The holiday season is a chaotic time for many, but this year it’s especially busy for ISU offensive coordinator Tom Herman.

Herman is now the member of two college coaching staffs, as he was named the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Ohio State University on Friday. However, Herman will remain with the Cyclones through their Dec. 30 Pinstripe Bowl appearance against Rutgers.

“It is a bit hectic, obviously when your schedule changes any time [or] you get out of a routine a bit you have to adapt,” Herman said. “The [coaches] have been great, coach [Paul] Rhoads has been great, the kids have been great so it’s made it easy.”

The day after Iowa State’s regular season finale — a 30-23 loss at Kansas State — new Ohio State coach Urban Meyer called Rhoads to ask for permission to speak with Herman. Rhoads granted that permission, but approached Herman and asked if he would coach in the Pinstripe Bowl and do so with an attitude that reflects the team’s motto of “All In.”

“I challenged Tom to be all in in the preparation and the commitment to this football game,” Rhoads said. “If he could be that way, he was going to coordinate through this game.”

Without hesitation, Herman accepted Rhoads’ challenge and will call plays from the coaches’ booth at Yankee Stadium.

“I think I owe it to him, I owe it to this program,” Herman said. “I owe it to these players that I’ve been around for three years and have built strong relationships that I want to see this year end on a great note.”

To focus on coaching the Cyclones in their bowl game, Herman called on the experiences of Meyer. While coach at Utah in 2004, Meyer was hired by Florida but stayed on staff to lead the Utes to a Fiesta Bowl victory and 12-0 season.

“There’s certainly a precedent there,” Herman said. “It’s been done before, and I’m just excited to be a part of this bowl game and be a part of [the team’s] reward for their success this season.”

One of the calls that Herman had to make after deciding to take the job at Ohio State was to ISU starting quarterback, redshirt freshman Jared Barnett.

“It’s a really good situation and I’m proud of him,” Barnett said. “I was a little upset being that he’s been like a father to me up here for two years and he’s been my mentor, he’s coached me, he’s brought me to a different level.

“I’m going to miss him, but I know that this is a great opportunity for him and for his family and great for his career, so I’m all for it. I’m right there behind him.”

Barnett took over for the Cyclones in the seventh game of the regular season against Texas A&M, and started the final five, accounting for 1,613 total yards — 1,178 passing, 435 rushing — and leading the Cyclones to their second bowl game in three years.

“He’s going to have to work his tail off for years to come in order to keep the position that he’s earned so far,” Herman said. “But the sky’s the limit in terms of growth potential.”

The 35-year-old Herman is the first outside hire by Ohio State since Meyer was hired on Nov. 28. Meyer, who won national championships as coach at Florida in 2006 and 2008, is widely considered one of the most successful coaches to use the spread offense, an offense that Herman implemented at Iowa State over the last three seasons.

“[The] part is exciting, is to be able to grow as a coach and learn from a guy that’s really, really well-respected throughout the coaching community, especially on the offensive side of the ball,” Herman said.

The position in Columbus, Ohio, will be a homecoming of sorts for Herman, who moved to California when he was 5 years old from his birthplace in nearby Cincinnati.

“I haven’t lived within 1,000 miles of my 82-year-old grandma since I was 5 years old, and she’s still alive and I get an opportunity to be an hour and a half, two hours near all my extended family,” Herman said. “It’s going to be neat to get back there and be able to see them a lot more frequently.”

Rhoads told reporters Saturday that the search for Herman’s replacement will not be the primary focus during December, with recruiting and preparation for the Pinstripe Bowl on the docket.

“You’re always a step ahead in planning for something like this at every position group, not just the coordinator job, so I’m in pretty good shape on that, but it’s nothing that I will be hasty on,” Rhoads said.

The plan will be to find an offensive coordinator that runs a similar offense to Herman’s.

“We’ll keep doing the same thing, we’re not going to change; we’re going to have to find somebody that conforms to us rather than conform to him,” Rhoads said. “It’s always easier for one to conform to 50-some than it is the other way around.”

The relationship between a quarterback and offensive coordinator is an important one. Barnett has trust in his coach that he’ll find the right person to fill the vacancy left by Herman.

“It’s one of those things that you just take it as it comes,” Barnett said. “We know coach Rhoads is going to bring somebody in that’s going to be successful and that’s going to work well with the players that we have.”

After getting his first opportunity to coach at a BCS-level program, Herman had a chance to reflect on his relationship with Rhoads and how their interaction will help him as he continues his coaching career.

“He is the best I’ve been around at walking that line between demanding intensity, demanding execution, demanding the little things being done right and being so demanding on his players, but at the same time being likable,” Herman said. “The kids love him, they’d run through a brick wall for him and so he’s walked the line and I’ve learned so much in the last three years on how to be a good head coach from being around him.

“He’s about as good as it gets.”