After leading a rising Big 12 program since 2005, a standout athletic director’s tenure is coming to an end. He was the architect behind the program’s staggering attendance since 2011. The program raised $53 million last year, up from $9 million when he arrived two decades ago. Now, he is leaving the program and has sent a heartwarming message to mark the end of his 21 years of service.

“My wife, Ellen, and I look forward to the next chapter in our life’s journey, and it is important to us that we transition now, while we are both healthy and young, so we can fully enjoy our retirement years,” Iowa State’s AD, Jamie Pollard, said in his statement. “I am grateful to President Cook for allowing me to share this news now, and hopefully it will allow the university plenty of time to properly transition new leadership to our department…”

When he arrived in Ames in 2005, Pollard inherited a program with limited success and faced a long process to stabilize finances and build elite infrastructure. It took time, but the AD produced consistent results. For starters, since 2011, Iowa State has been the only program to average more than 50,000 fans per game. Pollard’s leadership was the key factor.

Under Pollard, the program has invested more than $400 million in renovations, new constructions, and facilities. Thanks to his vision, Iowa State secured the state-of-the-art $98 million Stark Performance Center in 2021. An anonymous family even committed $5 million last year to rename the program’s AD post to ‘Jamie and Ellen Pollard’ Endowed Director of Athletics.

“Jamie Pollard’s bold vision has produced the most sustained period of academic and athletic excellence in Iowa State’s Athletics history, and Cyclones everywhere are incredibly grateful for his leadership, passion, and dedication to our university,” President David Cook said in a statement. “His leadership has established a culture that has elevated our athletics program academically and athletically to incredible heights while continuing to be a loyal advocate for our student-athletes, coaches, and staff.”

Iowa State has not named Pollard’s replacement. Instead, the university will begin a national search later this year. That means there is currently no official successor waiting in line. Pollard will remain in charge until June 2027 or until a new athletic director is hired and ready to take over. His early announcement is designed to give university leaders enough time to identify a candidate with experience managing modern college athletics. That includes NIL, revenue sharing, and conference-level financial planning.

Pollard was the architect of a decision that changed Iowa State

Iowa State was never a consistently competitive program at the highest level. When Pollard arrived, the program was struggling with multiple losing seasons. By 2015, not much had changed, and Paul Rhoads’ tenure ended with a disappointing 3-9 record. At that time, Pollard needed someone to stabilize the program, and Matt Campbell was showing his coaching skills at Toledo.

Pollard had formed a small internal group with some criteria, such as offensive mind, recruiting prowess, and QB development. Campbell immediately became the right fit in every aspect. After Toledo completed its 2015 season, Pollard discreetly reached out to Campbell, since he had a dominant season and many programs were looking for his services.

“We found our man,” Pollard said in the presser in November 2015. “Tough-minded, Midwestern-based, run-first, who can recruit. We hit a home run on every one of those points. We wanted somebody with high character. There’s not a person that we talked to that could say one bad thing about Matt Campbell. … And here’s the best part: He wants to be at Iowa State.”

Who would have thought that Pollard’s historic hire would change the Iowa State football program for good? Campbell notched an impressive 72-55 record at the program.