Jimmy Rogers Reveals What Has Been Stressful About Time at Iowa State

What has been the most stressful part of being Iowa State Cyclones head football coach for Jimmy Rogers.

Iowa State football coach Jimmy Rogers speaks during a timeout in the first half in the Iowa State and Iowa men’s basketball Cy-Hawk series at Hilton coliseum on Dec. 11, 2025, in Ames, Iowa. | Nirmalendu Majumdar/Ames Tribune / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The 2026 college football season will be the dawn of a new era for the Iowa State Cyclones program.

For the first time in a decade, they will have a new head coach on the sidelines. Jimmy Rogers was hired away from the Washington State Cougars to replace Matt Campbell, who departed for the Penn State Nittany Lions.

Rogers has some massive shoes to fill as the successor to the winningest coach in program history. He knows the pressure is on, taking over for a legend who was beloved by the school and fan base.

His first order of business, along with filling out his coaching staff, was to ensure the roster is in as good a shape as possible for 2026. More than 50 Cyclones hit the transfer portal after Campbell left, leaving massive voids to fill.

Transfer portal was stressful for Jimmy Rogers

Jimmy Rogers speaks during his introductory press conference as Iowa State’s new head football coach on Dec. 8, 2025, at Iowa State University in Ames, IA. | Cody Scanlan/The Register / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Working under the gun to add talent isn’t something that is foreign to Rogers. He had to do it last year when he left the South Dakota State Jackrabbits for Washington State, but the state of college football was different.

There was a spring transfer window he knew he could utilize to further add talent to the Cougars. That no longer exists, changing the dynamic in his first year in Ames.

"It's stressful. Is it more stressful than last year? It's just kind of different how it played out. I'm happy with the roster that we put together, and I'm excited to kind of form this team,” the new head coach said, via Alec Busse of Cyclone Alert, part of the 247Sports Network (subscription required).

47 players have committed to Iowa State via the transfer portal. That is a lot of fresh faces on the roster and nearly as many newcomers as Rogers had in his first year with Washington State, with 75.

Jimmy Rogers has experience working with overhauled rosters

Oct 25, 2025; Pullman, Washington, USA; Washington State Cougars head coach Jimmy Rogers looks on against the Toledo Rockets in the first half at Gesa Field at Martin Stadium. | James Snook-Imagn Images

"It means you have to make the most out of what this roster is, and there's no turning back," Rogers added. "You can't say, 'Well, this guy's going to be better than this guy.' It's none of that. You have what you have.”

The massive roster turnover didn’t stop the Cougars from finding success on the gridiron. Rogers led the team to bowl eligibility before interim head coach Jesse Bobbit, now his defensive coordinator again with the Cyclones, led the team to victory over the Utah State Aggies.

Iowa State fans are certainly hopeful a similar outcome can occur in Ames later this fall. There will be some familiarity from former Washington State players following him, and some very talented players have also been landed in the transfer portal from other programs.