Pollard announces his retirement

[CYdTracked]

I’m guessing given how annoyed he seemed to be with Rev Sharing and the new world of college athletics, I’m guessing CMC leaving and the dealing with 18-21 year olds who were more concerned about how big their paycheck is sped up his retirement timeline. I’m guessing his plan was to stay until CyTown was done, but the last year moved things up.

That's my thought too. He's been pretty vocal about his issues with everything that is going on in college athletics these days and if you are that close to retirement I don't blame him for wanting to hang around any more. With a new president at ISU and things currently in decent shape in most sports it's a good time to pass the torch on.

That being said we really need to find someone that has some sense about how to navigate the financials with the NIL and revenue sharing challenges while still having a similar vision that Pollard had of what ISU is capable of becoming to be able to compete at a high level in the major sports.

 

[Cyched]

He’s earned it. Heck of a legacy given where the AD was in 2005.

Stumbled a bit on hires early on, but really pulled it together with hires like Campbell and Otzelberger. If Rogers is successful that’s a nice way to put a bow on things.

 

[Nor'MidWester]

Oof and Cytown isn't supposed to be done till 2028 or something? Thought he would have stayed until it was done, unless it's not going well...

 

[CYdTracked]

Has Jamie done some questionable things? Sure. But he's absolutely been a great AD for us. Although we didn't have much control of losing OU and Texas to the SEC, Iowa State athletics over the last 5-10 years has never been stronger with many of our big programs doing well in the regular season and in the post season as well.

My only wish for the new AD is to move the student section back to the NE corner.

Anyone that didn't like Pollard must not remember how bad Bruce Van De Velde was prior to him. Gene Smith before him was a good AD too but Bruce was just awful and had no vision other than just keep things the status quo which let to a lot of mediocrity and bad seasons in major sports.

 

[Clonehomer]

He deserves to be on the Mt Rushmore of Iowa State athletics. Has done so much with so much less than others have had.

Going forward, probably need someone that really understands the current/future landscape of college athletics.

A Mt Rushmore would suggest that there are three equal. IMO, there is no equal, coach or administrator, for what he has done for ISU athletics. Between the hires, his maneuvering around NIL, the infrastructure improvements, and just being a voice during times of trouble in the conference. He's been everything we’ve needed.

 

[Cy4All]

As others said I thought he would see out CyTown. However this may be the right move at the right time. Seems some of his comments the past couple of years were getting more detrimental than anything. Publicly saying we're broke and things of that nature. I agree with the sentiment that he was getting exhausted with the landscape of athletics today. Look at Jay Wright. He saw the writing on the wall with NIL and bowed out while still on top. I imagine Jamie wanted out before anything could sour his legacy. Nobody has done more for the university in the past 50 years. Cheers to a great leader.

Now can we get rid of the I-State logo.

 

[JEFF420]

good timing actually.. i wish them the best

 

[ClonesFTW]

Should name the beer vending area the Pollard Family Fun Zone

Now that’s funny

 

[mj4cy]

A Mt Rushmore would suggest that there are three equal. IMO, there is no equal, coach or administrator, for what he has done for ISU athletics. Between the hires, his maneuvering around NIL, the infrastructure improvements, and just being a voice during times of trouble in the conference. He's been everything we’ve needed.

Yep I can't argue with that.

At times we've disagreed with him and every single decision he had to make is always going to leave some angry but by and large what he's accomplished is immeasurable. He was really the first ever to challenge the fans "why not ISU?" Stop looking for excuses, start looking for ways to win.

 

[Letterkenny]

Big shoes to fill.

I'm really glad we've got David Cook to make this hire.

 

[Letterkenny]

Anyone that didn't like Pollard must not remember how bad Bruce Van De Velde was prior to him. Gene Smith before him was a good AD too but Bruce was just awful and had no vision other than just keep things the status quo which let to a lot of mediocrity and bad seasons in major sports.

Unprecedented success in football and men's basketball. Hard to argue with his legacy.

 

[Cyhig]

Thank you, Jamie. Just thinking about the landscape of college sports when you first took the job to now and how you were able to navigate ISU through the most turmoil in college sports history. Your job and leadership should be commended. Big shoes to fill

 

[somecyguy]

Anyone that didn't like Pollard must not remember how bad Bruce Van De Velde was prior to him. Gene Smith before him was a good AD too but Bruce was just awful and had no vision other than just keep things the status quo which let to a lot of mediocrity and bad seasons in major sports.

No arguing that Bruce was awful, but I'll also push back on Gene Smith. Bruce was stuck dealing with all the problems that Gene simply kicked down the road rather than deal with them. Gene spent his time at ISU polishing his resume rather than actually solving any problems.

Pollard walked into a **** show and managed it about as well as anyone could have asked. He's not close to perfect, but he has represented Iowa State well.

 

[CloneinWDSM]

So he potentially gets to make a WBB hire 2-3 months before retiring assuming BF retires after this?

 

[Cycsk]

Should name the beer vending area the Pollard Family Fun Zone

In an odd way, I suppose it is true that now we are not going to be serving beer in the stadium "on his watch."

 

[isucyfan]

Gary Barta is avaliable, right?

 

[NENick]

2025/26 has been a great/terrible year. All the wins, great individual performances, good coaching and administrative decisions.
But Campbell, most of the FB team leaving, the gymnastics debacle, WBB implosion, Jefferson injury, Milan transfer, and now Pollard retirement. Been kind of a tough 12 months.

 

[OldCurmudgeon]

Should name the beer vending area the Pollard Family Fun Zone

Beat me to it. Although I do wonder how much giving up the ghost on alcohol sales in the stadiums had to do with his retirement.

 

[JohnnyFive]

https://cyclones.com/news/2026/7/10...-athletics-jamie-pollard-announces-retirement

Search starts in the fall it seems.

In my opinion, he’s been key for a lot of the success at ISU as well as the conference. Big shoes to fill.

Big shoes to fill. He is the most important figure in ISU sports history and we were lucky to have him for as long as we did.

 

[Trice]

The Monster thing must have pushed him over the edge.

But seriously, when you look at the entire picture he was the best to do it here. Generally a pretty good guy. He stood for something, had a vision, and communicated those things effectively. Sometimes his ego would trip him up but he wasn't some raging egomaniac either.

We were fortunate to have had him.