AMES - Tyler Roehl doesn’t want to flood Jaylen Raynor with noise once the ball is about to be snapped.
By the time Iowa State’s offense gets to game day, the work is supposed to already be done. The offensive coordinator will speak through Raynor’s helmet, give him the call, maybe add a quick note about what the quarterback should expect, and leave the rest to him.
"My goal for them is to play football, not think football," Roehl said. "So I'll communicate what I need to him, but not overcommunicate."
That idea sits at the center of Iowa State’s new offense, and it also explains why the relationship between Roehl and Raynor has been such a focus all offseason. The Cyclones are asking their quarterback to operate in a different world now - more pro-style, more moving parts, more responsibility.
Raynor arrives with real experience. He has 36 career starts, the second most in the country, behind former Cyclone and now Penn State quarterback Rocco Becht (39).
But much of that background came in a shotgun-heavy system built on screens and shorter throws. Roehl’s approach in Ames brings a different menu: huddling up, lining up under center, handling shifts and motions, and making the whole operation feel cleaner and more controlled.
One area where the fit looks immediate is on the ground.
Roehl has long shown a willingness to use the quarterback as part of the rushing attack, dating back to his time as North Dakota State’s offensive coordinator. Trey Lance ran 169 times for 1,100 yards and 14 touchdowns in 2019, and Cam Miller later became a steady part of that ground game, carrying 112 times for 561 yards and 15 touchdowns in Roehl’s final season as offensive coordinator in 2023.
That history points toward a role that could suit Raynor well. At Arkansas State, he rushed for 1,183 yards and 15 touchdowns over three seasons, even with college stats counting sacks against a quarterback’s rushing total. His legs give Roehl another weapon in an offense that has often put quarterbacks in harm’s way.
The tougher question is what happens when Raynor has to push the ball downfield.
His overall completion percentage has climbed every season at Arkansas State, rising from 58.2% as a freshman to a career-best 66.5% last year. But the deeper throws tell a different story. On passes traveling 20 yards or more downfield in 2024, he completed 17 of 66 attempts, a 25.8% rate, with three touchdowns and six interceptions.
That trend has moved the wrong direction for three straight years. His deep completion rate fell from 35.3% in 2023 to 27.3% in 2024 and then 25.8% last season. His PFF deep passing grade followed the same path, dropping from 80.4 to 74.9 to 63.8.
A lot of his work last season stayed close to the line of scrimmage. In all, 63.4% of his attempts traveled fewer than 10 yards beyond it, and 17.3% were thrown behind it.
So there’s the shape of the challenge for Iowa State: Raynor’s running ability could give Roehl an early answer, but the downfield passing game is still the part that has to show up.
The staff thinks the mental side can help cover some of that ground.
"Maybe what he does best is everything pre-snap from a mental standpoint," head coach Jimmy Rogers said. "He's like a point guard on the field for us a little bit."
Rogers also doesn’t see the job as one where Raynor needs to force the issue on every snap.
"He statistically has gotten better," Rogers said. "Just remind him that he doesn't need to make every single play, but does make every decision that happens on the field."
That’s why so much of the communication between Roehl, quarterbacks coach Keith Heckendorf and Raynor has taken place during the week rather than in the heat of the moment. Roehl said those conversations are built to prepare the quarterback for nearly every possibility a play call can bring.
"There's parameters within every single play call to what we're looking for, what we expect to see, worst-case scenario things," Roehl said. "So, for me, it's giving the play call and it may just be a small tip and reminder."
If a defense throws something unexpected at him, Roehl can add more through the helmet. But the goal is not to pile on.
The faith in Raynor goes beyond what he can handle mentally.
"You truly have to be the quarterback all the time, and that's what he does," Roehl said. "Someone who has that positive, contagious leadership ability that does it with high energy. It's not fake; it's genuine."
Roehl said Raynor has already won over the locker room, and Rogers believes that trust stretches across the entire program.
"The offense doesn't just believe in him, the defense believes in him, the program believes in him," Rogers said.
Now that belief gets tested for the first time.
Iowa State has a coordinator who knows how to feature a quarterback in the run game and a quarterback whose experience and leadership have already made an impression. What remains to be seen is how fast they can connect those strengths while answering the bigger questions downfield.
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