College football team loses 55 players to transfer portal

Dublin, IRELAND; Iowa State player Marcus Neal Jr celebrates a defensive stop during the Aer Lingus Classic between Iowa State and Kansas State at Aviva Stadium. | INPHO via Imagn Images

Iowa State’s 2025 season ended 8–4 (5–4 Big 12), a notable step back following a breakout 11–3 campaign in 2024 that saw the Cyclones finish No. 18 in the final College Football Playoff rankings.

The program then underwent rapid offseason upheaval when longtime head coach Matt Campbell accepted the Penn State job, leaving as Iowa State’s winningest coach (72–55 in 10 seasons) after turning the Cyclones into a consistent bowl team and regular top-25 contender.

Campbell’s exit immediately triggered one of the largest transfer-portal exoduses in recent memory, with 55 Iowa State players entering the portal during the January window.

Among the most recent departures was offensive tackle Derek Jensen, a redshirt freshman who transferred to Iowa State from Wisconsin in April 2025 and re-entered the portal on January 12.

Jensen was a former three-star prospect out of Arrowhead High School in Hartland, Wisconsin, ranked as the No. 4 recruit in the state and the No. 32 interior offensive lineman nationally by 247Sports, earning all-region and all-state honors as both a junior and senior.

Jimmy Rogers speaks during his introductory press conference as Iowa State’s new head football coach at Iowa State University in Ames, IA. | Cody Scanlan/The Register / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The list of higher-profile Cyclones who entered the portal includes multi-year contributors and 2025 starters such as defensive standouts Ikenna Ezeogu (junior defensive lineman) and Jamison Patton (junior defensive back).

Sophomore defensive back Marcus Neal Jr. and junior linebacker Kooper Ebel, the team’s two leading tacklers with 77 total stops apiece in 2025, are also set to depart.

Several important offensive pieces are on their way out as well, including starting guard Trevor Buhr, wide receiver Carson Brown, and standout tight end Benjamin Brahmer, among others.

With the exception of Brown, who transferred to Hawaii, those other players, along with several additional portal entrants, are set to follow Campbell to Penn State.

Iowa State’s athletic department elevated Jimmy Rogers to the head coaching position on Dec. 5, 2025, following Campbell’s departure.

Rogers arrives after a rapid rise that included winning an FCS national championship at South Dakota State in 2023 and compiling a 33–9 head-coaching record over three seasons, highlighted by a dominant 27–3 stretch at South Dakota State.

He spent the 2025 season at Washington State, where he helped guide the Cougars to a 6–6 overall record and a 34–21 victory over Utah State in the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl before moving to Ames.

With deep Midwestern recruiting ties, a strong defensive background, and proven program-building experience at the FCS level, Rogers offers some optimism for a Cyclones program now tasked with replacing its all-time winningest head coach and more than 50 players in a single offseason.

Read More at College Football HQ

• $1.5 billion program is the No. 1 most valuable Big Ten team in college football

• Nick Saban offers strong advice to major college football head coach

• 5-star WR heavily pursued by five major college football programs

• No. 1 ATH spurs recruitment battle with four major college football programs