Paul Rhoads invited Pierre Aka into his office because he wanted an honest, hopefully motivational, conversation.
It was anything but that.
Bringing up the idea of moving Aka to the offensive line didn’t elicit a reaction. Aka sat their with a blank face, silently seething, taking every word as an insult.
“As a d-lineman you don’t want to hear that,” Aka said. “That is sort of a demotion.”
It turned into a promotion. Eventually, the conversation had the desired impact Rhoads wanted. With Aka using the chat as a wake up call he rededicated himself and is now in position to open the season as one of Iowa State’s starting defensive tackles.