Less than 24 hours after beating North Carolina on the road, Wisconsin head coach and athletic director Barry Alvarez learned he would lose his right-hand man in less than two weeks. University of Wisconsin deputy athletics director Jamie Pollard has accepted the athletic director position at Iowa State University and will begin his new duties Oct. 1.
At Iowa State, Pollard will take over management of the $29 million department that supports 18 different sports.
"I am honored to have been chosen as the next director of athletics at Iowa State University," Pollard said. "Iowa State's athletic program has a rich tradition, a solid foundation and tremendous potential for growth and even greater success. The opportunity to lead the athletic program at this time is very exciting."
Pollard, who will take over for Bruce Van De Velde, will receive a contract that spans five years and will pay a base salary of $275,000. The deal will also include incentives tied to the department's performance, both in the classroom and on the playing field.
"Well, I'm very happy for Jamie," Alvarez said. "It was just a matter [of time] before Jamie took his own job, or had his own school. So I'm happy for he and his family. He did a tremendous job for me and the university, and I'll always be indebted to him for what he did for us and the tremendous job that he did."
Pollard interviewed for the job last week, but had not informed Alvarez until Sunday for confidentiality reasons, which Alvarez says were due to his relationship with Iowa State head coach Dan McCarney. McCarney served as Wisconsin's defensive coordinator for five seasons under Alvarez, and the two's friendship goes back to their time at Iowa under legendary head coach Hayden Fry.
"I think his president wanted to keep it confidential and go through the process without it being a public issue," Alvarez said. "But he was offered the job officially yesterday and accepted and contacted me right away."
Now, Alvarez must face the reality of replacing one of the most highly touted young administrators in the NCAA. Street & Smith's SportsBusiness Journal honored Pollard with its "Top Forty Under 40" Award in 2003, making him the first intercollegiate sports administrator to receive the accolade. Pollard had served as deputy athletic director since 2003, but had been at Wisconsin since May of 1998.
"He's someone that I could rely on," Alvarez said. "I told senior staff and everyone else, if I wasn't there, whatever Jamie's decision was, Jamie's voice was my voice and that's the type of communication and relationship and trust that I had in him."
Despite the timing of the move, in the midst of the school's football season, Alvarez does not believe the loss of Pollard will be a distraction to his duties as head coach. Wisconsin, currently 3-0 and ranked No. 24 in the USA Today Coaches' Poll, hosts Michigan this weekend. The Badgers have not beaten the Wolverines since 1994.
"We'll absorb Jamie's loss and move forward and, to be honest with you, I'm not going to get real wrapped up in it this week," Alvarez said. "I have one other priority that sits a little higher than replacing Jamie, as valuable as he was, and I have a lot of confidence in the people that I have that we'll be able to absorb it for the short-term until we find a replacement. But I'm not going to let it be a distraction."
As of now, Alvarez has not set a timetable for hiring a replacement for Pollard, and the two will play the transition by ear in the coming days.
"I guess it's bittersweet that I see him leave. You hate to lose a good man, but you know when you have good people they're going to move on," Alvarez said. "We'll probably get together in the next couple of days to see what his timetable is. But, obviously, we'll post the position and take a look and see who's out there, but I don't have a timetable right now. It's a little too early."
