Messenger photo by Britt Kudla: Humboldt football coach Derrick Elman talks to his team with a Class 3A state semifinal trophy at the UNI-Dome in Cedar Falls.

Good teams come and go in sports. Successful programs withstand the test of time.

Teams rely on the specific talent of individuals or classes to succeed. Programs develop a system that stabilizes and sustains.

Teams aren’t always necessarily about chemistry, unity or other intangibles. Programs are defined by it.

Derrick Elman took over the Humboldt football program in 2018. He’d spent 14 seasons as an assistant with Iowa Falls-Alden, but this was his first head coaching gig. The Wildcats were ushering in a new era after Greg Thomas had held the position for nearly 20 years. Elman was ready to prove he belonged at the top.

Thomas, who was also Humboldt’s athletic and activities director at the time, needed to find his replacement. His good friend, then recently-retired Iowa Falls-Alden football coach and A.D. Pat Norem, personally recommended Elman.

The rest, as they say, is history.

Elman and his staff have found their rhythm with the Wildcats, who enter the Class 3A playoff hunt 8-1 overall and ranked No. 1 in the RPI system. This isn’t new or unfamiliar territory anymore for Humboldt, which is now 34-9 since 2021.

Elman’s crew has proven it can win with different players and personalities. The affable Elman revamped the weight-training commitment and expectations, expanded his thinking to include all middle school athletes, and connected with the Wildcat community on a personal level. He considers himself a perfect fit for Humboldt, and the feeling has been entirely mutual.

There isn’t any magic formula to what Elman is doing. It’s really quite simple. The Wildcats aren’t always blessed with an abundance of skill or depth. They’ll just beat you with intelligence, fundamentals, adjustments, trust and discipline. Their confidence comes from preparation.

The postseason tends to be a crapshoot. There are no guarantees for Humboldt, which opens with a stern challenge right off the bat at home against district rival Clear Lake on Friday.

Regardless of what happens in the days and potentially weeks to come, the Wildcat football family knows it has a winner with Elman’s team of coaches. This is a culture of success now. The winning hasn’t happened overnight, or by accident.

More importantly, Elman is raising these football players to be accountable in the classroom, in the community and to each other as better young men both on and off the field. At the end of the day, that’s what true leadership is all about.

NEW TERRITORY: Along the same lines at the collegiate level, the No. 11 Iowa State football team just keeps winning and climbing under head coach Matt Campbell.

The 7-0 Cyclones will enter November undefeated for the first time since 1938. Only five opponents — Texas Tech (5-3), Kansas (2-6), Cincinnati (5-3), Utah (4-4) and Kansas State (7-1) — stand between Iowa State and an undefeated season, a Big 12 Championship berth and College Football Playoff spot.

Not bad for a squad that, despite returning 19 starters from last year’s 7-6 campaign, didn’t even begin the season in the Top 25.

The Cyclones probably won’t win out, but the idea isn’t so far-fetched. They’ll likely be favored in every game, as only K-State is currently ranked.

Campbell was one of the hottest names in the business through 2020, but relatively shaky campaigns in 2021 and ’22 changed both the narrative and perception nationally to a certain extent.

That only seemed to motivate Campbell, who has now won at least seven games in seven of the last eight seasons at Iowa State. For perspective, the program had reached that victory total just six times from 1980 until Campbell’s arrival.

Campbell is already the Cyclones’ all-time wins leader at just 44 years old. Iowa State will be going to its seventh bowl game since 2017 under Campbell, which is only five less than the program’s entire postseason history prior to this current era.

The next step, especially now that Oklahoma and Texas are out of the equation, is to become a legitimate national contender and the Big 12’s lead representative. The Cyclones have the next five weeks to make some legitimate noise and reach the CFP.

“Bigger” and “better” opportunities have come and gone. Campbell has stayed in Ames. A strong finish to 2024 will undoubtedly push Campbell’s name back into the coaching rumor mill.

There’s no telling what the future may hold, but for now, these Cyclones are for real and Campbell is in the running for college football coach of the year.

Enjoy it all, Iowa State fans. Combined with the expectations of men’s basketball, women’s basketball and wrestling – all Top-10 programs in the preseason – you’ve never had a moment in time better than this.

Eric Pratt is Sports Editor at The Messenger. Contact him via email at sports@messengernews.net, or on Twitter @ByEricPratt