Sep 6, 2025; Little Rock, Arkansas, USA; Arkansas Razorbacks quarterback Jaylen Raynor (1) rushes in the second quarter against the Arkansas State Red Wolves at War Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Nelson Chenault-Imagn Images
AMES — Jaylen Raynor turned an unfamiliar and unsettled situation into a learning experience.
The former Arkansas State quarterback had recently signed with Iowa State, and once he arrived on campus, he embarked on a research project that began with the Cyclones’ overhauled roster.
Raynor — who started most of the past three seasons for the Red Wolves, including twice against ISU — matched faces to names, over and over, until his new teammates and coaches had been converted to memory. Strangers became friends, unknowns began to yield certainties. And the 6-0, 202-pound senior smiled as the process played out.
“Setting a base foundation of simply knowing each other’s names can go a long way, especially when we’re all new, coming from different places,” said Raynor, who accounted for 67 touchdowns (52 passing, 15 rushing) while starting the final 36 games of his Arkansas State career. “Being able to establish that early connection of just calling each other by name and knowing each other by face can go a long way — which it has.”
Raynor’s come a long way since starring at East Forsyth High School in Winston-Salem, N.C., and his quarterbacks coach, Keith Heckendorf, has been a constant companion on his winding journey to the Power Four level. It began with a seemingly chance connection and deepened when Heckendorf recruited Raynor to Arkansas State. The rest is history, even though there’s a random element to it.
“Funny story,” said Heckendorf, who officially joined first-year Cyclones head coach Jimmy Rogers’ staff on Jan. 1 — two days before Raynor committed from the transfer portal. “(Raynor’s high school coach, Todd Willert), he’s actually from Wisconsin, which is where I’m from. (East Forsyth) was the first high school I went into 16 years ago. I’m at Western Carolina and I stop in this high school and we just hit it off, and we started taking about beer and cheese curds, and he didn’t have any players that we recruited (at the time). We never took a player from that high school until (many years) later. He’s like, ‘Hey, I’ve got this quarterback for you.’”
Heckendorf liked what he saw from Raynor — and not just from a raw athletic standpoint. He saw a future leader. A guy who would eventually take it upon himself to know everyone’s name, just as he did in Ames.
“You can see the growth, the leadership, but the thing I’ve probably been most proud of with Jaylen is how he’s grown mentally within the position, and then just how he has been consistent,” Heckendorf said. “Through success, through failure, he’s the same guy every day. He comes in the door with a smile on his face excited to attack the process and I think that’s infectious to the people around him.”
That doesn’t mean Raynor’s guaranteed the Cyclones’ starting quarterback job, despite all the connections, both random and natural. He’s been sharing No. 1 reps this spring with Oklahoma State transfer Zane Flores, and talented holdover Connor Moberly remains in the mix, as well.
“These guys have done a good job of helping each other,” said Heckendorf, who oversaw a top-35 passing offense at Arkansas State last season. “You can see them back behind the plays talking, communicating with each other, pointing things out that maybe one guy did, the other guy didn’t do, and they’re all growing together. And that’s what we need to be the best football team we can be.”
Raynor resolved to work toward that by first becoming the best teammate he could be. Hence the memorization of names to match with faces. The eagerness to make fresh connections quickly, as competition begets collaboration, and iron-hewn bonds are formed on the field with firmly locked hands, not just an introductory handshake.
“We’ve been there for three months now and I’m almost sure everybody knows each other’s names (now), but that was a point of emphasis for me to go ahead and get those connections between me and my teammates kind of flowing,” Raynor said. “And then uphill from there.”
