Former All-Big 12 defensive back Jeremiah Cooper called out the Iowa State fanbase on Monday due to some transfer portal drama, and it was pretty weird, to be honest.
Cooper, a four-year member of the Cyclones’ defense, took to social media, saying, “The fans love us… Then hate us. Hope my guys ball out wherever they go.”
The tweet was sent off with little to no self-awareness, considering the majority of these transfer portal departures are due to money or opportunities elsewhere, and in modern college football, you can’t really expect a fanbase to support you when you willingly walk out the door.
But that begs the question: just how willing to leave were the 30+ players who have elected to leave Iowa State through the transfer portal? One interesting response to the tweet appears to be from one of Jeremiah Cooper’s relatives, who alleged that the streak of departures had more to do with Jimmy Rogers than anything else.
“It has to suck for fans to see the program hit the reset button,” Michael Cooper wrote. “But this is a completely different program now, and the new staff made it clear to the players they want most of them gone. Blame shouldn’t be thrown at the players. This is the nature of college football.”
The post has since been deleted, and it hasn’t been confirmed that the two Coopers are related, though Jeremiah does follow Michael on X, and many seem to believe they are family members.
All of the back-and-forth has led many fans to wonder: in the event that Rogers is clearing house, why? It’s never easy to retain players in the portal, especially during a coaching change; still, the Cyclones have practically seen the entire starting roster on both sides of the ball walk out the door.
The portal doesn’t technically open until January 2nd, and the Cyclones could still see some of their athletes return. Still, until then, it’s feeling more and more like walking on eggshells in Ames.
