AMES, Iowa — Iowa State athletic director Jamie Pollard says he’s extremely disappointed by football coach Gene Chizik’s departure to Auburn.

Speaking Monday at a news conference, an emotional Pollard maintained that Iowa State’s fans, staff and players deserved better.

Pollard says he hired Chizik in large part because of his character and values. Pollard says he’s having a hard time reconciling Chizik’s recent actions with the character he had shown the past two years.

Pollard says Chizik interviewed at Auburn last Thursday and told him afterward that he wouldn’t take the job.

Chizik called Pollard on Saturday to tell him he was leaving.

Pollard refused to address questions about the search for a new coach.