ISU football coach Dan McCarney never worked with Jamie Pollard when he was at Wisconsin.

A recommendation from his former boss at Wisconsin was all McCarney needed to see the new ISU athletic director was a fine choice. Pollard came highly recommended from Barry Alvarez, Wisconsin’s football coach and athletic director.

“Any time you know someone and they trust someone and they recommend someone, absolutely [that helps],” McCarney said. “His disappointment level was real high in losing Jamie, and I think that speaks well of the kind of person we hired here at Iowa State.”

McCarney was an assistant coach at Wisconsin from 1990-1994, serving as Alvarez’s defensive coordinator.

“Jamie is an outstanding athletics administrator whose vision, work ethic and intelligence will make a huge impact at ISU,” Alvarez said in an interview with the Wisconsin State Journal Monday.

“In my dual role, Jamie has been both essential and exceptional in running the day-to-day operation of the Badger program. During the times I was unable to fulfill all of the duties associated with the AD position, Jamie represented my administration in every aspect. His word was my word, and he did wonderful things in helping advance the mission of our division.”

– Grant Wall