Iowa State’s rebuild is already taking shape around an unusual centerpiece.
At Big 12 Media Day, new head coach Jimmy Rogers made it clear that his highest praise for the Cyclones landed on kicker Kyle Konrardy. Rogers didn’t frame him as just a useful specialist. He went much further than that.
“I think he can change the game. I think, honestly, Kyle may be arguably the most talented player on our team. Although people say you brought a kicker to Media Days, I think he’s probably one of the best kickers in the entire country.”
That kind of comment stands out even more because of where Iowa State is right now. The Cyclones are coming off a wild offseason, and the program enters a new era with almost an entirely new roster and coaching staff. Matt Campbell is gone to the Penn State Nittany Lions, and Rogers has been tasked with rebuilding the operation as fast as possible.
The early recruiting work has drawn praise, but the bigger picture is still pretty stark. Expectations around the program are low, with some even pegging Iowa State as the worst team in the Big 12.
That doesn’t mean the roster is empty, though. Rogers pointed to Konrardy as proof that there is at least one player who can tilt a game.
That matters because kickers can quietly reshape how a team plays. When an offense gets inside the opponent’s 40-yard line, a reliable leg changes the math. It gives the play caller more freedom and can make a team far more aggressive.
Iowa State felt that last season when Konrardy missed time, and the impact showed up in the team’s performance. With him back in place, the Cyclones have a weapon who can help in scoring, field position, and all the little moments that decide close games.
For a team trying to survive a reset, that kind of edge is no small thing. Rogers may be rebuilding from the ground up, but he’s not wrong to see Konrardy as one of the biggest assets on the roster.
In Other News...
Texas Tech Just Pushed Its Big 12 Drama To A Breaking Point
Texas Techs latest off-field mess has only deepened the sense that its relationship with the Big 12 is fraying. The situation has already spilled beyond one player and into conference politics, with the league taking a hard line and the Red Raiders left to absorb the fallout as the season moves on without the quarterback they had been counting on.
What makes this one linger is the bigger question hanging over the program now. The punishment has sharpened the tension between Texas Tech and the conference office, and the chatter around a possible exit has grown loud enough to make people around the league wonder what comes next, including whether the Big 12 would eventually have to look elsewhere to fill the void. [Read more 🡒]
Iowa State Just Got Hit With A Brutal Big 12 Prediction
Iowa State heads into a season of major transition, with Jimmy Rogers taking over after Matt Campbells departure for Penn State and a roster that looks almost entirely rebuilt. In that kind of reset, preseason projections tend to lean on reputation and history as much as talent, and the Cyclones are already being treated like a team that has to prove it belongs in the conversation all over again.
One national outlook from USA Today did not leave much room for optimism, slotting Iowa State at the bottom of the Big 12 race in a 16-team league. Still, Rogers has spent enough time around low expectations to know they are not the same thing as a ceiling, and his track record suggests the Cyclones may be better equipped to outplay that kind of forecast than the prediction implies. [Read more 🡒]