Inside Jimmy Rogers’ final team meeting at WSU, and what we know about staff changes

PULLMAN – A couple days before coach Jimmy Rogers turned Washington State’s football program upside down, deciding to leave for the same job at Iowa State on Friday after just one season with the Cougars, whispers bounced around the Cougar Football Complex.

Many on Rogers’ staff understood that he had a connection with Iowa State athletic director Jamie Pollard that went back a few years, according to a source close to the situation, and that Pollard had always liked Rogers. Besides, Rogers had spent almost his entire adult life at South Dakota State, whose campus in Brookings is about a five-hour drive from Ames, Iowa.

Rogers had often mentioned to assistant coaches that Pollard constantly texted him, according to one source, who added that Rogers would often tell assistants that if ISU coach Matt Campbell were to ever leave the program, they would have a chance at getting the job.

During the week, rumors began to swirl around Campbell, who was being mentioned as a candidate for the opening at Penn State, and on Friday, Campbell and the Nittany Lions made things official, which opened up a vacancy at Iowa State.

So at about 4 p.m. Friday, WSU coaches got a text message informing them of two new developments: a staff meeting set for 5 p.m. and a team meeting slated for 5:15. With Iowa State’s job open, Cougar staffers began to draw their own conclusions.

The expectation at that time, a source said, was that Rogers had been offered the Iowa State position and that he was going to accept. Rogers wouldn’t call an impromptu team meeting otherwise.

At the staff meeting, Rogers made things plain: He was indeed taking the Cyclones’ head coaching gig, leaving the Cougs after one 6-6 season. He couldn’t turn it down, he told his assistant coaches, telling them it was a dream job. He thanked them for their work throughout the year they spent together in Pullman – but to those in the meeting, a source said, it wasn’t immediately clear who would be going with Rogers to Ames and who wouldn’t.

The news seemed to catch everyone with the program by surprise, Rogers included, one source said, adding that the speed with which everything came together added another layer of shock.

Rogers does appear to be bringing two staffers with him: Chief of staff Jon Shaeffer and general manager Ricky Ciccone, both of whom were seen boarding a private plane with Rogers at the Pullman-Moscow airport on Saturday afternoon. Also boarding the plane were Rogers’ wife, Haley, and their two children, daughter Reese and son Trace.

Ciccone is indeed following Rogers to Iowa State, in photos the Cyclones posted on social media on Saturday night, which could have an impact on the future of WSU’s roster. Ciccone’s last job was at Louisiana, where he used his connections to sign four Louisiana natives to WSU’s class of 2026, which was finalized in part on Wednesday. Twenty-five of those 28 players are incoming freshmen.

After meeting with his staff, everyone walked to the team meeting room, where the Cougar players had gathered to meet with their head coach. According to multiple sources, none of them were expecting to hear that Rogers was leaving. In the room, the mood seemed more happy, more excited. WSU will learn its bowl destination on Sunday, so players figured maybe they would be getting more information about that, per one source.

But when Rogers walked in the room, the vibe shifted, according to a source. Players’ ears perked up. They seemed to understand that something more serious was unfolding, a source said. Without wasting much time, Rogers told players the news, saying he would understand whatever types of reactions they might have.

The entire team felt shocked and confused, even the players who had followed him from South Dakota State, one younger player said. None of the players were expecting to hear that news, the player said, saying the roughly 15-minute meeting left them feeling confused, wondering what would be next for them.

Another player felt blindsided, they said, adding that they weren’t expecting to hear Rogers announce he was leaving.

One source in the room, who was around last season when former coach Jake Dickert decamped for Wake Forest, felt more prepared with that experience under their belt. This player said he still felt frustrated, but knowing what the process would entail, he felt like he knew what to do.

Senior quarterback Zevi Eckhaus got up to speak in front of the team, one source said, as did veteran offensive lineman Christian Hilborn. For many of the veteran players who had already played for multiple head coaches in their careers, the source said, there was a “here we go again” mood. Some felt like that’s just the kind of place WSU was becoming, the source said.

But by the end of the meeting, a source said, players rallied together. They were fired up to win their upcoming bowl game. They understood that what makes WSU special is the people, the source added, not the coaches. An additional team source added that players recently read that WSU hasn’t ended the season with a win since the 2018 Alamo Bowl, which motivates them to turn that around.

With Rogers off to Ames, the Cougars now turn to defensive coordinator Jesse Bobbit, who several sources confirmed is taking over as interim head coach. This regular season, Bobbit’s unit ranked No. 18 nationally in total defense, underscoring another reason why the Cougs feel they’re in good hands with Bobbit as interim coach.

But will Bobbit follow Rogers to Iowa State? If he does, will he do so before or after the bowl game? Could he be a candidate for the full-time head coaching job at WSU? That much is unclear at this point, but several sources in the program believe he’ll be off to Ames at some point.

Rogers wouldn’t take the Iowa State job if Bobbit wasn’t going with him, one source said, indicating that Rogers and Bobbit share a special connection. Bobbit was also Rogers’ defensive coordinator for the 2023 and 2024 seasons at South Dakota State.

That leaves in question the fates of several WSU assistants, many of whom Rogers brought over from South Dakota State, including offensive coordinator Danny Freund, defensive line coach Jalon Bibbs, offensive line coach Taylor Lucas, cornerbacks coach Mike Banks, wide receivers coach Jake Menage, safeties coach Pete Menage and others.

For his part, Pollard told reporters on Friday that he had indeed met Rogers several years ago. At that time, Rogers told Pollard he was aspiring to the Cylones’ job. On Friday, the opportunity came his way, throwing the Cougars back into confusion, without even a full-time athletic director to find his replacement.

“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.’”