Jayden Jackson is no longer a member of the college football program at Iowa State. The university was willing to confirm his departure but could not provide a tangible reason for his sudden exit.
The redshirt freshman is also yet to address what happened.
It is currently unclear as to whether Jackson will be allowed to earn his way back onto the team before fall camp or if he can even play the 2026 college football season at a different school. He might be forced to sit out an entire year before he can officially enter the transfer portal. We’ll see.
Who is Jayden Jackson?
Jackson was a dominant force at Franklin High School in Texas. The 5-foot-10, 217-pound bowling ball ran for more than 8,000 yards and 114 career touchdowns as a four-year starter. The Lions won two state titles and reached the championship game three times during his career. He was a bruiser.
The former three-star recruit received 11 scholarship offers out of high school. His list of suitors included Texas Tech, South Carolina, Boston College, Sam Houston and Wyoming, among others.
Jayden Jackson ultimately committed to Iowa State under head coach Matt Campbell. He did not see any action as a freshman and took a redshirt.
Campbell left Ames for the same job at Penn State during the offseason. Jimmy Rogers was hired as his replacement. Jackson decided to stick around. It seemed like his chance to finally make an impact.
And then he tumbled down the depth chart during spring ball. Jackson was slated to play behind sophomore Cameron Pettaway, junior Salahadin Allah and redshirt sophomore Aiden Flora. He projected as the fourth-string running back. Significant playing time was going to be hard to come by.
Why did he quit the Iowa State football team?
To be completely fair to Jayden Jackson, we don’t know that he quit. However, it might actually be better if he left on his own terms than if he was dismissed for some kind of violation and/or behavioral issues.
Iowa State confirmed that the redshirt freshman is no longer with the program and his name has since been removed from the roster. But nobody seems to know exactly why…
Jackson made the most out of his limited snaps during the April 25 spring game, including a 79-yard touchdown. Head coach Jimmy Rogers offered a blunt assessment when asked about his performance.
“He did a solid job. I mean, he hasn’t done much. He’s got to consistently grow and do things off the field that are right and follow through with things and grow mentally in order to continue to get reps. We had some bang up at running back so we’re trying to keep some guys healthy so he got a couple more carries today and did a solid job.”
Not too long thereafter, local beat reporter Bill Seals his analysis on X:
“With Salahadin Allah injured, Iowa State was forced to rely on Jayden Jackson on Saturday— a redshirt freshman with 8,000+ HS rushing yards but the coaches won’t commit to him 👀”
Jackson responded to the post with only two words:
“hm… alright”
And now, just a few weeks later, he is gone. Jackson wiped the Cyclones from all of his social media profiles and shared the following post on his Instagram story.
That crying face emoji, to me, makes it seem like Jayden Jackson was sad to leave the program. Maybe this was not his choice. Maybe the coaching staff decided to move on. Rogers’ comments alluded to potential off-field issues, a lack of mental growth and an inability to follow through. Could that be it?