It was a quiet week on the football calendar, but for Iowa State fans, it carried plenty of weight. The Cyclones are in the middle of a stretch that feels packed with change: Bill Fennelly is saying goodbye, Jared Benko is arriving as the next athletic director, and Ames native Tamin Lipsey is back where he belongs.
Fennelly’s departure lands with real emotion because of how long he has been around and how much he has meant to the program. He has coached Iowa State since 1995, which is long enough that he has owned just about every meaningful coaching mark the program has to offer.
His teams were entertaining, and they won. That combination has left a mark.
What stands out just as much is the way he treated people around the program. Stories have been popping up from writers who covered the team over the years, all pointing to the same thing: Fennelly was generous with his time and genuinely kind.
That was true in my own brief time covering the beat, too. Early in my career, when I was still trying to find my footing, I covered women’s basketball for one season.
After media day, Fennelly emailed to thank me for covering the team and told me I was always welcome to interview him in his office, even when there would not be an availability for a few days.
That kind of gesture matters, especially when you are still learning the job. It was not a one-off, either.
People have long shared similar stories about him helping students with class projects or simply making time to talk. I probably would have found confidence eventually, but he made the process easier.
And yes, Diet Mountain Dews around the nation are rejoicing that Fennelly is stepping away from the game after the nearly 1,000 postgame cans he has shredded.
On the administrative side, Benko steps into a big job at a big moment. Full disclosure: everything I know about him comes from Chris Williams’ introductory article.
I had never heard of him before the weekend. What stands out is that Benko is an NIL specialist, which should help set up the coaches well and make things easier on them.
There is also something smart about the timing of the leadership changes. Whether by design or by chance, bringing in a school president and a new athletic director around the same time feels like a sensible reset. Jamie Pollard and Wendy Wintersteen held that pairing for a long time, and now David Cook and Benko will be the names guiding the department.
Benko will have his work cut out for him. He comes from Auburn, where the NIL resources are presumably a lot larger, and he is going to be responsible for hiring the next women’s basketball coach in the coming months.
Pollard’s exit felt abrupt from the outside, with one moment finding another AD and the next seeing him work his final days remotely. Whatever happened behind the scenes, there is no denying Benko inherits a department shaped by a lot of Pollard’s decisions.
That kind of transition leaves little room for a miss. Iowa State cannot really afford a bad AD hire with everything going on right now, so no pressure Benko.
And then there is Lipsey, the constant in all of this. In a sport where players move around freely and quickly, he has stayed.
He grew up in Ames as an Iowa State fan, is now heading into what would be a fifth year as the starting point guard, and will be remembered at the school no matter how this season unfolds. It currently seems like he will be granted eligibility to play this season, though that kind of thing can change fast.
Even so, that decision alone has already pushed him into legend territory.
There is something special about a player choosing a place again and again when he had every chance to leave. Hilton Coliseum embraces that kind of loyalty, and Lipsey has given it back four offseasons in a row. This is a player making history in real time.
The numbers back that up. He already has 314 career steals, 89 ahead of Monte Morris, which makes that record look out of reach.
Morris’ 768 assists are still the standard, and Lipsey begins with 602, so that one is within sight. Barring injury, he should end up in the top two all-time.
He is also four games away from the most games played in program history, which is not a bad place to be in 2026.
Enjoy it while it lasts. This is statistical history, personal history and school history all happening at once. And after watching nearly 100 football players leave the second things got difficult this summer, it is hard not to appreciate the Cyclone who kept coming back.
T.J. Otzelberger would probably want no credit for that, but he deserves some anyway. Building a place that people want to return to matters.
In Other News...
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The concern, though, was how much ground Iowa State had to make up in the first place. Creighton had control for long stretches behind Katrell Harmons 16 points and six assists, while the Cyclones were left trying to chase the game until the final buzzer. Jamarion Batemon finished with 15 points, and six Iowa State players reached double figures, but the early hole ultimately proved too deep to escape. [Read more 🡒]
Iowa State Faces A Tough Road Test With One Big Offensive Concern
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Overbys loss leaves an offense trying to regroup on the road against a ranked-up level of pressure, and it adds another layer of difficulty to a game that already looks demanding on paper. With kickoff set for Oct. 24, Iowa State will have to find answers quickly in the passing game if it wants to keep pace and turn a tough road test into something more manageable. [Read more 🡒]