Iowa State football remembers Alex Ernst for magnetic personality, love for family

Alex Ernst's peers can't remember a time he had a bad day.

He seemingly always had a smile, and it was always easy to see why.

He was constantly surrounded by his two loves family and Iowa State football so much that the two became intertwined.Staying up past midnight or sacrificing some of his Sundays off to assist the staff resolve a technical issue or deliver equipment to their house, if it meant a coach can spend more downtime or have dinner with family? Count on him.Being the fun uncle, while trying to instill Chicago White Sox and Iowa State fandoms in niece Adeline and nephew Hunter? Perhaps he didn't fully corrupt them with the pain of being a White Sox fan, given their recent struggles, but they did grow to love the Cyclones.Taking the time to give the Cyclones' longtime custodian, who is legally blind, a ride home to Boone after a late game night? His pleasure.Ernst, who died May 4 at age 37, never strapped up a set of shoulder pads on Saturdays, not even in high school.

Although he didn't get to bask in gameday glory at Jack Trice Stadium, the former video production specialist's impact went beyond his title and surpassed all the responsibilities that were listed on the bullet points of the initial job posting.

It was easy for him to go above and beyond for his family, whether by blood or the cardinal and gold."Nobody wanted Iowa State Athletics in general to be successful more than Alex did in the selflessness that he went through in his day-to-day life with how he served everybody else," Iowa State coach Matt Campbell said.

"I don't know if I've ever witnessed anybody else be as selfless as he's been.

If anybody was having a bad day, you could be around Alex and he brought you back really fast."Fans might not be familiar with Ernst, but any football player, coach or support staffer who has spent time in Ames over the last couple of decades would gladly give him a standing ovation.A Cyclone lifer, Ernst became a fixture behind the scenes within the Iowa State football program.

From his meticulous attention to detail to his quick wit, wide arsenal of jokes and encyclopedic knowledge of sports, Ernst was a unique member of the support staff.It's what makes saying goodbye so difficult.

Ernst was one of eight victims, including his girlfriend Madalyn Elliott, who died in a head-on car collision in Kansas City on May 4.

His friends, family and the football program are mourning his loss."Alex was the glue of Iowa State football," Campbell said.

"The incident that occurred is absolutely devastating and I think the devastation is just how much he has meant to so many people.

When you talk about being authentic, leadership and the ability to consistently show up and be a guiding light to so many people, that's what Alex was to Iowa State football to our players, to our coaches and anybody within our organization."Ernst was born a Cyclone.

He also was a die-hard fan of the Chicago White Sox and Indianapolis Colts, but Iowa State was in his DNA.

His father, Rick, attended the university and the family would go to games at Jack Trice Stadium and Hilton Coliseum.After graduating as 2005 valedictorian from Oelwein High School in northeast Iowa, Ernst went to Iowa State himself.

He arrived in Ames his freshman year with homemade burned CDs that contained recordings of calls by famed sportscaster Pete Taylor."We were never the most athletic family, so he was always a passionate fan," said Chris Ernst, his younger brother.

"Sports were pretty much his life, until I had kids, and then he took quite a lot of joy corrupting my kids.

The best you can corrupt a 5- and 3-year old as the fun uncle."Ernst graduated from Iowa State with two degrees, earning his bachelor's and master's in education, but he discovered his true calling during his junior year when he got his first opportunity to work with the Cyclones as an assistant in the video department.There weren't any full-time positions after he graduated, so he spent a couple of years working at the Community Bank of Boone.

Once a full-time opening finally came in 2014, he pounced on it and never left."We were playing (the video game) 'NHL' and he got a call from his mom.

He took it in the dorm room and he said, 'Oh, hey, Mom, I'm hanging out with four football players in their dorm three of which aren't any good," said former tight end Eric Schultz, who befriended Ernst during his freshman year and later recommended him for a student worker position.

"I pause the game and look around, and I saw all four football players taking inventory like, 'Which one is he talking about?' We laughed really hard.

From there on out, he was one of us, like a little brother.

He never needed our protection, but he just had that personality that we loved to have him around because he was different."It didn't matter where you stood on the hierarchy of the depth chart, whether you were a future NFL Draft pick or a walk-on, Ernst won everyone over with his sense of humor and positive attitude.

Coaches weren't immune to his infectious personality or exempt from being the subject of well-timed jokes, either."He didn't care if you were a football coach or a player, he wanted to be your friend," said Iowa State director of video services Mike Motl, who hired Ernst and was his boss throughout the years.

"He was just one of the guys and he would do anything for Cyclone football to help these guys succeed and help our coaches succeed.

Yeah, you can call him an unsung hero, but he was really a true hero in that building.

I never saw the guy mad.

He never got frustrated with football, because that literally was his life."...

He's got his master's degree, he could have left and had a teaching job and make more than he's making right now, easily."His love for the Cyclones and his peers was evident through his work.

He studied film closely, watching game recordings multiple times over, noting patterns and observations.

Ernst often showed up early in the morning throughout the football season and usually left late at night.

While others may just wait to deal with a potential situation, Ernst took initiative whenever he noticed inconsistencies in the practice schedule and made sure to point them out to coaches.One day he briefly passed out while filming a football practice, but he insisted on staying to finish his shift once he regained consciousness.No matter how demanding the day could be, he remained selfless.

Ernst never needed to raise his hand and wait to be called on.

He already volunteered and got started on the task.

His office door was always open to lend a supportive ear or give a much-needed joke.Those who knew him could only imagine the vast number of wisecracks that would've emerged once it was unveiled May 8 that newly minted Pope Leo XIV is a White Sox fan, and that he attended the World Series when Chicago won in 2005."It was always like he had a unique way of flipping a situation inversely, like if you thought of it one way, he would always be able to flip it a different way and just make you laugh and look at it differently," said longtime friend Mike Bunkers.

"He lived at the (football) facility.

He was always dedicated and it wasn't necessarily even the football program, I think he was really dedicated to the people there.

He cared about the players and coaches a lot."A former student worker himself, Ernst tried to look out for the different generations of students that came after him, bartering his way through the equipment room to get them extra gear and t-shirts.Ernst always paid attention to the little details, whether it was checking in on a friend or family member, the setting on the thermostat in the coaches' offices, remembering everyone's birthdays, or giving that clutch friendly reminder to others to give any necessary birthday and anniversary greetings.Even after facing his own personal tragedies, such as the passing of Ernst's father, Rick, in 2017 and mother, Lori, in 2019, Ernst continued to inspire and touch the lives of others with the way he remained upbeat, giving and optimistic.Once news of Ernst's death spread, many past and present Cyclone players and coaches flooded social media with condolences and stories."It hasn't been anything short of amazing, I didn't even realize just how impactful he was on so many people," said Chris Ernst.

"Just seeing everything, it's been amazing.

I've talked to a lot of people and the stuff on Facebook and everything, the stories about him helping people out.

It's hard to know that he's gone, but it helped just seeing all the great things.

He loved Iowa State and he loved his family."A funeral was held for Ernst on May 29.

Campbell and the entire football program are planning a private team-wide ceremony to commemorate Ernst's life."In the intro song (for the TV show 'Welcome to Wrexham'), there's a line that says, 'Don't forget to sing when you win,' and he took that to heart," Chris Ernst said.

"Trying to take joy and not getting overwhelmed with things.

...

I think he'd want to remind people to enjoy the little things, enjoy the process and even when you've reached success, to take time to look back and smile and take pride in what you've done."Eugene Rapay covers Iowa State athletics for the Des Moines Register.

Contact Eugene at [email protected].

Follow him on Twitter at @erapay5.This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Iowa State football remembers Alex Ernst for love of family, Cyclones.

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