Just one day after the ISU football team played, and lost, its final game of the season, and after saying one final goodbye to its coach, ISU fans had new hope for their team.

ISU Athletics Director Jamie Pollard hired a new head coach Sunday. Toledo’s Matt Campbell will take over the program. Fans and players only had a one-day gap without a leader for their program, which shows the athletics department and Pollard were putting those people first.

Pollard has had a challenging year, both personally and professionally, to say the lesat. Pollard had a heart attack and a bypass surgery in March before he had to replace one of the most successful men’s basketball coaches in ISU history. And, to top off his year, Pollard had to fire a beloved and “so proud” head football coach because he just simply was not winning enough.

Quite frankly, one of those searches would seem to be a pretty tall order. How do you go about finding someone to fill the giant shoes of the Mayor, a larger-than-life figure loved by every ISU fan? And how do you find a talented football coach — while many other more historically prestigious programs are searching for head coaches as the same time — who is willing to take on a team with five wins in the last two seasons?

Despite these huge obstacles, it is clear the athletic department made an effort to not only hire new coaches who it felt were right for the jobs but do it in a way that was best for fans and players. The handling of these hirings, especially Campbell’s, seems to be done promptly and professionally.

This year’s ISU football team seems to be one of the most talented in recent years, with numerous young offensive standouts gracing the roster. It can’t be easy for those players to lose their well-liked leader and most other coaches on staff who they know and work with.

Assuming that with this in mind the athletic department wanted to act fast partly to reassure players and allow them to familiarize themselves with the new coaches as soon as possible. Additionally, as soon as a new coach is hired, the coach and his new staff can begin recruiting future players.

A quick coaching search seemed to benefit fans as well. Rhoads was obviously not fired because of a poor relationship with fans or players. Many fans appreciated his passion for Iowa State and his emotions on the sidelines and locker room, so it was disappointing it didn’t work out for him.

Instead of dwelling on the loss of a loving coach or a three-win season or even all the what-if games, fans could focus on learning about the new coach as well as following new assistant coach hires and watching new recruits sign. 

Overall, the athletic department had two of what could have been very negative situations on its hands, but the department handled both of them well while at the same time putting the fans and players first.