New Iowa State head coach Jimmy Rogers is wasting no time shaping his roster-and he’s starting with a key piece on special teams.
Caleb Schmidt, a long snapper out of Division II Minot State, announced his commitment to the Cyclones on Saturday night. At 6-foot-3 and 240 pounds, the Chaska, Minnesota native brings size, experience, and two years of eligibility to a program that’s seen significant roster turnover in recent weeks.
This move comes at a pivotal moment for Iowa State. Since Matt Campbell’s departure to take over at Penn State, the Cyclones have seen a steady stream of transfers and exits, including the loss of long snapper Drew Clausen.
Clausen handled both short and long snapping duties in all 14 games last season without a single miscue-a quietly crucial part of why Iowa State didn’t have a punt or field goal blocked all year. That kind of consistency is hard to replace, but that’s exactly what Rogers and his staff are hoping to find in Schmidt.
Schmidt was a two-year starter at Minot State, and while the jump from Division II to the Big 12 is no small leap, the fundamentals of long snapping are universal: clean, accurate, and fast. If he can replicate the reliability Clausen brought to the table, Schmidt has a real chance to solidify himself as a foundational piece of Iowa State’s special teams unit.
It’s worth noting that Schmidt was already on Iowa State’s radar before the coaching change, which suggests that special teams assistant Rob Grande-who’s expected to remain on staff under Rogers-played a role in maintaining that connection. That kind of continuity matters, especially in a transitional period where building trust and familiarity can speed up the adjustment process.
In a sport where the spotlight rarely shines on long snappers, this commitment might not make headlines-but it’s the kind of under-the-radar move that can quietly stabilize a critical phase of the game. Iowa State is still in the early stages of its post-Campbell rebuild, but with Schmidt on board, the Cyclones are starting to put the right pieces in place.