Iowa State football coach, Matt Campbell, held his annual media day in Ames just a couple of days after it was revealed his starting quarterback from last year, Hunter Dekkers, is part of a sports gambling investigation. Campbell addressed the issue early, saying he can’t comment because it’s an ongoing N-C-A-A and legal investigation.

“I’m empathetic to you guys because I know all of you have a job to do and I get it, okay. I’m also empathetic to the young people in our families that are going through some of this, and the reality of it is we just are not allowed to talk about any of those things to you,” Campbell says. Backup offensive lineman Dodge Sauser is also under investigation and an I-S-U spokesman says Sauser has left the team. Campbell was asked about his reaction when he heard the news Wednesday.

“The issue at hand is a society issue. And the reality of it is society issues are always going to challenge the culture, whether it’s your family culture or your football culture, and what you are always constantly trying to do is educate your young people to make great decisions to man make great choices, and to put them in the best position to be successful and become the best men that they can possibly be,” he says. Campbell says there are a lot of questions remaining.

“Time will tell what all those things really are. And what you do is just because a young person makes a mistake you don’t give up on them, you continue to love and care for them and help them through whether it’s going really good or whether they’re going through tough and trying times,” Campbell says. The format was changed from traditional media days as no assistant coaches were available to the media and just a few players. Campbell says that was his decision.

“With some of the news that broke Wednesday, we didn’t know some of that news. You know, I think all of that is man so new to us, and we got a lot of new faces. And I just felt like from my end of it, should be me being out here and talking about our football program,” he says. Campbell says the coaches and other players will be available soon. Hunter Dekkers is accused of tampering with records related to the sports gambling investigation. He has denied the charge and is sitting out fall camp. Campbell was asked about who would replace him, and he says he has been impressed since spring with the depth of quarterbacks on the roster and believes one of them will step up.

The only thing I need those guys to do lead is lead the team and take care of the football. And I think those guys have a lot of confidence to be able to do all those things, and I would tell you I think their supporting cast around them is really talented as well and we’re really excited about that group,” Campbell says. Iowa State opens the football season at home against Northern Iowa on September 2nd.