Iowa State Cyclones' Defensive Coordinator Announces Retirement

A long-time assistant coach of the Iowa State Cyclones has announced his retirement.

Nov 9, 2024; Kansas City, Missouri, USA; Iowa State Cyclones helmets on the bench during the first quarter against the Kansas Jayhawks at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium. | William Purnell-Imagn Images

As the Iowa State Cyclones start to build their program following the departure of Matt Campbell, a long-time coach for the program has retired. 

It has been a busy couple of weeks for the Cyclones, who are trying to get things in order with new head coach Jimmy Rogers taking over. The talented young coach from the Washington State Cougars has his work cut out for him following the departure of Campbell, but there is reason to believe he will be up for the task.

In his first campaign with the Cougars, he was able to lead them to a 6-6 record, and they just recently won the Idaho Potato Bowl. Some of his assistants stayed back with the program to coach the team, and now a majority of them will be coming over to join Iowa State. 

As expected, following his departure, Campbell brought over a lot of his coaching staff with him to the Penn State Nittany Lions. One coach who figured to be joining him as well was his long-time defensive coordinator, Jon Heacock. However, in a bit of a surprise move, the talented defensive coordinator has elected to retire. 

Great Run for Heacock With the Cyclones

pic.twitter.com/JQeoJiouIq

— JON HEACOCK (@Coach_Heacock) December 23, 2025

For the last 10 seasons, Heacock was the defensive coordinator for the program, and this was a team that was undoubtedly built on playing defense well. The talented assistant has been regarded as one of the best in the country for the last decade and has been a nominee for the Broyles Award in three of the previous four years. 

Alongside Campbell, these two coaches were able to complete a turnaround of the program for Iowa State and create an identity and culture based on playing good defense. Now, Rogers and Jesse Bobbit will be looking to follow in those footsteps and continue that defensive identity that has been created in Ames. 

In 2025, the Cougars had a strong defense and played against some elite teams in the country, like Ole Miss, very well. Furthermore, their defensive intensity was impressive for the program in their bowl win. 

For Heacock, it has undoubtedly been a great career with the Cyclones, and he will go down as one of the best coordinators and assistant coaches in the history of the program. After a long and successful coaching career, he obviously decided that rather than starting something new at Penn State, it would be best to retire after 10 years with Iowa State.