ISU associate head coach Bob Elliott, who joined the Cyclones in

March

of

2000, is leaving the ISU football program to become the defensive

coordinator at Kansas State.

Elliott coached the ISU secondary and was the special teams

coordinator.

During his time he helped head coach Dan McCarney and the ISU

football

team

to consecutive bowl games, including the Cyclones first-ever bowl

victory

over Pittsburgh, 37-29 in the 2000 Insight.com Bowl.

The ISU secondary intercepted 18 passes in 2001, the most by a

Cyclone

unit

since 1976.

“I’m not sure I have the words to say what Dan McCarney means

to me as

a

friend,” Elliott said. “Because of my relationship with Dan this was

the

toughest of decisions. Our family has had a lifetime of memories

at

Iowa

State in just the last two seasons. My goal was to be a defensive

coordinator again. Professionally, this is an opportunity I can’t turn

down.

Dan McCarney’s achievements at Iowa State speak louder than

words. His

success in building a winner at Iowa State is one of the best

stories

in

college football and I’ve been lucky to be a part of it.”

McCarney said Friday that a national search for a secondary

coach

would

begin immediately.

He also announced that Tony Alford, who was the ISU running

backs

coach for

four seasons and spent 2001 at the University of Washington, will

return as

an assistant head coach and will be the running backs coach

again.

“We are thrilled that Tony is coming back to Ames and welcome

him back

to

the Cyclone football family,” McCarney said. “Tony is a great coach

who

brings so much to our staff. He is an outstanding recruiter who

brought

Ennis Haywood, Matt Word and Ellis Hobbs to our program. He is

a

perfect fit

for us.”

Alford coached a 1000-yard rusher, Darren Davis and Haywood,

in each

of his

four seasons. Alford was part of a Washington team that made the

Holiday

Bowl this season.

McCarney added that current ISU running backs coach Mike Grant

will be

the

Cyclones wide receivers coach next season. Grant will fill the spot

left by

Nick Quartaro, who left Iowa State last week to join the Kansas

staff

as an

offensive coordinator.

“There is not a successful program in the country whose

coaching staff

doesn’t attract interest from other programs nationally,” McCarney

said.

“This is a credit to all we have done at Iowa State.”

– Information and quotes from www.cyclones.com were used in

this story.