In 2027, current Iowa State athletic director Jamie Pollard will step down from his position, retiring after 22 years.
Through his 22 years, you could argue Iowa State athletics have had their greatest years, with impeccable hires or best-ever seasons.
Pollard has seen and led a turnaround in Iowa State athletics, going from a program often overlooked to a popular brand in college athletics.
The hiring of Matt Campbell Love him or hate him, Matt Campbell brought together Iowa States best years of football.
After years of struggle, Campbell helped take Cyclone football out of the gutter.
Campbells predecessor, Paul Rhodes, had his best season as Iowa States head coach in 2009, when he went 7-6 and won the Insight Bowl.
Through Rhodes seven-year tenure, Iowa State wasnt AP-ranked once, on top of only having a single winning season.
In Campbells first year in 2015, the Cyclones went a mere 3-9, the same as Rhodes in 2014.
The very next year was when everything changed, going 8-5 and getting Iowa State ranked in the AP poll for the first time since 2005.
From 2017 to 2025, Campbell only finished with a losing record once in 2022 and combined for a career record of 72-55.
Campbell also led Iowa State to seven bowl games, winning three, including the Fiesta Bowl against Oregon in 2021 and the Pop-Tarts Bowl against Miami in 2024.
The hiring of T.J.
Otzelberger T.J.
Otzelberger joined Iowa State before the 2021-22 season, having coached at South Dakota State from 2016 to 2019 and at UNLV from 2019 to 2021.
In the 2020-21 season, the year before Otzelberger arrived, Iowa State went 2-22, only beating Arkansas-Pine Bluff and Jackson State, even losing to Otzelbergers South Dakota State Jackrabbits 71-68.
In Otzelbergers first year with Iowa State, he amazingly turned the program completely around, turning 22 losses into 22 wins and getting Iowa State as high as eighth in the AP poll.
His very next season was amazingly his worst statistically since joining Iowa State, finishing 19-14 and making March Madness after being ranked as high as 11th.
For the 2023-24 season, Otzelberger was looking to really accelerate the successes hed seen, and he did just that, winning the Big 12 tournament and making the Sweet 16 on a 29-8 record.
2024-25 and 2025-26 were both very similar seasons to each other; both teams started ranked before reaching second on the AP poll and falling down before the Big 12 tournament.
Both teams entered the postseason with high expectations, fell short in the Big 12 tournament, and then fell flat before having the ability to take off in March Madness.
Otzelberger has arguably been the best thing to happen to Iowa State basketball; in the 2026 draft alone, Joshua Jefferson was drafted in the first round and Tamin Lipsey was signed as an undrafted free agent after the draft.
Iowa State footballs first 10-win season Entering the 2024 college football season, Iowa State was one of three programs to have no 10-win seasons in the last century, along with Indiana and Vanderbilt.
The double-digit win mark had been something haunting Iowa State for decades, with Iowa State coming close in 2020, having its first-ever nine-win season ending 9-3.
Iowa States 2024 season was by no means easy either, with Iowa being an early-season matchup ranked at 21st.
Well, Iowa State started the year incredibly hot, winning its first seven games of the year over programs like Iowa, Baylor and a nail-biter versus UCF.
But after the next two weeks, it seemed like the streak would continue, with the Cyclones losing on a field goal to Texas Tech at home before getting trounced by Kansas at Arrowhead Stadium.
The Cyclones ended the year hot, though: Coming into rivalry week, Iowa State had beaten both Cincinnati and Utah.
The Cyclones finally had the chance to break the streak versus Kansas State in a chilly Farmageddon duel at Jack Trice Stadium.
After a back-and-forth game, Iowa State did it, beating Kansas State 29-21 to go 10-2 and, more importantly, clinch the Big 12 Championship game.
In the Big 12 Championship, Iowa State got embarrassed, losing 45-19 to Arizona State after Sam Leavitt and Cam Skattebo put on an offensive masterclass.
Missing the College Football Playoffs, Iowa State was set to play Miami in the Pop-Tarts Bowl, beating 2025 NFL first pick Cam Ward and the Hurricanes 42-41.
Amazingly, Iowa State not only broke the 10-win barrier, but the 11-win barrier, finishing at 11-3 with the programs best-ever finish.
Indiana and Vanderbilt have now both broken their streaks as well, with Indiana doing so alongside Iowa State in 2024 and Vanderbilt doing it in 2025.
Brock Purdy and Tyrese Haliburton Despite not necessarily happening under Pollard, Tyrese Haliburton and Brock Purdy have both become among the most iconic professional Cyclones ever, with both of their college careers occurring while Pollard was the athletic director.
Purdy was selected last in the 2022 NFL draft, but has become a staple of the league, becoming the San Fransico 49ers starting quarterback and leading the team to a Super Bowl in 2024.
Haliburton was not nearly as overlooked as Purdy, selected 12th in the 2020 NBA draft by the Sacramento Kings and traded to the Indiana Pacers in his sophomore season in the association.
Since that trade, Haliburton has been a two-time all-star, two-time all-NBA, the 2023-24 assist champion, won a gold medal with the U.S.
mens basketball team in 2024 and appeared in the 2025 NBA Finals, taking the Oklahoma City Thunder to seven games before an Achilles tear ended his series short.
Both of these athletes have pledged their allegiance and love to Iowa State throughout their professional careers, helping the university become an even larger brand in college sports.