Jake Waters is promoted to Iowa State football running backs coach
Matt Campbell, as anticipated, stayed within his Iowa State football house when looking for a new running backs coach, announcing Thursday that Jake Waters was his choice.
The former Kansas State quarterback replaces Jordan Langs. The move leaves Campbell with just one more offensive coaching position to hire, and that's the big one.
Who replaces offensive coordinator Nate Scheelhaase, the Los Angeles Rams' new passing-game specialist? If you had Waters on your list, you can cross him off.
“Jake is a valuable and talented member of our coaching staff, and we are excited to see him in this new role,” Campbell said in a news release. “He has earned this opportunity, because of his hard work and the impact he’s made during his four seasons with the program. His experience on our staff will make this a seamless transition for him and our team as he moves into this position.”
Waters, a Council Bluffs native, has been with the program since 2021 as a senior offensive quality control staffer. He started at Iowa State as a graduate assistant in 2017. He's been a valued behind-the-scenes staffer on offenses that included Breece Hall, Brock Purdy, Rocco Becht and Abu Sama.
Iowa State has reached three bowl games during his tenure while also producing the fourth-best scoring average (31.3) and fifth-best total offense (424.5), respectively, in the history of the program in 2021.
Iowa State's red-zone offensive efficiency has been above 90% two of the last three seasons, including a 93.5% mark in 2023.
More: Iowa State football coach Matt Campbell now has two vacancies on his coaching staff
Waters' resume includes three seasons as an offensive assistant coach at UTEP, where he worked with the tight ends, fullbacks and wide receivers.
A two-year starting quarterback at Kansas State, Waters was an All-Big 12 second-team pick in 2014.
Iowa State columnist Randy Peterson is in his 52nd year writing sports for the Des Moines Register. Reach him at rpeterson@dmreg.com, on X @RandyPete, and at DesMoinesRegister.com/CyclonesTexts
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Matt Campbell promotes Jake Waters to coach Iowa State running backs
