Mere hours after Penn State agreed to hire Iowa State head coach Matt Campbell for its vacancy, the Cyclones have reportedly already already hired the next head coach.
Washington State head coach Jimmy Rogers will take the same position at Iowa State, the Cyclones announced Friday night.
Rogers went 6-6 in his one and only season at Wazzu, leading the Cougars to bowl-eligibility during a season where the Pac-12 had just two teams.
The move makes sense for Rogers, even if he leaves Wazzu after just one year. Not only is he leaving for a Power Four head coaching position, he’ll likely see a considerable pay raise. He received $1.25 million in total pay in 2025, according to USA Today. Campbell reportedly received $5 million.
Rogers does have experience in the Midwest. He went 27-3 as the head coach of South Dakota State the two years before this.
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Rogers has spent most of his coaching career at South Dakota State, but he’s been incredibly successful in myriad roles.
He was a two-time all-conference player at SDSU and then started his coaching career as a graduate assistant there from 2010-11. He spent a season as a GA at FAU before returning to South Dakota State.
He coached SDSU’s linebackers from 2013-18, adding on assistant head coach and co-defensive coordinator responsibilities from 2019-21. He was the team’s defensive coordinator, assistant head coach, and linebackers coach in 2022 as well, a season in which the Jackrabbits won an FCS national championship and were among the best teams in the country in several statistical categories on defense.
Rogers was promoted to head coach going into the 2023 season, a year in which SDSU went 15-0 and won another national title. He won the Eddie Robinson Award that year as well.
In 2024, the Jackrabbits went 12-3 overall and made it to the FCS national semifinals. In that one year alone, he mentored nine players who earned All-American accolades. During his time at SDSU, he also coached quarterback Mark Gronowski, who won the Walter Payton Award.
Rogers’ success made him an appealing candidate for FBS job openings. And he’s now on the way to Iowa State.
