Iowa State Cyclones Reportedly Hire Jimmy Rogers to Replace Matt Campbell

The Iowa State Cyclones wasted no time hiring a new football coach.

Nov 1, 2025; Corvallis, Oregon, USA; Washington State Cougars head coach Jimmy Rogers during a time out in the 4th quarter against the Oregon State Beavers at Reser Stadium. | Craig Strobeck-Imagn Images

The Iowa State Cyclones have reportedly wasted no time finding a new coach following the loss of Matt Campbell. 

In what ended up being a speedy turn of events for the Cyclones, rumors started to circulate on Wednesday that Campbell was being considered for the Penn State Nittany Lions head coaching position. 

The head coach for Iowa State was able to really improve the program and helped them reach the Big 12 title game in 2024. Coming into 2025, that was certainly a goal for the program, but they finished the regular season with an 8-4 record. 

In what was a quick turn of events, it was announced on Friday night that Campbell had agreed to terms to become the next head coach of Penn State. He will undoubtedly have success there with a great program and some strong financial backing. 

However, for the Cyclones, it left a significant void for the program at the head coach spot. This figured to be a lengthy search for a new coach, but with the ink potentially not even on the paper yet for Campbell at Penn State, the team has reportedly hired Washington State Cougars head coach Jimmy Rogers. 

Rogers is a Strong Replacement 

Sources: Jimmy Rogers is set to become the next coach at Iowa State. He’s the first-year head coach at Washington State and won a national title at South Dakota State in 2023 as the head coach there. pic.twitter.com/c7jMbRjNrO

— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) December 6, 2025

In what could very well be the fastest replacement of a coach in the history of college football, Rogers is coming over after one year with the Cougars, in which he had a 6-6 record. Washington State performed well under Rogers, who won a National Title in 2023 with South Dakota State in the lower division. 

He has been able to move his way up in the coaching ranks very quickly, and now he will be getting an opportunity to carry on what Campbell built. This is, without a doubt, a shocking hire based on how quickly it happened for the program. 

Even though things were largely quiet with Campbell leaving, things must have been brewing behind the scenes for the program for the last couple of days at least to be able to land Rogers so quickly. Now, the former Washington State coach will be taking over a program that has been on the rise. However, he will have some challenges ahead. 

Due to Campbell's leaving, Rogers will undoubtedly have to try to convince some players to stay and get to know them. However, he could also bring over some of his talent from Washington State. Overall, it has been a wild night and one that is going to go down in the Iowa State history books.