The wild world of the college coaching carousel struck the Evergreen State on Friday, as it was announced that Washington State football coach Jimmy Rogers is leaving Pullman to take the head coaching job at Iowa State.

Previous Iowa State coach Matt Campbell left to become the head coach at Penn State, who had previously fired James Franklin.

Now, it's not in Washington Huskies' fans nature to feel bad for the Cougars, but at some point, compassion has to step in. And also, the rivalry between the two schools is better when they are on a close to even playing field, and they aren't even in the same stratosphere right now.

The dissolution for the Cougars

When the Pac-12 disbanded ahead of the 2024 season, the Cougars were left behind, forced to play a hodgepodge schedule as an independent for the last two years. Now? They'll play in a re-worked Pac-12 conference, which is them, Oregon State and a bunch of schools from the previous Mountain West.

The program has been relegated to a shell of its former league, one that now has little to no chance of major bowl berths. That will drive down recruiting ability, NIL ability, and the program will continue to be a stepping stone job for coaches, rather than the destination it was under Mike Leach.

And the players will see the program as a stepping stone as well, potentially opting to leave after a little bit of success. It will be hard to build anything sustainable in Pullman, the same way it is for every other mid-major in the country.

That's now what Washington State is. A mid-major.

And again, Washington fans likely aren't sad to see Washington State taken down a notch, but the rivalry is better when there are real stakes and something on the line in the conference. With that no longer the case, the rivalry will certainly lose its luster, and it could eventually go away entirely.

And even if they do continue playing? A Washington loss to a mid-major Washington State would be detrimental to its CFP chances. So this whole restructuring has a negative affect on the Huskies too.

Cougs fans jilted

Rogers was supposed to help get Washington State through this transition period, helping to restore the program. Instead, his comments about loyalty have fallen sideways, with him taking the job at Iowa State after just one year.

After taking the Cougars job in January, Rogers proclaimed he was as "loyal as it gets."

Per SWX Sports:

WSU Head Coach Jimmy Rogers: "I'm about as loyal as it gets & I know that word has been thrown around here & people don't want to hear it. But I don't know if you can show that after 19 years in one place, building a National Championship program day after day. So I do plan to do that here."

Washington State went 6-6 this season under Rogers.

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