AMES, Iowa – Iowa State head football coach Matt Campbell announced changes to his football staff Friday. The Changes include a promotion from a long-time staffer, a familiar name returning to the sidelines and a couple of alterations in position group assignments.
Taylor Mouser, who has been on staff since the beginning of the Campbell era, will move into an assistant coaching role taking over leadership of the tight end unit. The move will allow offensive coordinator Tom Manning, who mentored the tight ends in 2020, the opportunity to work solely as the director of the offense.
Campbell also announced that Jake Waters, who was a graduate assistant for the Cyclones in 2017, will rejoin the staff as a quality control assistant for the offense and wide receivers coach Nate Scheelhaase will also be the running game coordinator along with mentoring the running backs, duties previously held by Mick McCall, whose contract was not renewed.
The promotion of Mouser and addition of Waters are pending successful background checks. Mouser has worn many hats in his five years as a member of the Iowa State football coaching staff. Starting out as a graduate assistant, Mouser worked in the scouting department and then moved into a role as senior quality control for the Cyclone offense in 2019. Mouser’s outstanding work behind the scenes earned him the promotion.
“Taylor has been a valuable member of our staff since we arrived five years ago,” Campbell said. “He’s built a positive rapport with our players and his work serving as a quality control assistant with our offense has been very beneficial to our success. Taylor will fit right in and continue to help our program make greater strides.”
In the last two seasons, Iowa State has produced two of the most prolific offenses in the history of Cyclone football. Iowa State broke the school record for total offense (444.3) and had the third-best scoring offense (32.2) in school history in 2019, and followed it up with the second-best scoring offense (32.9) and third-best total offense (436.3) totals in Cyclone history in 2020.
Mouser has assisted a number of All-Americans and All-Big 12 performers to unprecedented success working with the offense. Running back Breece Hall, who led the nation in rushing in 2020, became the first unanimous All-American in school history, tight end Charlie Kolar, ISU’s first two-time All-American in 25 years, and quarterback Brock Purdy, who owns or shares 25 school records as the Cyclone signal-caller, all have benefited from Mouser’s expertise.
The Cyclones have also set the following school records in the last two seasons with Mouser aiding the offense: touchdowns (53, 2019), points (418, 2019), yards per play (6.45, 2019) and rushing touchdowns (31, 2020).
In all, Mouser has played a huge role in Iowa State’s resurgence nationally since joining the staff prior to the 2016 season. The Cyclones have qualified for four-straight bowl games, annually appeared in the national rankings, won 32 games and totaled four of ISU’s five above-.500 conference seasons in the history of the Big 12 Conference (1996-present) since 2017.
A native of Chandler, Arizona, Mouser earned his bachelor’s degree at Adams State in 2013. He was a graduate assistant for Campbell at Toledo during the 2015 campaign.
Waters returns to Ames after a three-year stint at UTEP (2018-20) as an assistant coach on Dana Dimel’s staff. Waters worked with the tight ends, fullbacks and wide receivers during his time with the Miners.
“We feel Jake is one of the best young coaches in the nation,” Campbell said. “We witnessed his talents when he was a graduate assistant with us and he gained three more years of experience as an assistant coach at UTEP. Bringing Jake back will be a huge plus for our program.”
Waters’ initial coaching experience at the FBS level was in 2017 when Campbell hired him as a graduate assistant for the offense. The Cyclones thrived that season, tying a school-record with three wins over ranked opponents (Oklahoma, TCU, Memphis) and finishing the year with an 8-5 record and a victory in the Liberty Bowl.
Waters was a volunteer quarterbacks coach at Iowa Western Community College for two seasons (2015-16) prior to his first stint at Iowa State.
A native of Council Bluffs, Iowa, Waters had an outstanding two-year career as the quarterback at Kansas State (2013-14), compiling a 17-9 record as a starter. He was All-Big 12 Second Team in 2014, breaking school career records for completion percentage and passing efficiency.
A 2014 graduate of Kansas State, Waters prepped at St. Albert High School in Council Bluffs, leading the Falcons to a pair of Class 1A state titles and was a three-time all-state selection.
