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Jamie Pollard...

I think Jamie has done wonders for ISU from a "ground up" standpoint. Facilities are certainly improved, there is increased passion about the program, we have had a great run in basketball. I think it's safe to say basketball is still in good hands. Plus we are still in the Big 12 and realizing the financial windfalls from that. He needs to make a football change and I believe he will.

My only complaint is with his ego. I can't think of many places (maybe Wisconsin with Alvarez) where the AD puts himself out there as the face of the athletic department more. Puts himself in commercials, posters. He's active in a not-always good way on Twitter. We get screwed on a call-he grabs the mike. Takes jabs at Iowa all the time. Plus gets pretty defensive and goes on the attack whenever there's criticism. That kind of thing. Most AD's act behind the scenes and let credit on the field stay in the hands of the guys on the field/court.

That said, I agree with many posters here in saying I don't think we would have any idea how good he is/was until he was gone. I don't think he goes anywhere, including Wisconsin. I think he knows he has a pretty good thing here.
 
isu81 said:
I think Jamie has done wonders for ISU from a "ground up" standpoint. Facilities are certainly improved, there is increased passion about the program, we have had a great run in basketball. I think it's safe to say basketball is still in good hands. Plus we are still in the Big 12 and realizing the financial windfalls from that. He needs to make a football change and I believe he will.

My only complaint is with his ego. I can't think of many places (maybe Wisconsin with Alvarez) where the AD puts himself out there as the face of the athletic department more. Puts himself in commercials, posters. He's active in a not-always good way on Twitter. We get screwed on a call-he grabs the mike. Takes jabs at Iowa all the time. Plus gets pretty defensive and goes on the attack whenever there's criticism. That kind of thing. Most AD's act behind the scenes and let credit on the field stay in the hands of the guys on the field/court.

That said, I agree with many posters here in saying I don't think we would have any idea how good he is/was until he was gone. I don't think he goes anywhere, including Wisconsin. I think he knows he has a pretty good thing here.
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What commercials and posters have you seen him in?
 
isu81 said:
I think Jamie has done wonders for ISU from a "ground up" standpoint. Facilities are certainly improved, there is increased passion about the program, we have had a great run in basketball. I think it's safe to say basketball is still in good hands. Plus we are still in the Big 12 and realizing the financial windfalls from that. He needs to make a football change and I believe he will.

My only complaint is with his ego. I can't think of many places (maybe Wisconsin with Alvarez) where the AD puts himself out there as the face of the athletic department more. Puts himself in commercials, posters. He's active in a not-always good way on Twitter. We get screwed on a call-he grabs the mike. Takes jabs at Iowa all the time. Plus gets pretty defensive and goes on the attack whenever there's criticism. That kind of thing. Most AD's act behind the scenes and let credit on the field stay in the hands of the guys on the field/court.

That said, I agree with many posters here in saying I don't think we would have any idea how good he is/was until he was gone. I don't think he goes anywhere, including Wisconsin. I think he knows he has a pretty good thing here.
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And what is wrong with that?? Sounds like someone has a personal bone to pick with the guy.
 
Pollard has done very good things at ISU as far as facilities and finances. IMO, it's silly to try and minimize his accomplishments in those areas (yet some on here continue to try).

I think the big issue regarding his decision making was giving the Rhoads contract extension. Whether or not it seemed good at the time (and there were a few who questioned it originally, based on the fact that Rhoads really only had one winning season at ISU, and given the flame-out after the OkSU upset), it seems like a bad decision now.

For me, the big issue is whether lessons are learned from mistakes. I think that not just the AD, but the ISU community as a whole, needs a change of mindset. We need to stop worrying about being a "stepping stone" , and just get the best coach available for the money we can pay. Hoiberg should have shown us that if someone has bigger aspirations, they are going move on, hometown boy or not.

There is a thread going on about Utah football. Urban Meyer used Utah as a stepping stone to Florida. The next guy stuck around and the program has done well since. Dennis Franchione used TCU as a stepping stone to Alabama. The next coach at TCU stuck around, and their program has done as well.

You can't control the decisions that a person will make in the future. Get the guy who can do the most good for you. Benefit and grow from his knowledge and abilities. Make reasonable attempts to keep him around with compensation. If he is successful and raises up your program, but decides to move on, where is the harm in that? There is no reason that the stepping stone can't become the destination.
 
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Seems like Pollard gets a lot of praise for doing the core requirements of his job. I don't think you can argue that he hasn't done a fine job with getting the updates ISU needed, but isn't that what he is supposed to do? That part isn't objective either, it's either happening or it's not. So far those updates have not translated to success either.
 
Judoka said:
"Making a hire that seems like a good idea at the time" is something anyone can do. Pollard's job is not to make hires that appear good. Pollard's job is to make hires that are actually good. In that he has failed miserably. Among the hires he has made Christy Johnson-Lynch is the only one that has been above average other than Fred, and Fred fell into his lap. The majority of the coaches Pollard has picked have turned out to be bad coaching hires, and the more prominent the sport the worse the hire tends to be. Pollard is a good administrator and he deserves credit for that. But his single most important job is selecting coaches. And Pollard is absolutely terrible at selecting coaches.
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Pollard didn't hire CJL. BVDV did.
 
Scott34 said:
Apparently you do around here
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I think it more has to do with the question of: Does the success of the wrestling program contribute to the success (or perceived success) of the athletic department as a whole? I would imagine that wrestling at the moment doesn't even fund itself, and even if the program improved to a point that it did, it wouldn't really generate enough revenue to help out any other aspect of the AD in any meaningful way. An example of the rising tide not really lifting all boats.

I think most people enjoyed seeing Kyven's success last year, but you don't hear anyone saying anything about how ISU is a better sports school because of it. People at least are less likely to mix up ISU and Iowa thanks to the basketball team.
 
Scott34 said:
So with the SEZ, I don't see that as anything Pollard really did. A huge, and I mean huge donation made that happen. Same way with the basketball facility, huge donation made that happen as well.
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You realize these weren't just out of the blue donations, right? Those relationships are fostered over time, long term goals are discussed behind closed doors, trust is built. When you're talking about amounts that large, Jamie is their primary point of contact. They're not filling out a form online so they can upgrade their tickets.

The Reimans didn't just walk into the Jacobson building one day and say "Hey, I've got this $25 million, could you please build a South End Zone?"
 
thrillcat said:
You realize these weren't just out of the blue donations, right? Those relationships are fostered over time, long term goals are discussed behind closed doors, trust is built. When you're talking about amounts that large, Jamie is their primary point of contact. They're not filling out a form online so they can upgrade their tickets.

The Reimans didn't just walk into the Jacobson building one day and say "Hey, I've got this $25 million, could you please build a South End Zone?"
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1. You are arguing chicken vs egg.
2. Do you really believe that the Reiman or the Sukup's dedication to the University is due in large part to Jamie Pollard or to the fact that they love Iowa State University, and any other person that was in the same position could have facilitated their donations similarly?
3. If anyone else with similar qualifications could have done the same job, then someone didn't do an "outstanding job." They just did their job.
 
klamath632 said:
Pollard and CJL were both hired in 2005. CJL was hired earlier in the year by BVDV, who later resigned. Pollard was hired in the fall.
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Close. CJL was hired on December 17th, 2004. JP was hired Oct. 2005.
 
Fundraising is one of the AD's main responsibilities. Yes, there are donors willing to donate but the AD has to be the right ambassador of the university that the donors feel appreciated but not hounded to donate. The AD on the other hand needs to try to get as much as he can but needs to think of long term on how to maintain the relationships. It will always go both ways and we should give JP a credit for this.
 
cyclone13 said:
Fundraising is one of the AD's main responsibilities. Yes, there are donors willing to donate but the AD has to be the right ambassador of the university that the donors feel appreciated but not hounded to donate. The AD on the other hand needs to try to get as much as he can but needs to think of long term on how to maintain the relationships. It will always go both ways and we should give JP a credit for this.
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Nope just doing his job, no big deal. Geesh, I'd hate to have some of you on here as my supervisor.
 
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