Iowa State Cyclones' Jimmy Rogers Lays Out High Expectations for Program

What are the expectations for the Iowa State Cyclones with Jimmy Rogers taking over?

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 introduced their new head coach, Jimmy Rogers, on Monday, and he laid out his expectations and goals for the program. 

It has certainly been a wild last few days for the Cyclones, but the program is taking it in strides. On Friday, the team lost their head coach Matt Campbell to the Penn State Nittany Lions. Losing Campbell on Friday made it seem like the program was going to be in a tough spot to find a replacement, but they were able to hire Washington State Cougars head coach Jimmy Rogers within an hour of the reports that Campbell was leaving. 

Replacing Campbell is not going to be easy for Rogers, with the former coach of the Cyclones being arguably the best in the history of the program. However, the new coach of Iowa State has a lot of confidence and isn’t going to shy away from big expectations. 

Rogers recently spoke at his introductory press conference to Travis Hines of the Des Moines Register about the expectations and goals that he has for the program. 

“Very competitive and driven to win the Big 12 championship and win championships moving forward. I believe we can do that.”

Can the Rogers Era Be Successful?

Rogers: I think the expectations are awesome. I didn't come here to lose.

He said Iowa State will be competitive in chasing to the CFP.

— Alec Busse (@alec_busse) December 8, 2025

After just one season with Washington State, Rogers will be taking another step forward in his coaching career, and the talented coach will be hoping to build upon what Campbell built at Iowa State. This is a team that has had a lot of winning seasons in recent years, and those expectations will still be there. 

As successful as Campbell was for the Cyclones, one thing that he wasn’t able to accomplish was winning a Big 12 title. In 2024, the team did make the title game but ultimately lost to the Arizona State Sun Devils. The hope was that 2025 might have been the year the program was going to be able to achieve that feat. However, despite the hot start, they lost four straight conference games to end that dream. 

With the Big 12 only sending one team to the College Football Playoff this year, this is a division that isn’t getting a ton of recognition nationally still. Only the Texas Tech Red Raiders, who won the conference championship, make the CFP, but that is another goal of Rogers’ going forward. 

In order to compete with the best of the best, Rogers is going to have his work cut out for him in multiple areas. Iowa State doesn’t have a ton of NIL money compared to other schools, and this could hold them back. However, the financial backing for Rogers is more than he has received from other schools in the past, and he might be the guy to take them to the next level.