Ron Pavlik - Football Coach - Iowa State Athletics

Ron Pavlik is in his first season working with special teams for the Iowa State football program after serving as assistant special teams coach under Jimmy Rogers at Washington State in 2025.

Pavlik has spent the last three seasons on Rogers’ staff, both at WSU and South Dakota State.

The 2025 Washington State team reached a bowl game despite having 75 newcomers on the roster. Pavlik assisted with special teams for the Cougars, who finished the season sixth nationally averaging 17.3 yards per punt return and 16th nationally in punt return defense (3.91).

The Cougar special teams also ranked in the top 40 for kick return defense (17.9).

Individually, WSU return man Tony Freeman was one of the nation’s top punt returners. Freeman averaged 17.3 yards per return during the 2025 season. Kicker Jack Stevens connected on 16-of-19 field goal tries, making 16-of-18 inside 50 yards.

At SDSU, Pavlik was assistant to the head coach and helped the Jackrabbits go 27-3 in his two seasons in Brookings. The Jackrabbits won the FCS Championship in 2023, finishing the season with a 15-0 record. In 2024, SDSU went 12-3 and reached the semifinals of the FCS Playoffs.

Prior to returning to South Dakota State, his alma mater, Pavlik spent five seasons coaching high school football in Nebraska, serving as head coach at Omaha Burke (2022) and Bishop Neumann (2021), as well as an assistant coach at Bellevue West (2018-20).

Out of college, Pavlik spent the 2016 season as a defensive graduate assistant working with special teams at SDSU before moving into an assistant coach role at Mount Carmel High School in Chicago in 2017.

The Portage, Indiana native was a punter for South Dakota State and earned his bachelor’s degree in sociology in 2015. He also holds master’s degrees from SDSU in education administration and special education from Nebraska-Kearney.

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