Iowa State football, women’s basketball enjoy full-circle moment for Caden Kock and family

• Caden Kock, a junior safety for Iowa State football, is the son of former Cyclone athletes Ryan and Katie Kock.
• The couple balanced parenthood, sports, and academics with help from teammates, coaches, and family.
• Caden grew up around the Iowa State athletic department and is now creating his own legacy on the football team.

AMES — Regardless of the result, Ryan and Katie (née Robinette) Kock always used to look forward to the little nugget waiting for them at the end of the tunnel or outside of locker rooms at Hilton Coliseum and Jack Trice Stadium — their son, Caden.

More than two decades later, Ryan and Katie Kock get to return the favor for Caden, who is all grown up and now a member of the Iowa State football team.

“At every game, he was waiting for you when you come out, and now we still wait for Caden and talk to him after the games,” Ryan Kock said. “You think back, Caden was just the little guy waiting for me to come out. Then, we’d do the same for Katie after her games. These memories will be with you forever.”

Ryan was a key football player for Iowa State and broke a 45-year-old program record for rushing touchdowns by a Cyclone fullback during his senior season. Meanwhile, Katie was once the No. 1 girls high school basketball recruit nationally and became an All-Big 12 player while in Ames.

They were able to enjoy successful playing careers, while balancing parenthood, sports, school and all that comes with being college students. The couple first met as sophomores and when they were both 20, Katie Kock gave birth to Caden on Oct. 23, 2003.

His parents never pressured him to go to Iowa State, but cardinal and gold were already embedded in his DNA, so the decision was easy. Now, he is enjoying his own chapter as an Iowa State football player.

“I’d have no idea how I’d be able to handle that type of responsibility right now if I was in that situation, that would be very stressful and I’m glad that they were able to do it,” Caden Kock, a junior safety, said. “It does give me a real big appreciation for them and admiration with how they were able to do that. It probably took a lot of time management, a lot of sacrifices, I’m sure, and I’m really grateful and impressed with how they were able to do that.”

It’s a unique circumstance, and while Ryan and Katie Kock both rose to the occasion over 20 years ago, they couldn’t have done it without the help of family — whether it be by blood or their Cyclone family.

Caden Kock’s extended “family” includes parents’ former Iowa State teammates, coaches

Caden Kock didn’t have your run-of-the-mill teenage babysitter; he got to have various Division I football and women’s basketball players, and a few coaches, help take care of him.

One day, it could be hulking 6-foot-3, 305-pound lineman Luke Vander Sanden keeping watch, or multi-year starting wing Mary Fox and two-time All-Big 12 guard Lyndsey Medders playing with him while his parents were in class.

Hilton Coliseum and Jack Trice Stadium became his playpens. To this day, he still sometimes refers to his mother’s teammates as his aunts, which in turn made his father’s teammates like his uncles.

“We had a blast with Caden,” said Lyndsey Fennelly (née Medders). “I think just the people that Ryan and Katie are, were and will always be, made people want to say we will do whatever we can to help. I don’t want to minimize it; they did all the heavy lifting. They had him every waking moment that school and basketball didn’t otherwise allow for, or football in Ryan’s case.”

Ryan Kock hailed from approximately one hour away in Lohrville, while Katie Kock was originally from South Sioux City, Nebraska, a three-hour drive from Iowa State. Caden Kock’s grandparents were frequent visitors and helped take care of him while he was an infant, but they couldn’t always be in Ames.

Fortunately for Katie and Ryan Kock, their sports seasons didn’t overlap too much, but there were still workouts, practices, class, travel and day-to-day scheduling conflicts to navigate. They didn’t need to look far for a babysitter, nor did they have to worry about extensively vetting them either.

“When you recruit someone, you’re always telling the parents that we’re going to take care of your daughter,” said Iowa State longtime women’s basketball coach Bill Fennelly, who changed a couple of Caden Kock’s diapers back in the day. “It’s our responsibility. … They always say it takes a village and the village was the Iowa State athletic department, especially women’s basketball and football, and everyone surrounding that. Everyone was so excited to help.”

Caden Kock became a normal part of both programs. There were times when the women’s basketball team practiced that he was cradled in the arms of an assistant coach or manager. Some fans even came bearing gifts for him, presenting his mother blankets or posters. He was also a welcome presence in the football team’s locker room after summer workouts.

Sometimes, his babysitters had a bit too much fun with little Caden in an attempt to rib his parents. Katie Kock’s sisters once dressed him up in an Iowa State cheerleader outfit. A couple of women’s basketball players once painted his toenails in a prank to stir a reaction from Ryan Kock.

Caden Kock even demonstrated some advanced reading skills as a young child.

“They told me that they trained me how to fetch beer from the fridge,” he said with a sly grin. “I think that’s a cool story from when I was young.”

Lyndsey Fennelly admitted to being the mastermind behind painting his toenails as a prank, but no one has taken responsibility for who taught him how to read beer can labels. Although the Kocks have a couple of ideas.

“He was a college kid before he ever went to college,” Katie Kock joked. “That was part of the deal, we’d have time off in the summertime. He was always safe, loved and well-cared for; it was not a party scene.”

Katie Kock worked her way back to the basketball court just a couple of months after giving birth. By the second semester of that season, she was playing in every game, much to her teammates and coaches’ amazement. Ryan Kock continued to blossom on the gridiron.

As their former teammates later started having families of their own, they grew further impressed by the Kocks’ ability to juggle all the responsibilities of being a student-athlete while being a parent. They also did it while working part-time during the offseason. Ryan Kock got a job framing apartments, while Katie worked in leasing apartments.

“It’s not like there was any NIL money available back then for babies’ needs, diapers and all that stuff,” former Cyclone football coach Dan McCarney said. “I remember Ryan was working a job in the summertime after workouts just to literally pay for diapers. In those situations, you’d love to help, but the NCAA didn’t allow it. All it did was just enhance your respect for the both of them together in making the commitment they did.”

They held themselves to a high standard and didn’t ask for special treatment or slack off in practice or class. They both graduated on time. Katie Kock was first in 2005, and Ryan followed in 2006.

“I know our focus shifted from being a traditional college student-athlete to Caden and what we need to do to give him the best life, the best parents,” Katie Kock said. “Like anything else, we were going to try our best. During that time I was pregnant, I did a lot of learning about what it takes to be a mom, how to take care of a baby and all of those things. We both just dug in and added parent to the resume.”

Where is Iowa State football’s No. 35?

Every Saturday in the fall, it is a game that everyone who has some sort of connection to the Kock family will play. Who can find No. 35 first?

“Even now, I’ll be in the crowd, and my phone will blow up,” Katie Kock said. “Whether they’re sitting in the stadium, or from their couch or whatever, if they spot him, they take the time to snap a picture and send it. ‘It’s our guy, it’s so cool! He looks just like Ryan out there.’ It’s been really special, it’s been a fun couple of years, and we’re just trying to soak it all in and enjoy it.”

When she attends a football game, Lyndsey Fennelly will sometimes peer over at the section of Jack Trice Stadium where the women’s basketball team used to sit with baby Caden, taking turns holding him and feeding him a snack. To her, it’s still surreal that the baby she once held is now looking to make a big hit on an opponent.

“The sort of gotcha moment that I had was two years ago at a women’s basketball reunion, when it’s Katie Robinette, Mary Fox and myself, and then there’s Caden at a restaurant with us, holding court and having a good time,” Lyndsey Fennelly said. “You’re kind of like, ‘holy buckets.’ This is everything college sports, family and connectedness, and being an Iowa State Cyclone. This is what it’s all about right here.”

Some of Caden Kock’s greatest memories growing up were attending games at Jack Trice Stadium and Hilton Coliseum all throughout his childhood and through his teenage years. He loved watching Breece Hall, Brock Purdy and Hakeem Butler, and he’s relishing in his opportunity to make memorable moments on the field, too.

Known for his tenacious work ethic and never-back-down attitude, he started earning a piece of the action during the 2024 season on special teams.

He is a fixture on the Cyclones’ kick return, punt return, and kickoff units, in addition to his spot as a reserve safety.

Off the field, the junior finance major was named to the Big 12 Commissioner’s Honor Roll three times for his academic performance.

“He’s been a foundational staple of what this culture is about, what this program’s about and we’re really grateful for him,” Cyclones coach Matt Campbell said. “I can imagine the pride his parents must have in watching not only him walk-on, but him walk-on and be such a difference-maker on such good teams here at Iowa State. He was a year ago, and he is now again today.”

The younger Kock has never felt like he was in his parents’ shadows, but is instead embracing the opportunity of having his own journey at Iowa State. He still runs into the women’s basketball team coaching staff, who once helped care for him as a baby, and it’s always a joyful reunion. Ames has always felt like home for him.

“I knew if I ever had the opportunity to come to Iowa State, I was definitely going to take it, just because I spent so much time in Ames and we were Iowa State fans, and my parents played here,” Caden Kock said. “It’s been awesome, the opportunity of a lifetime. I feel like I’ve grown a lot as a person, learned a lot and I feel lucky to be here.”

There will be more on the way. His younger sister Ali is enrolling at Iowa State as a freshman next year. It’s possible that his other siblings, Chloe and Bode, become Cyclones too, but they have a few years of high school left before they start thinking of the college process.

Ryan Kock took over his family’s seed business and runs a farm and also works as a Farm Bureau insurance agent. Katie Kock is still around the basketball court. She serves as the varsity coach at Carroll High School, where her daughters are on the team.

“Nothing was planned, but obviously God had more plans than we realized, and it’s worked out great,” Ryan Kock said.

Who doesn’t love a happy ending?

“There’s a lot of these kinds of stories that don’t turn out as positively as this one,” Bill Fennelly said. “Great family that’s grown and had success, and all of a sudden, Caden ends up where he belongs in an Iowa State uniform. It’s been an amazing journey for them. Two phenomenal young people that at a young time in their life who figured it out and made it work. They didn’t just make it work, they made it great and couldn’t be more proud.”

Eugene Rapay covers Iowa State athletics for the Des Moines Register. Contact Eugene at erapay@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @erapay5.