to now — to the rest of spring ball, summer football activities and then fall camp. Mr. Loyal will be front and center, doing anything and everything to not only make himself better, but to enrich others around him.
“Right now, I’m just trying to make sure I’m a good leader in the running back room,” Jirehl said. “Losing Rory Walling, who was a good leader and who did everything right, and losing Breece as also a good leader — someone has to make sure the young guys have a person to look up to.”
That’d be Jirehl Brock.
“The maturity that I have has allowed me to be able to stick it out and be a leader,” Brock said. “Even though I wasn’t starting, I knew my time would come.”
Iowa State columnist Randy Peterson embarked on his 50th year of writing sports for the Des Moines Register in December 2021. Reach him at rpeterson@dmreg.com, 515-284-8132, and on Twitter at @RandyPete.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Iowa State football running back Jirehl Brock bucks transfer trend
