Although one game remains on Iowa State’s schedule, the background action will be more visible than whatever happens on the field, as a widespread search to find the next head coach of ISU football has officially commenced.

Coach Paul Rhoads, who was fired Sunday, will officially relinquish the reins after the Cyclones take on the Mountaineers in West Virginia this Saturday. 

ISU Athletic Director Jamie Pollard made the decision a week before the season’s end so that, among other reasons, he could get a leg up on the large pool of schools looking for coaches. Only a few handfuls of capable head coaches are available in what Pollard referred to as a “seller’s market.”

But as Pollard, who has a history of making coaching decisions quickly, starts his search, what exactly is he looking for?

“You have to stay true to your values,” Pollard said. “You have to find someone that understands and fits the Iowa State culture. That, I think, we’ve done a really good job of, and I look to all of our staff and our department.”

Pollard said the culture of Iowa State is “wholesome.” He wants a coach that will engage with the community and connect with the players.

To find this person, Pollard said he is tuning to the same search firm that assisted in the hiring of Steve Prohm as the next ISU men’s basketball coach, Parker Executive Search. 

Pollard hasn’t put a timetable on the coaching search, but in the past, he has been known for not letting “grass settle” under his feet. 

“There are so many ebbs and flows,’” Pollard said. “The most important thing is that you need to find the right person and hopefully close the deal on the right person. There’s an art to it, and there’s no one cookie-cutter way to do it.”

But in a exceedingly-diluted market with so many schools looking for the next great head coach, the task at hand won’t be easy. Iowa State is notorious for being hard place to coach, especially with its disadvantages in recruiting. 

But Pollard waived the notion and said any job is hard. The next coach has to be someone who understands the challenges that come with coaching in Ames.

“We need people to understand that and are excited about that,” Pollard said. “We’re not looking for someone who is going to ride into town like they know more everybody else. They’ve got to be right for the environment, and they’ve got to be up for the fight.”

Iowa State does have a few advantages over other schools that are on the hunt for a coach, particularly in facilities and fan support.

The Cyclones’ Bergstrom Practice Facility marks a top-of-the-line building that takes the cake when compared to other schools’ facilities. Iowa State also has a recently renovated Jack Trice Stadium, boasting a max attendance that reaches 62,500. 

Those seats are filled with what many around the ISU program call “the best fan base in the country.” 

“We have the greatest fans, I think, in the country,” Pollard said. “I know a lot of schools say that, but I think our fans prove it. Our fans have done far greater to us than we have done for our fans. Our fans are second to none.”

The imbalance of schools looking for coaches presents another problem for Pollard. Whichever coach Pollard decides on will be in a position to ask the school to break out the checkbook. 

“It’s clearly more of a seller’s market than a buyer’s market,” Pollard said. “That’s always scary because of what it means for the price number of getting somebody. We’ll cross that bridge when we get to that bridge.”  

Whomever claims the next head coaching job will acquire a talented, young team. Redshirt sophomore quarterback Joel Lanning heads that group on offense and is surrounded by redshirt freshman running back Mike Warren and sophomore Allen Lazard. 

The defense has a redshirt junior defensive lineman in Demond Tucker, who has already climbed up the ISU all-time lists in defensive statistics. 

But, in Lanning’s opinion, he doesn’t want a big change in the next coach, he just wants it to be someone similar to Rhoads.

“[I want] someone who is going to bring it everyday like coach Rhoads did,” Lanning said. 

Having a core of potential stars will certainly help Pollard in his search, and that’s what he’ll leverage when he pitches to potential coaching candidates.  

“I think we have a locker room full of potential,” Pollard said. “We are poised and ready to perform at the next level. We just have to find that leader that will take us over that hump and take us to that next level of football.”