Peterson: More sacks, not somersaults, for more mature JaQuan Bailey

AMES, Ia. — JaQuan Bailey isn’t really the somersaulting kind of guy that fans saw during a very close and tense game against Texas last season. There’s more to Iowa State’s best pass rusher than raw emotion that, at least when the Longhorns came to town, got way beyond control.

This 6-foot-2, 255-pounder has an emotional side, too.

Wednesday night for instance, he paused to collect thoughts when I asked if he’d be a Cyclone today if his twin brother had chosen to go elsewhere. He even nearly cried when talking about the bond he’s got with his best buddy/brother Joshua.

Later during JaQuan’s first interview since stepping onto campus in 2016 — he talked about how a heart-to-heart conversation with a few veteran players, convinced him that over-the-top on-field emotional outbursts were inappropriate and unacceptable. And especially uncalled for when performed in full view of Big 12 Conference referees.

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Guys like Brian Peavy and Vernell Trent suggested that he channel all that enthusiasm and adrenaline into being the best pass rusher that he can be, so if you’re looking for more flipping energy from the junior-to-be defensive end this fall — forget it.

“I remember after the Texas game — me, (Vernell) Trent and (Brian) Peavy were talking man-to-man,” Bailey recalled. “It was a level of understanding.

“It was a learning experience about how to become a better teammate, a better person, and learning how to mature up.”

Sacking quarterbacks always will be part of his DNA. Antics so extreme — like the unsportsmanlike conduct penalty for which he was flagged during a crucial time against Texas — will vanish like the 15 pounds he lost between the Liberty Bowl win against Memphis and the start of 2017 spring practice.

He’s a different player, both physically and demonstratively, and that’s a good thing for a guy with a world of all-Big 12 potential.

Bailey led the 8-5 Cyclones with seven sacks, the school’s fourth-best total in a season, and he’s the third-best returning sacker in the conference.

His 10½ career sacks in two seasons puts him on pace to break Shawn Moorehead’s school record of 18½.

“Clearly our best pass rusher,” line coach Eli Rasheed said.

If sacking quarterbacks is his art, then the football field is his canvas.

“He’s an animal,” said Peavy, a first-team all-Big 12 cornerback last season. “He’s relentless.

“When you say he can’t do something, he’s going to try it until you’re proven wrong.”

And it all started — at least from an Iowa State standpoint — one night when linebackers coach Tyson Veidt was scanning the social media.

The new staff was just a couple months into the job. National letter of intent day was approaching. They still needed players.

“Right when we got here, we identified what we needed, and then we were literally on the Internet finding out who’s out there and who’s available,” said Veidt, the linebackers coach who recruited Bailey.

“I was on Twitter in the middle of the night, when I saw that this kid from Jacksonville, Florida, had decommitted from Florida.”

Quickly that kid, aka JaQuan Bailey, picked up another Twitter follower.

“The next morning, he followed me back, and messaged me:

“Hey coach, what’s going on?” Veidt recalled.

What was going on was that Iowa State was looking for linemen. What happened was that the Cyclones eventually signed two from the same house — emphasis on eventually.

Joshua, an inside player, verbally committed first. Then came his brother — but not without a splash of anxiety within the coaches’ office.

Word on the street was that JaQuan was leaning toward Virginia Tech — and it looked like more than just a rumor when he showed up at Raines High School on signing day wearing a Virginia Tech jacket.

JaQuan’s decision was believed to be between Virginia Tech and Tennessee — with Iowa State also under consideration.

“We had no idea, to be honest,” Veidt said. “We talked to his coach on signing day, and we still didn’t know.”

JaQuan spoke briefly with family members before the signing ceremony — before finally declaring his allegiance to Iowa State and the program with whom his brother had already selected.

“Really, the only coach I truly trusted was Campbell,” JaQuan said. “I was like hey, that’s where I’m going.”

But the Virginia Tech tease?

“We were just having fun,” Bailey said. “I was young and immature. I was a little dumb.”

And what if Joshua had chosen somewhere else — like Tennessee?

Long pause ...

“We’re very, very close,” JaQuan said Wednesday night. “When the day comes that me and him have to split — I’m going to cry; I already know that.

“I’m about to cry right now, man.”

I told you there was another side, a human side, to this guy that specializes in smashing quarterbacks.

Iowa State columnist Randy Peterson has been with the Register for parts of five decades. Randy writes opinion and analysis of Iowa State football and basketball. You can reach Randy at rpeterson@dmreg.com or on Twitter at @RandyPete.