Iowa State is adding to its coaching staff just ahead of spring practices, which are set to begin on March 25, and ahead of what could be a tremendous 2025 season.
According to the team’s website, the Cyclones have added Bryce Paup as an assistant defensive line coach after he spent seven seasons coaching at his alma mater, Northern Iowa.
Paup served as UNI’s defensive line coach from 2018-21 and was promoted to assistant head coach for the Panthers in 2022. He maintained that role with the program until he was hired at ISU.
Paup had an incredible NFL career and earned NFL Defensive Player of the Year and First-Team All-Pro Honors with the Buffalo Bills during the 1995 season. He was a four-time pro bowler over stints with four franchises, which also included Green Bay, Minnesota, and Jacksonville.
During his NFL career, Paup totaled 545 career tackles and 75.0 sacks, including an NFL-leading 17.5 sacks during the 1995 season when he won DPOY honors.
Paup was an incredibly versatile player in college and served as a three-year starter at UNI, playing at inside linebacker, outside linebacker, defensive end, and nose tackle. He was selected by the Green Bay Packers in the sixth round of the 1990 NFL Draft after compiling 298 tackles and 15 sacks in his career as a Panther.
Iowa State is currently believed to be leaning away from playing a spring game this season, but will be one of the first teams to get their 2025 season started with a date against Kansas State in the Aer Lingus College Football Classic in Dublin, Ireland on August 23.
