Jamie Pollard’s exit from Iowa State may arrive much sooner than the school’s original timeline suggested.
Pollard said in an interview with 365 Sports on July 21 that once the Cyclones hire his replacement, he plans to step aside right away.
"As soon as they hire the new AD, I will exit stage left," Pollard said in an interview with 365 Sports on July 21. "I just believe that's the way it should be. They don't need somebody hanging around looking over their shoulder or getting in the way.
"I would envision that actually they'll get that person on board probably late fall, and maybe that will coincide with me lasting through the football season, but I won't be here during the basketball season."
That lines up with the language Iowa State used when it announced Pollard’s retirement on July 10. At the time, the school said he would step down by June 30, 2027, "or when a new athletics director is in place." Pollard’s latest comments point to a new athletics director arriving by the end of the calendar year.
Whoever takes over for Pollard and university president David Cook will inherit a program Pollard described as stable in the middle of a messy college sports landscape.
"We've got a really good team. We've got a great culture," Pollard said in the interview.
"We've got great coaches, and we've got a very passionate fan base. That's not going to change.
The new leader is going to inherit some really good bones.
"The water is really choppy, but I like the boat and I like the people we have in the boat. If they choose the right captain, that person will be able to work with Dr. Cook and with the state leaders to hopefully be able to navigate this in a way that allows Iowa State to maintain its place where it's been the last several years."
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