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Jimmy Rogers Follows Iowa State's Greatest Football Era and Seeks to Avoid Return to Bad Old Days
Iowa State is starting over under head coach Jimmy Rogers after Matt Campbell left for Penn State, taking 24 players with him following the program's best 10-year period in school history.
Campbell went 72-55 and led the Cyclones to Big 12 championship games in 2020 and 2024, yet fans fear a return to the program's historical struggles, including a title drought since 1912.
The roster features 82 newcomers—the most in the Football Bowl Subdivision—with no returning starters; Las Vegas set the over-under for Iowa State wins at 4.5.
Running back Aiden Flora acknowledged initial apprehension about the coaching change, yet the team is building internal chemistry and "our connection is unbelievable right now," Flora said.
Signed to a six-year, $3 million contract, Rogers says the Cyclones are further along than his Washington State team was, with players "believing in themselves when nobody else in the country does.