Jayden Jackson is no longer a member of the college football program at Iowa State. Neither he nor the university gave an explanation for the unexpected departure.
However, the former Cyclones running back claims he did not leave.
What does that mean, exactly? Jackson implied that he was kicked off of the college football team.
Who is Jayden Jackson?
At 5-foot-1, 190 pounds, Jackson was rated as a three-star prospect in the recruiting Class of 2025. He received 11 offers from schools like Boston College, Texas Tech, South Carolina, Toledo and Wyoming.
Franklin High School won two Texas high school football state championships with Jackson at running back. The bowling ball ball-carrier ran for more than 8,000 yards and 114 career touchdowns as a four-year starter. Nobody could bring him down. Defensive backs would bounce right off him in the open field.
Iowa State ultimately received his commitment. Jayden Jackson committed to play for Matt Campbell.
However, he did not see any action as a true freshman in the fall and took a redshirt. The last five months have been even more disappointing. It started with a coaching change. It ended with a sudden exit.
Did Jimmy Rogers kick him off of the Iowa State football team?
Campbell left for Penn State in December. Jimmy Rogers was hired from Washington State as his successor. And then Jayden Jackson tumbled down the depth chart during the spring practice period.
The redshirt freshman projected as the fourth-string running back behind Cameron Pettaway, Salahadin Allah and Aiden Flora but the Cyclones were dealing with injuries prior to the spring game so they had to give him increased touches during the showcase scrimmage. Jackson took his opportunity and ran with it. Literally. He finished with more than 100 yards rushing, including a 79-yard touchdown, and broke multiple tackles during an impressive breakout performance.
Rogers did not speak super highly of Jackson’s big day. Rather, the new head coach talked about the areas in which he needed to improve if he was going to get more involved with the offense.
“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.”
Jackson later questioned Rogers’ unwillingness to commit to him as a legitimate player in his offense. And then he announced his departure from the program and wiped all things Iowa State from his socials.
Nobody knew why he was removed from the roster. I wrongly assumed that Jayden Jackson quit the team after his head coach’s comments. That does not seem to be the case.
The former Cyclones running back issued the following clarification on Monday: “i didn’t leave.”
So what happened?
There are rumors about poor behavior, which would align with Rogers’ comments. His post does not help his case. I could understand if Jackson left the team because his head coach insulted him and refused to play him. But now there are questions and they don’t reflect well on Jackson. Loose ends are messy.
To make this situation even more awkward, Iowa State recently announced that Oregon State transfer Salahadin Allah is out for the season with a torn ACL. The Cyclones desperately need depth at running back and they still decided to move on from Jackson.