Jamie Pollard’s run at Iowa State is winding down, and whether people have agreed with him or not, the case for his legacy is pretty hard to miss.
Pollard announced he will call it quits in 2027, and that gives Iowa State a little more time before the next chapter begins. But after more than 20 years on the job, his impact is already stamped all over the place.
Simply lasting that long in one role is rare enough. Doing it while steering a program through massive change is something else entirely.
When Pollard arrived in 2005, Iowa State was in a very different spot. Fundraising was almost nothing, and he helped drag the department into a new era. His first wave of major hires included Greg McDermott and Gene Chizik, two names that were considered big wins for the Cyclones at the time, even if neither one ultimately stuck.
More hires followed. Fred Hoiberg and Paul Rhoads came next, and the Hoiberg move in particular changed the feel of the basketball program.
Iowa State reached the NCAA Tournament four times in five seasons under Hoiberg and also made a Sweet 16 run. Later, when Hoiberg moved on to the NBA, Steve Prohm took over, had success in year one, and then things went sideways.
Pollard’s football and basketball swings didn’t stop there. He hired Matt Campbell to lead football and T.J.
Otzelberger for basketball, and it’s fair to say those two decisions belong near the top of any list of the best hires in Iowa State history. That’s Pollard’s footprint: the big calls, the ones that shape what a program becomes.
He also had to navigate two rounds of realignment in the early 2010s, then the chaos that followed with COVID, NIL and even more realignment. College sports felt like the wild west, but Iowa State still managed to keep its place among the major players.
Money has always been part of the conversation, and Pollard took heat for that. But the reality is that every school is fighting that battle, even the ones in the Big Ten that bring in a lot more cash.
Not everyone loved the way Pollard handled things, and plenty of people will never forget some of the things he said, including remarks about paying players and selling alcohol at sporting events. He was never shy about speaking his mind, and that rubbed some people the wrong way. It also earned him respect from others who appreciated that he didn’t hide behind safe answers.
Over the last few years, it seemed like the daily grind of the job had worn on him. COVID and everything that came with it may have pushed that feeling along, and with a new president coming in, the timing probably made sense for him to step aside in 2027.
What comes next for Iowa State will be someone else’s problem, with new questions waiting in Cy-Town and a new era tied to Jimmy Rogers. That future will look different from the one Pollard inherited back in 2005. His challenges were different, and so were the stakes.
Still, the résumé speaks for itself. Pollard’s work changed Iowa State athletics, and the program’s current place in the Big 12 doesn’t happen without him. Love him or hate him, you can’t tell the story of Iowa State without Jamie Pollard in it.
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