Jake Landry

AMES — Iowa State head football coach Matt Campbell has announced the hiring of North Dakota State offensive coordinator Jake Landry as the program’s new running backs coach.

Landry spent the 2024 season serving as running backs coach and offensive coordinator for FCS national champion North Dakota State after two seasons as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at St. Thomas, which won the Pioneer Football League in 2022 and was runner-up in 2023.

“We are excited to welcome Jake into our program,” Campbell said. “He’s had success at multiple levels, including as an offensive coordinator last year for FCS national champion NDSU. His experience working with successful programs will be very positive for our offense and our football program as a whole.”

In 2024 with Landry calling plays and coaching the running backs, North Dakota State reached the top of FCS once again. Landry’s offensive unit was the nation’s No. 3 scoring offense averaging 38.1 points per game. It also ranked No. 1 nationally in first downs (361), team passing efficiency (178.66) and fewest turnovers (6). It was also top-20 in third down conversion percentage (3rd, .545), red zone offense (5th, .933), time of possession (5th, 33:04), fourth down conversion percentage (8th, .682), passes intercepted (9th, 5), rushing offense (20th, 193.3) and total offense (20th, 417.6).

The Bison went 14-2 overall and 7-1 in the Missouri Valley Football Conference. NDSU claimed five spots on the All-MVFC offensive first and second teams.

Individually, running back CharMar Brown rushed for more than 1,000 yards and 15 touchdowns on his way to winning the 2024 Jerry Rice Award, given annually to the nation’s most outstanding freshman player at the FCS level.

Landry, a Grand Forks, N.D., native, joined NDSU after two seasons as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at St. Thomas (Minn.) as it transitioned from NCAA Division III to FCS.

The Tommies were 2022 Pioneer Football League champions, finishing 10-1 overall and 8-0 in conference play. Due to the transition from Division III, St. Thomas was ineligible to compete in the FCS Playoffs that season.

Landry has also coached at Temple, Northern Illinois, Wisconsin-La Crosse and Minnesota-Duluth.

He played at his hometown University of North Dakota, starting his final two seasons at quarterback as the team captain. Landry received his bachelor’s degree in communications from North Dakota in 2011, while earning a master’s degree in education from Duluth in 2015 and a master’s degree in sports management from Northern Illinois in 2020.