RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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Iowa State football head coach Jimmy Rogers talks to media after first day practice at the university’s Stark Performance Center in Ames. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Co
Head coach Jimmy Rogers met with the media on Wednesday. The following is a question “ Q: ” and answer “ Jimmy Rogers: ” transcript of his availability.
Q: The other day, coach Bobbit had talked about when he was working with developing the best version of themselves as young men as well as football players, being vulnerable is important. How does that fit into your holistic approach of in that same vein of a you’re charged with not only getting them to be the best person they can be, but how that funnels into being the best football player they can be?
Jimmy Rogers: What he was talking about was for our players to be who we want them to be, they have to feel comfortable in their own skin. They got to put their guard down and they got to let us know when they need help. That’s part of growing as a person. If you always have a mask up on like “I’m fine, I’m fine, I’m fine” and you nobody knows what’s going on in your life, at times you don’t know what they’re living through and you can’t break through with football information because they have other things going on. So, for us it is about the connection of this team and having a pulse together as a team, working one direction, but we can’t do that if we don’t know who each other are and what is going on in our life and we’re not willing to share that mission or that message with one another. So, there’s a lot of things that we talk about and stress the importance of, but the most connected teams are the best teams. Players got to feel comfortable in their own skin.
Q: At Big 12 Media Days you talked about Kyle Konrardy already being maybe one of the most talented players you have the most given the position. But with special teams what looks like and asking about planning to do it holistically, but when you have that level of returners and Aiden Flora, Cam Pettaway and I know you Jackson, you got other guys who can do that. How do you feel about that unit and can you give a kind of a snapshot of what they look like so far?
Jimmy Rogers: Really good. We got multiple people back there working right now. Flora has the most reps and he’ll carry the load at running back, too. But we Cam, we got Cody Jackson, there’s numerous players back there. J.J. Polite has reallyed flash, too. Punt returning is a niche, right? It’s an uncomfortable position, and so, we’re going to play Flora at that position.
In years past, I had a safety doing it because he was our most talented player. We’re going to say special teams is a third of the game. We’ve got to play the some of the best players on those units, especially in the return game. Who’s catching the ball, and on punt team. That’s a trusted position. You lose a punt, you get a punt blocked, I should say, you can lose a game in a heartbeat. I think the percentage is like 75% opportunity that the other team is going to beat you, or chances that the team’s going to beat you. So, those plays are pivotal. You only get so many of them, so you got to make them count.
Q: I don’t think we’ve asked you about Jamie’s retirement announcement. What was your reaction to the news?
Jimmy Rogers: Obviously, Jamie has been awesome to me. He put me in this position and got me in the door, and now I’ve got to do the rest. This team and this staff have to put in the work to make it happen.
Does it suck? It does, because I’ve really enjoyed my relationship with him and being able to connect with him. I think he’s done an unbelievable job here. You look at his career of more than 20 years and the work he’s done to transform this place and put it on the map—he deserves a tremendous amount of credit.
One of the biggest jobs of a leader in that position is to hire great people, and my job now is to prove him right. I think President Cook has a great pulse on this university and an unbelievable understanding of what he’s looking for in leadership to take this place to the next level. I’ll have the opportunity to meet with him again tomorrow, and I still think the future is bright.
I’m happy for Jamie and his wife. He deserves this. I knew when I took this because of his age, he wasn’t going to be here forever, and he told me that. I just thought I’d get a couple more years out of him. But he got me in the door, and that’s all I can ask for. I’m forever in [his] debt. Now I’ve got to do the rest, the staff has to do the rest, and this team has to do the rest to make sure this is the best decision he’s ever made.
Q: Did Jamie give you any indication that his retirement was coming?
Jimmy Rogers : At some point, yeah. I think he wanted to see CyTown finished. With so much change in college football You’re playing by one set of rules, then another, and then another. People get punished under one set of rules and then don’t under another. It can be frustrating as a coach.
But you have to focus on the things that matter and finish what you started. For me, I love solving problems. That’s what my life is right now. There’s always a problem in my day. I don’t care how good my days are; there’s always something that could be better. The stress and anxiety of this position can drive me nuts sometimes, but I love it.
You become hypersensitive to everything—thinking about what you forgot to do, what you could have done better, or why something didn’t go the way you wanted. When you lay down at night, your mind is racing. I don’t sleep much anyway, so I’m kind of used to that. I’m just in charge of s...
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