Iowa State Cyclones' HC Jimmy Rogers Lays Out Plan to Retain Players

How will Jimmy Rogers retain talent for the Iowa State Cyclones?

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

The Iowa State Cyclones recently introduced their new head coach Jimmy Rogers, and he had plenty to talk about as the new head coach. 

After a crazy couple of days for the Cyclones, they recently introduced their new head coach and will be excited to start a new era. Losing Matt Campbell to the Penn State Nittany Lions was a significant blow for the team, and they will be hoping that Rogers can fill in some big shoes. 

The former coach of Iowa State was arguably the best in the history of the program and was building something special. Now, he will be heading to a big-time program at Penn State and will be trying to help them reach the College Football Playoff and once again become a force in the Big 10. 

For Rogers, he is going to be taking over a team that has a lot of talent, but whether he can get that talent to stay is going to be another question entirely. There will undoubtedly be some players who will be leaving the program to either follow Campbell or explore other opportunities, but Rogers is hoping that after meeting with him, players will give him a chance. At his press conference, he spoke with Alex Busse of 247Sports about his plan to retain players. 

"I'll spend the whole week talking with them individually. One-by-one of the things that where important to them. The things that they thought we could have done better here, their experience here, the relationships that they have. Who they live with, who's close to them. Their parents and their background."

Can Rogers Keep Talent?

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One of the first early tests for the new head coach will be how many players he is going to be able to retain from the current roster. Rogers will have his work cut out for him in the next couple of weeks, and there are certainly some key players, like quarterback Rocco Becht, that he would like to keep. 

In college football these days, retaining talent year after year is not easy, but that is something that Campbell did a good job at. That could very well be one of the reasons why players will go with him, but Rogers’ game plan to try to keep as much talent as he can is wise. 

Undoubtedly, he will also be bringing in some of his own players, and there will be some roster turnover. Hopefully, he can have a strong impression on some of the players and keep them at the program.