Iowa State's new head football coach, Jimmy Rogers, has publicly stated his ambition to lead the Cyclones to the Big 12 championship game in his inaugural season. This bold declaration comes as the team faces considerable rebuilding after a significant number of players transferred following the departure of former coach Matt Campbell.
Rogers, who was hired to replace Campbell, acknowledged that he himself picked Iowa State to reach the Big 12 championship game in an anonymous coaches poll. "I was brought in to win," Rogers told reporters. "Very self-aware. They didn’t hire me to come here and not be competitive. I wasn’t hired for my disposition. I was hired to create a program that competes and wins and that’s the goal. We’re not signing up for second place."
The Cyclones were predicted to finish last in the Big 12 preseason media poll and return no starters. Following Campbell's move to Penn State, 55 players left the Iowa State program. Campbell's tenure saw the Cyclones achieve an 8-4 record in his final season, including a 5-4 record in conference play. During his 10 years, Iowa State appeared in seven bowl games and reached the Big 12 championship game in 2020. The program has not won a conference championship since 1912.
Tight end Tyler Fortenberry indicated that Rogers' confident outlook is not surprising to the team. He attributed Rogers' confidence to his prior success as an assistant and head coach at South Dakota State in the Football Championship Subdivision. In his single season at Washington State, Rogers guided a team with 75 new players to a 6-6 record and a bowl invitation.
"Coach Rogers does a good job in team meetings making sure we're not focused on what Twitter says, what Instagram says or what the media says about what we're going to finish," Fortenberry said. "They all have us 16th. If you buy into that and believe what the media has to say, you're not going to get anywhere in life."