Matt Campbell's success at Iowa State began long before he got to Ames. A former Mount Union defensive lineman, assistant coach and coordinator, Campbell won five national championships at the Division III power before moving on to FBS. Whether intentional or coincidental, Iowa State repeated that formula with the hire of Jimmy Rogers.
Rogers spent 19 seasons at South Dakota State -- five as a player under future Hall of Fame coach John Stiegelmeier, two as a GA, six as linebackers coach, three as assistant head coach and co-defensive coordinator, one more as the sole defensive coordinator, and then two as head coach. Along the way, South Dakota State transformed into an also-ran FCS program into a national power. SDSU played in its first FCS playoff game in 2009. They were in the title game four times from 2020-23, winning it all in Stiegelmer's final season of 2022 and Rogers's first in 2023. After going 27-3 in two seasons at his alma mater, Rogers was off to Washington State, and then to Iowa State after just one season in Pullman.
None of this is rocket science. Hiring a successful coach from a championship pedigree at a lower level and bringing him into the Big 12 is about as conventional as it gets, and there's nothing wrong with conventional in this case.
But what's interesting is that Rogers has repeated that formula within his own staff -- with a twist.
A defensive-minded head coach, Rogers filled the all-important offensive coordinator role with Tyler Roehl. As in, the former North Dakota State offensive coordinator Tyler Roehl.
In many ways, Roehl is a replica of Rogers himself. A Second Team All-American at North Dakota State, Roehl was a GA on the 2011 Bison national title team (Craig Bohl's first), and then served as tight ends/fullbacks coach during a 2014-18 run that saw NDSU go 69-6 with four national championships. He promoted to offensive coordinator in 2019, winning two more national titles before (ironically) taking the running backs job on Campell's Iowa State staff in 2024. Roehl coached tight ends for the Detroit Lions in 2025 before returning to Ames to run his longtime nemesis's offense.
Rogers and Roehl squared off 18 times as dueling players, position coaches, and coordinators. The final tally: South Dakota State 9, North Dakota State 9. Nearly every game decided the Missouri Valley Football Conference title in one way or another, and along the way Roehl and the Bison knocked Rogers and the 'Rabbits out of the playoffs in 2014, 2016, and 2018... but Rogers won the final five contests, including a cathartic 45-21 blowout in the 2022 title game.
More than just the two principals on the opposing sides of the balls carried their Dakota roots southeast to Iowa. The entire defensive staff save for nickels coach Ross Watson came with Rogers from South Dakota State. Tight ends coach Seth Hestness spent time at North Dakota State with Roehl.
And though all involved have traded their Jackrabbit blue-and-yellow and their Bison green-and-yellow for Iowa State's cardinal-and-yellow,
Defensive coordinator Jesse Bobbit, Mike Banks (cornerbacks), Jalon Bibbs (defensive line), Pete Menage (safeties). Sam/nickels coach Ross Watson is the only non-ex-Jackrabbit, a holdover from Matt Campbell's staff.
"It's like you're playing for the rivalry trophy every single day at practice," Rogers said on the ESPNU set at Big 12 media days on Wednesday. "Fighting for inches."
Iowa State does not return a single starter from last year's team, much of which is now at Penn State with Campbell. Quarterback Jaylen Raynor, an Arkansas State transfer, is the closest thing to a declared starter at this point in the offseason.
Without a returning identity to lean upon, Iowa State's had to be forged. Rogers wants his first Iowa State team to be tough before it's anything else, and described the Cyclones's spring as the most physical he's ever been involved in. Part of that was about solidifying what Iowa State football is going to be about in 2026, rep by rep. And part of it, surely, was about settling scores from rivalry games past.
"When the message is the same on an offense, defense and special teams -- that physicality, effort and toughness will win you football games and the players buy into it because that's all they hear -- it creates very intense practices that at times get emotional, and we've got to pull 'em back," Rogers said.
After 10 seasons of Iowa State football built upon the DNA of the Mount Union Purple Raiders, Iowa State's culture will now be borrowed from South Dakota State... and North Dakota State.... and South Dakota State vs. North Dakota State.