Iowa State Loses 55 Players to the Portal After Matt Campbell Bolts for Penn State
Iowa State got hollowed out. After Matt Campbell took the Penn State job in December, the Cyclones watched 55 players enter the transfer portal during the January window. Twenty-four of them followed Campbell to Happy Valley. New head coach Jimmy Rogers walked into one of the toughest jobs in college football.
The scale of this is hard to overstate. Sixteen starters left. The most in the country. Quarterback Rocco Becht, running back Carson Hansen, safety Marcus Neal Jr., and cornerback Jontez Williams all followed Campbell to Penn State. Those are the kind of multi-year starters who normally anchor a Power 4 team’s roster for half a decade.
Campbell knew what he was doing. He built Iowa State from a Big 12 doormat into a consistent bowl team and regular top-25 contender over 10 seasons. His career record in Ames was 72-55. He developed players, ran a clean program, and was, until the Penn State job opened, considered one of the best CEOs in college football. When Penn State called, he did not hesitate.
The transfer portal made this exponentially worse for Iowa State. Under the new rules, players have a 15-day window that begins five days after a head coach is hired or announced. Campbell’s exit was officially announced in late November. By the time Iowa State had a new staff in place, the doors had already opened, the bags had been packed, and Penn State had a recruiting plan ready to go.
Jimmy Rogers, the new Cyclones head coach, comes from South Dakota State, where he won an FCS national championship in 2023 and put together a 33-9 record over three seasons. He is smart. He is organized. He recruits well. He also inherited a roster that does not exist on paper anymore. That is a near-impossible starting point.
To his credit, Rogers has been aggressive in the portal. He has brought in transfers from across college football, including a group of Washington State players who followed him during his short stop with the Cougars. He has pieced together a roster. Whether it is competitive in the Big 12 remains an open question.
The 2026 season is going to be a stress test. Iowa State plays in a Big 12 that has Texas Tech, Kansas State, Utah, and others all in playoff contention. Going 4-8 with a half-built roster is a real possibility. So is finding a young quarterback and surprising everyone. College football works that way.
For Campbell at Penn State, the expectations are now nuclear. He inherited a James Franklin roster and added two dozen of his old players. He is getting paid like a top-five coach. Anything less than a College Football Playoff appearance in his first two years will be considered a disappointment.
The portal rules deserve a closer look. The current 15-day window after a coach is hired creates a situation where rosters get blown up before the new staff has a chance to recruit anybody. Iowa State’s experience is going to be cited every time a college football administrator argues for a longer transition window.
For Cyclones fans, the only honest message is patience. Rogers is a good hire. The roster will eventually look like his roster. The 2026 season will be hard. The 2027 season has a chance to be respectable. The 2028 season is when we will know whether Iowa State has truly rebuilt.
For Penn State fans, the message is different. You have been given a real chance. Campbell is the best coach the Nittany Lions have had since Joe Paterno in his prime. The roster is loaded with veteran transfers. The window is wide open. Do not waste it.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
