There will be no more tears as Iowa State moves on from the departure of longtime football coach Matt Campbell.
Cyclones athletic director James Pollard got emotional Friday while discussing Campbell leaving to take the job at Penn State, but he regrouped quickly and announced later in the day that Iowa State had hired Jimmy Rogers from Washington State as his replacement.
“You’re sad. But, you know what, I get it,” Pollard said while fighting tears, “I’ve done this long enough. These jobs are hard, and we make sacrifices that fans will never understand. We do. And he’s had an amazing run as our football coach, and didn’t get to do it in front of his family and friends. He had other times he could have left, and he chose not to.
“Matt Campbell, though, owes Iowa State nothing because he did more than we could’ve ever, ever dreamed he would do as our head coach. So yeah, a page turns. But none of us are here forever. Life goes on, and so that’s how I just viewed it …The sun will come up in the east, like it does every morning, and we’ll go on.”
Campbell heads to Penn State to replace James Franklin, who was canned in October.
He had coached at Iowa State since 2016, posting a record of 72-55 with seven bowl appearances, with another coming following an 8-4 mark this year.
The 38-year-old Rogers went 6-6 during his lone year at Washington State after coaching South Dakota State for two seasons, including an FCS national championship in 2023.
“Jimmy Rogers is a rising star in college athletics who has very strong ties to the Midwest both as a player and as a coach,” Pollard said Friday night in a statement.
“He has been on my short-list ever since the first time I met him. He immediately impressed me with his interest in Iowa State University and told me during our first visit several years ago that he wanted to be the next head coach at Iowa State.”
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