​Jamie Pollard is stepping down after 22 years as Iowa State’s athletic director, the university announced on Friday, July 10. At 61, he is the longest-tenured athletics director in school history and plans to retire from his role on June 30, 2027, or sooner if Iowa State hires his successor before then. Let’s revisit five of the most memorable moments from his two-decade leadership of Cyclone athletics.
Pollard’s impact is often measured by the high-profile coaches he recruited who helped shape the program. Among them are Fred Hoiberg and T.J. Otzelberger for men’s basketball and Matt Campbell for football. In 2010, Pollard brought back Hoiberg, a fan favorite who had left for Creighton, to take over the men’s basketball program. Hoiberg guided the Cyclones to multiple 20-win seasons and earned NCAA Tournament berths in four of his five years in Ames. In 2021, Pollard hired Otzelberger, a former ISU assistant, to lead the men’s basketball program, and under his watch the Cyclones have posted 19 or more wins in each of his five seasons, with an NCAA Tournament appearance in every year of his tenure.
Pollard also recruited Campbell, who arrived ahead of the 2016 season to lead the football team. Campbell has delivered eight winning seasons in ten years and secured a first-place finish in the Big 12 in 2020, Iowa State’s first regular-season conference crown in more than a century. The athletic department’s growth under Pollard extends beyond the field. Before his arrival, athletics fundraising hovered around $9 million annually; during the 2025-26 academic year, that figure rose to a record $53 million, marking the most money ISU athletics has ever raised in a single year. A landmark gift from the Reiman Family in 2013—$25 million—funded the south end zone enclosure at Jack Trice Stadium, increasing capacity to 61,500 and boosting the program’s facilities footprint.
Pollard has championed a sustained, expansive investment in infrastructure, directing more than $400 million toward new construction and facility renovations that touched nearly every sport. The crown jewel of these upgrades is the $90 million Stark Performance Center, opened in 2021, which houses not only training facilities but also academic and student services along with a dining and sports nutrition center for student-athletes. The center’s multidisciplinary approach reflects Pollard’s broader vision of supporting athletes academically and athletically.
As Pollard departs, his legacy will continue to influence Iowa State’s trajectory. He leaves behind a program that has benefited from consistent leadership, strengthened facilities, and a culture of success across multiple sports. His tenure has solidified ISU’s reputation in college sports and positioned the university for ongoing competitiveness well into the next era.