What ex-WSU coach Jimmy Rogers said after bolting for Iowa State job

PULLMAN — Last winter, when coach Jimmy Rogers left South Dakota State for Washington State, he wasn’t doing so with the intent of getting the Iowa State job.

At least not so quickly.

That’s what Rogers said on Monday morning, when he was introduced as the Cyclones’ 34th head coach.

“I didn’t take the Washington State job and move across the country to abandon it in one year. I didn’t,” Rogers told reporters. “I took that jump because I believed in that product and what I could produce there, with the region, with how it felt, with the people that hired me, with the feeling that I had.

“I was replacing a former coach that I had a relationship with, that I could ask his family, what did you think of the town, the community, the spirit? And get great advice. This is a good job at a great place with special people. When I went there, it was unbelievable. I had a great support. The Coug nation is somewhat insane. Everything is ‘go Cougs’ there. And I got to meet a bunch of great people and a bunch of spirited people. When I got this opportunity, I felt the sense of remorse, there’s no doubt about it.”

The topic bears revisiting because of comments Iowa State athletic director Jamie Pollard made on Friday, when he hired Rogers, who stayed just one season at WSU. Pollard said he met Rogers years ago at a leadership conference, which is when the two had this interaction.

“The first time I met him, he said to me, ‘How do I become the head coach at Iowa State University?’ ” Pollard told reporters. “I told him, you’re probably going to need to go one more level (up) before you get here. And we stayed in contact. When I asked him why he was going to Washington State, he said, ‘It was because you told me I needed to go to the next level.’ ”

In the days since Pollard said that, this picture has become clear: Ever since Rogers and Pollard met, they shared an affinity for each other. Rogers also spent nearly his entire adult life at South Dakota State, first as a player and then as a coach, living only a five-hour drive from Ames. The two programs share several similarities, including geographic proximity, recruiting territories, culture and style of football.

All of that made this a destination Rogers aspired to, telling WSU staff that they would have a chance at the Iowa State opening if former coach Matt Campbell ever left, one source told The Spokesman-Review. In Monday’s news conference, Rogers said before WSU/South Dakota State games, Pollard would often text him “good luck.”

“I think that’s pretty awesome for him to think that way,” Rogers said. “I never expected it to happen this fast.”

Additionally, Rogers said that he would have liked to coach the Cougars in their bowl game, which is the Idaho Potato Bowl against Utah State on Dec. 22. But, he said, that wasn’t possible because of the college football ecosystem.

“This calendar has to start to align and rules have to start to make sense,” Rogers said. “There is uniqueness just across the landscape of college football. I just lived through it. I just came from a place where I replaced the roster of over 75 different players, came together and made a bowl game. Had the opportunity to be much better than what that season ended up being, but at the same time, to bring a lot of players together and commit to a common goal, bring a spirit in which we played with every single day — it’s not easy to do.”

WSU interim AD Jon Haarlow offered no public timeline on finding Rogers’ replacement, but he did say program brass is working with a “sense of urgency” to do so.