Iowa State has its next athletic director.
The Cyclones announced Friday that Jared Benko will take over as the school’s director of athletics, ending a long search and putting a former Auburn executive deputy athletic director in line to replace Jamie Pollard. Pollard stepped down earlier this year after holding the longest tenure of any AD in the Big 12 or the Power Four.
Benko is scheduled to start Oct. 30, just ahead of a Week 8 home football game against No. 18 Oklahoma State.
His résumé includes a previous stint as athletic director at Georgia Southern, along with work as chief financial officer at Mississippi State. He also has administrative experience at several SEC stops, including Georgia and Arkansas.
“Iowa State has a strong athletics foundation and I’m excited to serve as the next director of athletics,” said Benko, issuing an introductory statement via Iowa State’s official athletics website. “Iowa State has competitive momentum, strong fan support, and outstanding facilities. For me, this is an opportunity to build on that success while bringing a problem-solving mindset to a period of significant change in college athletics.”
Iowa State highlighted Benko’s fundraising track record at Georgia Southern, where he set four different records and helped land three of the largest gifts in “athletic foundation history,” according to the school’s release.
The hiring makes Benko the newest Big 12 athletic director since Fernando Lovo took the job at Colorado in late 2025.
It comes during a busy year for Iowa State. The program lost longtime head football coach Matt Campbell to Penn State, saw its women’s gymnastics program canceled in March, and also secured a long-term deal to keep T.J. Otzelberger through the 2035-36 season.
Now Benko gets the job of carrying Pollard’s torch in what will be his first Power Four AD role.
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Iowa State is turning to a seasoned athletics administrator to guide its next chapter, with university president David Cook selecting Jared Benko as the schools next director of athletics. Benko, who spent time as executive deputy athletic director at Auburn and brings more than 20 years of leadership experience in athletics, is slated to begin on Oct. 30 pending approval by the Iowa Board of Regents.
For a department that oversees 18 intercollegiate sports, the hire puts a broad mandate on Benko from the outset, since he will also serve as an advisor to the university president. The move signals that Iowa State wants an athletics leader with both operational experience and a voice at the highest levels of campus decision-making, with the formal approval process still the last hurdle before the transition becomes official. [Read more 🡒]
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Iowa State is moving into a new phase at the top of its athletic department, with longtime athletic director Jamie Pollard set to retire after 21 years guiding the Cyclones. The school has already lined up his successor in Jared Benko, who arrives from Auburn with more than two decades in college athletics and experience that includes stops at Georgia Southern and other SEC programs.
The timing gives Benko an immediate test as he takes over amid coaching transitions and continued program growth across the department. For Iowa State, this is more than a routine leadership change, since the next AD will be expected to steady the daily business while also helping shape what comes next for a department that has spent years building momentum. [Read more 🡒]
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For the Cyclones, the matchup is a useful measuring stick for where the roster stands right out of the gate. Creighton is expected to bring a size edge on the perimeter, which should test Iowa States ball-handling, defensive rotations and ability to keep plays in front of them. Early-season games rarely tell the whole story, but this one should offer a clear hint about how ready the Cyclones are for a tougher runway ahead. [Read more 🡒]