Iowa State Head Coach Jimmy Rogers on Rebuilding the Cyclones From Scratch

Brian Fisher here for Sports Illustrated at Big 12 Media Day joined now by a new Iowa State head coach Jimmy Rodgers.

Jimmy, uh, first time experience here at the Big G Media Days.

How, how are you finding everything?

Are you, are you excited about the season coming up?

Yeah, it's, this is a cool event.

Uh, I think it's first class.

It's really well ran.

Excited for our players to be able to experience this, but surely, uh, excited for the season.

You know, there's been a lot of work that's gone into this, and, uh, 7 months together have come a long way and made a lot of progress, but, uh , obviously progress isn't the.

Isn't the end goal.

I'm excited to put it to play on in the fall.

How, how many questions have you gotten about your roster while you're walking around it?

But I've gotten at that through the last two years now.

Um, it is a unique setting, but I'm not gonna complain about something I signed up for.

I mean, to say you started with a blank slate, it might, might even be putting it mildly as a football coach.

How did you go about attacking the, you know, the fact that, frankly, you didn't have that many guys, uh, coming back for you this season.

Yeah, you know, it's a unique scenario.

The, the players that were on the prior team, they didn't sign up to, to play for me or my staff, so there's no hard feelings there.

But, uh, right away, we got to know the players, got to figure out what, you know, what they were looking for and who was leaving, who was staying, and then, Attacking the film and trying to figure out what players we felt like could help us on that roster and, um, in the meantime, you know, looking at the portal and seeing who was available, and we started really at the, the line of scrimmage and we, we worked ourselves as the quarterback and that kind of happened organically and really quickly was how allowed us to get the, the right type of skill in the door and.

It was a lot of work and it's done in a short amount of time, but I do feel like there's one thing we didn't miss on, and that that's the people, that's the person, that's how they work, and their willingness to want to buy into something bigger than themselves.

What, what did you see out of, out of your team in spring ball, and what are you most excited to really see going into fall camp?

Yeah, I mean, this is one of the most physical spring balls I've been a part of.

I felt like every play was 4th in inches, the way we were striking each other.

And I would like to see that maintained.

I don't want that to fall off one bit.

We got to continue to take care of one another, um, and then we got to find polish, you know, the, the details of the scheme, but also some of the technique things in which is going to be pivotal for our success.

Well, when it comes to your current team, is there somebody that maybe we're not talking about here at Big 12 Media Days or we're really talking about this fall, but they will be a household name.

They're in names.

Um.

You know, at the wide receiver position, I'm really, I'm really, uh, excited to see who steps up out of that group because I do think there's several in there that could be key players for us.

Dom Overby, um, Cody Jackson, Carter Pabs, um, Evan Boyd.

Um, the running back outside of Ayden Flora, Cam Pettaway is a special talent, and um, Yeah, the defensive side of the ball, I, I think we're really good on the back end, but Bryson, Bryson Lamb, uh, I do think is a really, really good defensive lineman, as well as Amir Hawk.

How do you approach your, your quarterback position this year?

Yeah, I mean, Jalen will, will enter fall camp as the one as of right now, and it's, it's his job to, uh, lose, you know, he, he's done the work up to this point as far as being a great leader and Uh, having a high capacity to learn and staying committed to the process to going out and executing inside of OTAs and, um.

Yeah, I think he's done a really good job, but at the end of the day, there will be an honest evaluation day in and day out on who the best player is that sets us up to have success come the fall.

I mean, he does have so much experience coming into the season.

Is that kind of why he kind of got that nod initially?

Well, he just got such a charisma, charisma.

We brought him in for that reason, and he kind of just has taken ownership and reins of the position and has been an unbelievable leader.

He's helped us kind of bridge so many people that are different into one program.

Because he is a charismatic kid and he's got this um moxie and and confidence to him.

Does that come with experience?

Probably some of it , but he is a perfectionist.

He works really hard at his craft, and he's taken a playbook that is completely different than anything that he's been used to and has done a really good job thus far.

Well, I mean, how important was it for you when you're building out your staff to have somebody like an OC that knows the place and knows, knows what works there?

Yeah, I, I think that, but I, you know, my reason of hiring Tyler Rowe had nothing to do with as much X's and O's as much as it did the type of leader in the command that he has and the presence that he has to get the most out of people, not just coaches, but the players, um, And I think it's really important for Jalen.

That Keith Heckendorf is here to kind of be the transfer of information.

Keith Heckendorf was the offensive coordinator at Arkansas State.

He's now our quarterback coach and, um, being able to kind of bridge that knowledge gap for, for Jalen on saying, hey, this is the same concept as this.

It's the same reads.

I think that naturally has maybe been an advantage to Jalen's, on Jalen's behalf.

What, uh, what, what excites you just about where the program is and where it can be going forward?

Yeah, we're far from what we want to be, um, but we have made, we've made huge steps in just the overall culture and getting the right player to come in, buy in, be extremely willing to work and, and embrace what we're trying to get done as far as the, the physical nature of how we practice and how we train.

Uh, this is one of the few teams, if the only team I've ever been a part of that, you don't hear a lot of, you know, moaning and groaning and complaining about the work.

They've attacked it.

And part of that may be, you know, understanding that there's a lot of jobs up for opening and, and that they trust that we'll make the right.

Right call on who the best players are and give them an opportunity based off the work that they put into it.

Do they kind of have maybe a collective chip on their shoulder?

I mean, no selection of the first we were picked last.

Yeah, I mean, do you lean into that though?

Do you try to cut caution against that?

I honestly don't think it matters because I think it's fleeting, but for me, um, like as a whole .

Team doesn't matter.

I think it's just.

It's something that I enjoy.

It's kind of how I built my life is trying to prove people wrong.

Does it mean that for everybody?

Do I know in the end?

Does it make the difference of our overall success?

No, um, but surely, yeah, it's motivation and, uh, you can get something out of them for a little bit, uh, at the end of the day.

Uh, they need to be inspired by them.

Giving their best to their teammates because their teammates are giving the best of them.

And if there isn't a higher priority than that, then you're, you're not the most connected team.

You've, uh, you've taken over for, for a legend.

You've, you've won a national title, taking over this job.

What are the similarities, you know, through, throughout your career that you, you can use going into this season and and really moving forward these next couple of years there at ISU?

Yeah, I know that expectations are high.

I replaced the all-time winning as head coach at South Dakota State, and I had just replaced the all-time winning as coach at , at Iowa State.

Um, I don't get too caught up in that.

I just really try to be present in mind and, and really focus on how I can impact the players day to day, impact the staff day to day, be organized, give them my best, um, hold them accountable, tell them the truth, and push them and know that they, they can count on me because I'm doing my work.

Have you been able to talk with, with Matt Campbell just to pick his brain a little bit about what goes on with the program?

Yeah, just a little bit.

You know, just about the roster in itself , but I got a lot from a lot of the staff members that had decided to stay and not go to Penn State as far as the systems that were put in place, and there's many things that I didn't change at all because I thought they were so well ran and there was a structure and a system to have success.

And then there are many things that are different, and The players that stayed have done a great job adjusting, and those players that came in, they didn't know any different anyways.

So for me it's been an opportunity to hit a reset button and Change things on how I want things done, things that I can believe in and not just stick with it just because it was done, you know, like that in the past.

So I'm excited.

Um, this has been a joy, honestly, just that the people at Iowa State, the leadership, the administration has been awesome and so, um.

I'm excited for the fall.

My podcast partner would not forgive me, Pat 40, in terms of asking you about the Ames water.

Have you had, had the Ames tap water experience?

No, I heard the song?

No, OK, OK.

Well, I, I think that'll probably be the first question about tap water that you get there, there in Ames.

But, uh, uh, Jimmy, thanks you so much for stopping by and talking about ISU.

Yeah, thank you.