Iowa State football coach Gene Chizik has scrambled his coaching staff, removing his offensive and defensive coordinators and firing two other assistant coaches.

Chizik removed offensive coordinator Robert McFarland and defensive coordinator Wayne Bolt and dismissed quarterbacks coach Tony Petersen and secondary coach Shawn Raney.

Iowa State officials said Bolt will remain as linebackers coach and McFarland will retain his role as assistant head coach in charge of the offensive line.

"When it's a tough season — a 2-10 season — and you don't do as well as you want from a win-loss standpoint, you evaluate all aspects of the program," McFarland said late Sunday when reached at home.

Iowa State started the season 2-0 before losing 10 games by an average margin of more than 17 points.

This season, the Cyclones allowed 28 or more points 10 times — including the last nine games — but also scored 30 or more points six times.

"It's the head coach's responsibility to evaluate all facets of the program and make whatever changes are necessary to improve the team's overall performance," Chizik said in a statement released by Iowa State.

The statement praised McFarland as "one of the top offensive line coaches in the nation" and said that "modifying his duties so that all of his energy can be focused on that unit will benefit our team greatly."

Chizik also said Bolt is "a great teacher and a proven defensive mind and he will continue to add tremendous experience and value — especially to our linebacking corps — going forward."

A message left for Bolt at his home late Sunday was not immediately returned.

Chizik said national searches for the open positions will begin immediately.

Iowa State started the season with two victories before pushing bowl-bound Iowa during a 17-5 setback in Iowa City.

A pair of difficult losses followed: The Cyclones fell to Nevada-Las Vegas, 34-31, in overtime and wasted a three-touchdown lead in a 35-33 loss to Kansas in Ames.

Iowa State struggled the rest of the season with the best chance for a win coming at Colorado on Nov. 8. The Cyclones marched to within a yard of the goal line before being stopped on the final play of a 28-24 loss.

McFarland said he felt the offense was improving.

"It's an ego business," McFarland said. "Any person feels like they can get the job done, score every time. And I feel we made some improvement since last year.

"But moving forward, coach felt we needed to move a different direction."

When asked whether he considered leaving the program after learning of the coordinator change, McFarland didn't hesitate.

"Gene showed me where I can fit in, in terms of his vision," McFarland said. "If I didn't agree with it, I'd have to go another direction.

"It wasn't a hard decision, though. I believe in the direction we're headed."