Iowa State Football Beat Missouri, Kansas State for Three-Star Recruit

The Iowa State Cyclones football program has been hard at work during spring practice to prepare for the upcoming season. However, this is also a team that is looking toward the future beyond 2026 as well.

Following a decent campaign in 2025, the Cyclones appeared to be a team that was going to be a force in the Big 12 this year. However, with their head coach Matt Campbell leaving for the Penn State Nittany Lions, it sent a massive ripple effect through the program.

While it is hard enough for coaches and programs to handle the transfer portal these days, it becomes a daunting task when a long-time coach leaves. Unfortunately, that is what happened to Iowa State with the departure of Campbell.

This was a team that saw basically their entire group of starters enter the portal, with a good amount following their coach to Penn State. Furthermore, while they lost a lot of proven talent, many recruits also elected to explore other opportunities as well.

New head coach Jimmy Rogers came in after just one year with the Washington State Cougars and inherited a tough situation. With a roster depleted, he had to focus on the transfer portal in order to get a roster put together. That contributed to the 2026 recruiting class not being as strong as it was projected to be.

Now, it has been full steam ahead to get the 2027 class going, and the Cyclones recently just got another commitment from three-star offensive lineman Gavin Ericson-Staton.

Iowa State Stays Hot Landing Commitments

***FOOTBALL RECRUITING*** BREAKING: Iowa State has landed a commitment from 2027 Lombard (Ill.) Montini Catholic offensive lineman Gavin Ericson-Staton. He's the Cyclones' second OL add in the junior class & fourth verbal overall.

PROFILE: https://t.co/wSQUkDyZJ3 pic.twitter.com/ZJ96d4CsOs
— Bill Seals (@williamseals) April 11, 2026

Rogers and the coaching staff have done a really nice job over the last couple of weeks and are starting to see their 2027 class come together. With Ericson-Staton committing, the Cyclones have now been able to land their fourth recruit and third within the last week.

According to Rivals, he is ranked as the 72nd best offensive tackle in his class and ranks 33rd overall in the state of Illinois. Landing the talented three-star tackle is another good addition for the team, and Rogers continues to prove that he can be a strong recruiter for the program. Furthermore, it was encouraging to see them beat out some programs like the Kansas State Wildcats and Missouri Tigers, who were also pursuing him.

With three recruits in the last week, it has been a very successful stretch for the Cyclones. Hopefully, Rogers and the staff will be able to keep it up going forward and build a great class.