Iowa State Cyclones Place Well in Recruiting Rankings Despite Challenges

Where did the Iowa State Cyclones place in recruiting rankings?

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

With National Signing Day finishing up for the Iowa State Cyclones, the team will be getting ready to prepare for the 2026 campaign with their recruits coming in. 

It has been a wild couple of months for the Cyclones, who have seen their program turned upside down following the loss of Matt Campbell to the Penn State Nittany Lions. Fortunately, Iowa State was able to bring in Jimmy Rogers from the Washington State Cougars to quickly replace him. However, he inherited a tough situation and has had to rebuild the program. 

In the transfer portal, Rogers and his staff were extremely active in bringing in players from all over the country. This is a new group that should have some nice depth heading into the season. Furthermore, while he had to work the transfer portal first, the staff then quickly changed their focus to the 2026 recruiting class. Like players 

Craig Haubert of ESPN recently ranked the Top 75 recruiting classes in the nation. Despite a lot of changes, the Cyclones were able to only move down one spot from the last update to 67th. 

Strong First Class for Rogers

Jimmy Rogers | Cody Scanlan/The Register / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Even though the 2026 recruiting class was shaping up to be one of the best in the history of the program, they were fortunate to be able to keep a Top 75 class following the departure of their coach. 

Campbell was doing a really strong job building his 2026 class before leaving Iowa State, and like many of his players, the recruits also jumped at the opportunity to head to the Nittany Lions. 

For Rogers, he had a decent class with the Cougars before leaving, and like Campbell, brought over a lot of his talent. Just before signing day, Rogers was able to get his best recruit according to Rivals, with four-star offensive lineman Benjamin Makelela joining the group. 

This is a program that is looking to play strong defense and win in the trenches. However, they also added some appealing talent at flashier positions, with quarterback Hudson Kurland following him to Ames. Even though not too many recruits stayed, wide receiver Jeffrey Roberts elected to stay with the Cyclones. 

Overall, while it might not be the best recruiting class in the history of the program, it was a solid one considering the challenging circumstances for Rogers. Iowa State is never going to be landing a bunch of five-star players, but identifying diamonds in the rough and having strong depth will be the plan going forward.