Emotional Rhoads looks forward to final week, Pollard looks ahead to new coach

AMES — Paul Rhoads has never tried to hide his emotions. They've always been worn directly on his sleeve.

A handful of days away from coaching his last game for Iowa State and with emotions as raw as ever, Rhoads talked about getting his team ready for one more go around.

The tears welled in his eyes, and Rhoads — who has two sons on the team — thought of what his last week with the Cyclones might have in store.

'I'm a ball coach,' he said. 'I'm going to keep coaching. I relish the relationships I have with our players. I'll probably keep an eye on a couple players this week. See how they do. A couple specific ones.'

Iowa State athletics director Jamie Pollard and Rhoads met media outlets in separate news conferences Monday, a day after it was announced Rhoads had been fired as the ISU football coach.

The dismissal came less than 24 hours after Iowa State surrendered a 21-point lead at Kansas State to lose 38-35, but Pollard said the loss wasn't the end-all-be-all in firing Rhoads. Pollard's decision to change football coaches amounted to the team experiencing more disappointments than triumphs during the last three seasons.

'I believe our team has got more talent in that locker room than we've had in my 10 years that I've been here,' Pollard said. 'We have unbelievable potential. Unfortunately they don't keep score on the scoreboard with potential and talent. They keep score on results. And we just didn't get the results we needed to get.'

The timing of Pollard's move, he said, was based on the best interest of all parties. It gave Rhoads' family, the coaching staff and football personnel time to process the change and start planning for the weeks ahead and an opportunity to enjoy a final week with the players.

Rhoads, who is owed a nearly $4.6 million contract buyout, was given the decision to coach the Cyclones in the season finale at West Virginia on Saturday and didn't hesitate in his response.

'I'm no quitter. I would never have walked away,' Rhoads said. 'I wouldn't have walked away from the job. I wouldn't have walked away from the opportunity to coach these young men.'

Pollard said the search for a new coach has already begun, but would not comment on the process until the search was completed. In his 10 years in Ames — and two previous football coaching searches — Pollard has tended to act swiftly and said he will use the same search firm for this search that Iowa State used in June when men's basketball coach Steve Prohm was hired.

Although Pollard doesn't have a timeline for the hire or specifics in style of play that he is looking for, he talked about the candidate fitting the culture at Iowa State.

'I think our culture is very wholesome, I think it's very Midwest, I think it's very sincere and grounded,' Pollard said. 'People want to know who you are and why you're doing what you're doing. You've got to be approachable; you've got to be in the community. Wholesome is probably the best word.'

Rhoads' trademark in his seven years at Iowa State was the passion he had for his team and when it comes to looking toward the future. Players are hoping that's a trait that carries over.

'I can only hope he's the same type of coach that Coach Rhoads is,' said receiver Allen Lazard. 'I think he's going to be hard to replace because just knowing how much he cares about me and how much he cares about my teammates and just Iowa State in general. I just want (the new coach) to be a genuine guy.'

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