PETERSON: Pollard’s “outside the lines” mindset was exactly what Iowa State needed

Cyclones fans greet as Iowa State athletic director Jamie Pollard walks to the stage during Cyclones Tailgate Tour at MidAmerican Energy RecPlex on Thursday, May 9, 2024, in West Des Moines, Iowa. © Nirmalendu Majumdar/Ames Tribune / USA TODAY NETWORK You knew this day was coming sooner rather than later — that Jamie Pollard, the best and longest-tenured athletics director in Iowa State history, would say farewell to a place that’s in much better shape than it was when he took the job 21 years ago. Insiders saw it coming. They weren’t shocked by Friday morning’s announcement that he plans to leave sometime before next June. I mean, really, how much more can an AD take of today’s college athletics money-hungry mindset that now resonates as much with the athletes as it always has with the people who coach them? How much more can a person take of all the bickering among conference commissioners, the infighting within your own group of schools, the open and nonregulated transfer portal, governmental interference, the financial mess tied to trying to compete in the NIL era, and major media companies making conference alignment and scheduling decisions? Throughout it all, Iowa State athletics became a better place under Pollard’s sometimes-creative leadership. The football program became nationally competitive behind the guidance of Pollard hire Matt Campbell. The basketball program is one of the nation’s finest under T.J. Otzelberger, also hired by Pollard. Cyclones wrestling is moving into a new world with the addition of a women’s program. According to an Iowa State press release, athletics fundraising rose from just more than $9 million the year before Pollard arrived to a record $53 million during the 2025-26 school year. More than $400 million has been invested in athletics facilities. And don’t @ me about the unfinished CyTown entertainment district between Hilton Coliseum and Jack Trice Stadium. Yes, that was a Pollard vision, too, and if what I’m hearing is accurate, building construction could start sometime in August. Maybe. Finally. Now what? Who becomes Iowa State’s next athletics director? Who replaces the leader who helped guide not only Iowa State, but also the Big 12 Conference, through so many structural changes? Pollard was perfect for what Cyclones athletics needed. He helped make the Cy-Hawk rivalry an actual rivalry. He was outspoken. In 2006, he showed creativity and an outside-the-box mindset when he commissioned a billboard in Hawkeye-rich eastern Iowa that proclaimed: “It’s a Cyclone State.” Cyclones fans can be thankful that new president David Cook has a strong mind and passion for athletics. Iowa State needs that type of leader right now more than ever. When it comes to the college athletics big picture, Cook knows his stuff. He gets it. It’s obvious that the college AD résumé has changed since Pollard was hired on Sept. 19, 2005. Instead of mainly having a keen eye for coaches (which Pollard had), the job has become part lawyer, part fundraiser, part business wizard and part politician. It’s a world in which nearly every major college faces financial pressure. Yes, it’s a different college sports environment since the last time Iowa State hired an athletics director. I’m not even sure it’s as attractive a job as it was when Pollard was hired to change Cyclones athletics for the better. Which he did. The ball is now in new president David Cook’s court. (Columnist Randy Peterson, a past Iowa Sportswriter of the Year winner, can be reached at randypete4846@gmail.com or at any Okoboji-area beverage/food establishment between the hours of open and close.) The post PETERSON: Pollard’s “outside the lines” mindset was exactly what Iowa State needed appeared first on Cyclone Fanatic.