Washington State Cougars On SI

Jimmy Rogers Leaving Washington State For Iowa State

Joe Londergan|
Oct 25, 2025; Pullman, Washington, USA; Washington State Cougars head coach Jimmy Rogers walks off the field after a game against the Toledo Rockets at Gesa Field at Martin Stadium. Washington State Cougars won 28-7. Mandatory Credit: James Snook-Imagn Images
Oct 25, 2025; Pullman, Washington, USA; Washington State Cougars head coach Jimmy Rogers walks off the field after a game against the Toledo Rockets at Gesa Field at Martin Stadium. Washington State Cougars won 28-7. Mandatory Credit: James Snook-Imagn Images | James Snook-Imagn Images

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Washington State CougarsIowa State CyclonesPenn State Nittany Lions

The gears of the coaching carousel turn quickly.

Early Friday afternoon, ESPN's Pete Thamel reported that Penn State had worked out an eight-year contract with Iowa State head coach Matt Campbell to replace James Franklin in State College. Roughly seven hours later, Iowa State announced that they had found their next head coach: Jimmy Rogers.

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The news comes less than a week after Rogers completed his first regular season at Washington State, leading WSU to a 6-6 overall record and a TBA bowl berth.

The news also comes just two days after Washington State signed 28 players to their 2026 recruiting class. WSU announced additional signees roughly five hours before Rogers' hire at WSU was announced.

Rogers was hired by WSU following the 2024 season. He spent the two seasons prior as the head coach at South Dakota State, his alma mater, where he won the 2023 FCS national championship. Rogers spent 13 seasons as an assistant at SDSU, including the 2022 season as the Jackrabits defensive coordinator, helping them to their first national championship under John Stiegelmeier. He also spent the 2012 season as a graduate assistant at Florida Atlantic. When he arrived in Pullman, Rogers brought more than a dozen transfer players with him from SDSU.

As a Division I head coach, Rogers has accumulated an overall record of 33-9. The 38-year-old is a native of Chandler, Arizona.

Washington State parted ways with Athletic Director Anne McCoy, who spearheaded the effort to hire Rogers, last month.

This will mark the second straight season that Washington State's head coach will be leaving the team for antoher school prior to the bowl game. Jake Dickert left and accepted the head coach position at Wake Forest following the conclusion of the 2024 regular season.

Per Greg Woods of the Spokesman-Review, defensive coordinator Jesse Bobbit will be WSU's interim head coach for the bowl game.

Easy come, easy go.

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Joe Londergan
JOE LONDERGAN

Joe Londergan joined the SI brand in 2023 with G5 Football Daily. With over 15 years of experience in covering and working directly in college and pro sports, Joe's expertise has been featured in Front Office Sports, SB Nation, and XRAY.FM. He is a member of both the Football Writers' Association of America and the National Collegiate Baseball Writers' Association. Joe holds a bachelor's degree from the University of Louisville and a master's degree in sports administration from Seattle University. Outside of his writing career, Joe enjoys golfing, although he admits that while he hits driver decently, his short game is a liability.

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