Sep 6, 2025; Ames, Iowa, USA; Iowa State Cyclones wide receiver Dominic Overby (11) makes a catch against Iowa Hawkeyes defensive back TJ Hall (2) during the second half at Jack Trice Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Reese Strickland-Imagn Images

AMES — Forget the cookie jar.

Iowa State wide receiver Dominic Overby felt he saw a tableful of those tantalizing treats arrayed in front of him last season, but he decided to eat just one.

And that was a problem — in terms of this simile, anyway.

“I grabbed one and then I got content with just grabbing one when there (was) a whole row right there,” said the speedy 6-5, 200-pound sophomore from West Jordan, Utah. “So that definitely feeds me and drives me every day.”

Overby’s “cookie” was composed of bite-size packages. He skillfully snagged an over-the-shoulder touchdown catch in the Cyclones’ season-opening win over Kansas State in Ireland, then recorded his second touchdown grab in a week three win at Arkansas State. But Overby would make just three more catches the rest of the season — all in the Oct. 4 loss at Cincinnati — as his down-and-distance reps dwindled and he settled into a special teams role.

So that symbolic cookie served as a sign of his impact and his hunger on the field. And he’s been eagerly gobbling them down ever since, including this spring as one of several ISU players who chose to remain with the program after Matt Campbell left for Penn State, and new head coach Jimmy Rogers seized the reins.

“I was back home, it was the holidays, and there was this one day where I was thinking about it and it didn’t stress me,” said Overby, who finished with seven catches for 87 yards last season. “Like, obviously, that whole time was stressful, (but) the decision to stay didn’t stress me, so that’s definitely when I knew.”

Now Overby’s poised to shine in a deep, but largely unproven wide receivers room under the tutelage of his position coach, Derrick Sherman, who implores his players to avoid living and playing “in a box.”

“It’s gonna be hard, there’s gonna be some straining involved, but nobody has fun living inside a box doing the same thing over and over,” said Sherman, who spent last season coaching the wide receivers at Houston. “Guys want to evolve, they want to get better. They want to feel themselves get better. They want to be challenged. So a lot of that’s in everything we do, right? Not even football, just like life, right?”

Structure blends harmoniously with curiosity. Toughness links up with thoughtfulness. The mold is broken and suddenly those imaginary cookies serve as potential long-term nourishment for Overby and his fellow wide receivers, who early in spring ball have no defined roles. And that’s not a problem — in terms of building camaraderie, playing free and developing complementary skills.

“It really is nice, because if you just show up and do what you can do, the coaches will see that,” Overby said. “You don’t have any pressure of, like, ‘Oh, I’ve gotta do this for my role,’ you know?”

For now, at least. Spring camp is a time for fresh beginnings. Roles were emerge as players blossom into the system and it’s a natural process that can’t be forced nor manufactured.

But leadership is an entirely different matter, and Sherman feels he has some prime candidates in that area in his room, starting with 6-3, 208-pound junior transfer Evan Boyd.

“He was actually coached by a guy I’m really familiar with — my brother (B.T.) at Central Michigan,” Sherman said of the well-traveled Boyd, who played for Michigan State last season. “I had a lot of familiarity with his game and how he is, but even moreso who he is as a person, right? This dude, he comes in (and) he’s the same each and every day.”

Boyd, like Overby, made a splash with a handful of plays last season, catching three passes for 54 yards. So pass the cookie jar, right?

“(We’re) competitive,” Boyd said. “We have a lot of new guys in the room.”

And one “old” one in Overby, whose appetite has grown significantly from last season to this season.

“That second level of the game, I’m still diving into that right now,” he said.

The post “COOKIE” MONSTER: ISU WR Dom Overby’s eager to turn bite-sized contributions into king-sized ones appeared first on Cyclone Fanatic.