IOWA CITY, Iowa — This has become the year without a respite for Iowa sports. From Brian Ferentz’s contract revisions to hand waving at the NCAA women’s basketball championship game to a settled racial discrimination lawsuit to gambling allegations to now longtime athletic director Gary Barta’s retirement, the topics roll from one to the other. Maybe by late summer, sports once again will become the primary focus.
With a heavy load of questions, we split this mailbag into two (Part 2 can be found here), and the first deals with the athletic director situation. Deputy athletic director Beth Goetz was named interim on Thursday and is the favorite to land the job. Let’s get into your questions.
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Beth Goetz named Iowa's interim AD
Note: Submitted questions have been lightly edited for length and clarity.
Was Gary Barta forced/nudged out? It seems as if it was abrupt and he left some bonus money on the table. Was Barta good at raising money? Did he increase income more than his Big Ten brethren? — Jeff S.
Barta was a skilled fundraiser who presided over successful programs in all of the right sports. He didn’t have to hire a coach in three of Iowa’s four primary sports — he still deserves credit because none of them left — and made a solid second hire in men’s basketball. All four of them were ranked in the top three nationally at one point in the past three seasons.
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In his 17 seasons, Barta raised more than $650 million for scholarships and general funds while garnering more than $380 million in new facilities and renovations. When comparing Iowa to its financial peer institutions (Nebraska, Wisconsin, Michigan State), the department’s revenue growth was similar. According to financial documents obtained by The Athletic via state open records laws, Iowa’s revenues increased from $97.9 million in the 2012 fiscal year to $151.4 million in 2022. Iowa’s revenues in 2012 were second among that quartet and are second now. Even then, annual revenue surges and drops amid fundraising campaigns for facility improvements.
Barta’s lawsuits are what have drawn the most attention and understandably so. Iowa’s athletic department settled for $6.6 million to former senior associate athletic director Jane Meyer and field hockey coach Tracey Griesbaum after it was found guilty of gender discrimination. The department was forced to pay $200,000 to settle a gender discrimination lawsuit by a prospective male assistant coach in track and field because Iowa favored a female in that role. The department paid $400,000 in legal fees, reinstated women’s swimming and diving and added women’s wrestling after a Title IX lawsuit. This spring, Iowa paid $4.175 million to settle a racial discrimination lawsuit brought by former football players.
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By chopping four sports just 10 days after the Big Ten canceled football in 2020, Barta made a hasty decision without warning that cost him in court with regard to Title IX. He didn’t give parents or supporters a chance to raise money to reinstate those sports. His meeting with athletes of those sports lasted for only a few minutes before he left without questions. He never wavered that his decision was final … until the U.S. District Court of Southern Iowa intervened.
The football settlement was out of his hands, but he was warned about issues involving football multiple times. He allowed football to build a fiefdom starting with the rhabdomyolysis situation in 2011 until dozens of racial complaints were levied in 2020. Former player James Daniels told Barta of issues, and an internal report confirmed those.
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Iowa presidents Sally Mason and Bruce Harreld strongly supported him. That’s the major reason why Barta remained as the athletic director for 17 years.
Do you think the new AD will make it a priority to renovate Carver-Hawkeye Arena since it didn’t get much focus from Barta during his tenure at Iowa? — Mark D.
Carver-Hawkeye Arena and a new basketball practice facility were the primary focuses when Barta took office in 2006. At that time, the basketball and volleyball teams practiced and played at Carver, and their competitions overlapped with wrestling duals, some men’s and women’s gymnastics meets and other events. Barta received Regents’ permission to proceed on a $47 million project on June 12, 2008 — the day the Cedar River crested at 31 feet (19 feet above flood stage in Cedar Rapids). The flood and recession delayed the project by a few years, but it was finished in 2011. Then Barta turned his attention to other projects.
Recently, Barta had shifted Carver toward the top of his priority list and was considering an arena overhaul that would cut capacity to about 12,000. So there was interest in redoing the arena. Now that will be the next athletic director’s responsibility.
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For as much bashing as Carver gets, it’s still an impressive environment for wrestling and women’s basketball. But for men’s basketball, the atmosphere ranges from awesome to flat. Perhaps it’s the arena itself, the student seating location, the distance of fans from the court or the product on the floor, but I find Carver’s issues are twofold. The first is very much an athletic department issue: The amenities and customer services are trapped in the early 1980s. There is no concourse and the best seats force fans to walk 80 steps to use the restroom or purchase concessions. There are no ushers walking and selling beverages or snacks.
The other involves Iowa’s unique issue involving fans who prefer to stand with those who want to sit and watch. It makes for combustible and awkward moments. The department should offer separate standing and seating areas for those who predominantly want one or the other.
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If Barta was in place through, say, 2027, I think you would see a Carver renovation. Now, it’s up to his successor.
Leaving names out of this question: In your opinion, what does the “perfect” AD look like in the Big Ten? What are the most important traits/skills? — Tom C.
An athletic director at Iowa should harbor immediate respect from peers and colleagues with an impactful voice in Big Ten, campus-wide and NCAA meetings. With fans and donors, listening is mandatory along with directly conveying priorities. It’s always about “we” when it comes to an athletic department and its supporters. Everyone has a role.
Among coaches and the department staff, you want to have a leader who presents a realistic vision with clear communication for the department in the short and long term. That person should delegate enough responsibility to subordinates so everyone feels like they are equally invested in goal-setting and valued in achievement.
What would be the biggest task for the new AD within the next two years? — Lester L.
Succession planning in football. If you fail at football, you fail as an athletic department. Kirk Ferentz will be 68 in August and could coach for five more years. He also could coach one more year. The most important hires in the Iowa athletic department’s history were Hayden Fry in late 1978 and Ferentz in late 1998. The worst hire was Forest Evashevski leaving the football sideline for the athletic director’s suite after the 1960 season.
I’ve said countless times that Dan Gable is the best coach in Iowa sports history, but Fry was the most important. After 19 consecutive non-winning seasons, Fry resurrected the program that Evashevski built to elite status in the 1950s and ruined as the AD in the 1960s. Ferentz extended Fry’s success, and the program remains strong. But what happens next is critical. Even tradition-rich programs like Texas, Michigan, Nebraska and Alabama (before Nick Saban) hired the wrong coaches and had losing seasons. All it takes is two down years with the wrong coach before the program becomes an afterthought regionally and nationally. Just look at Virginia Tech for specifics.
Is Barta receiving a severance package or anything related to remaining compensation, benefits, etc.? If he’s receiving a severance, any likelihood of a clawback due to litigation expenses/liability? — SEC Y.
According to the four-page separation agreement, there’s no severance package but the University of Iowa will provide Barta and his wife, Connie, health coverage through Barta’s 65th birthday (Sept. 4, 2028) or if he becomes eligible for family health insurance through a future employer.
Barta’s contract is for $650,000 in annual salary and $400,000 in deferred compensation, the latter of which he receives after June 30. He won’t receive deferred compensation on June 30, 2024 but will earn his salary through his final day on Aug. 1.
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There were a few modifications made to the retirement process. Iowa agreed to waive the 120-day notice requirement as well as the 12-month future employment restriction. Barta had 21 days to review the agreement, which is required by the Age Discrimination in Employment Act. Once he signed the separation agreement on May 20, he had seven days before any age discrimination claims no longer became enforceable. Barta signed the agreement on May 20; Iowa president Barbara Wilson signed it on May 21. It was announced on May 26.
With a new AD coming in, do you think Brian Ferentz keeps his job? I am also curious how this shapes Kirk Ferentz’s future. I believe that he retires if Brian Ferentz leaves, but if Brian Ferentz is retained, how much longer do you see Kirk Ferentz staying? — Chris C.
Until last week, I was unaware of the divide between Kirk Ferentz and Barta. How wide was it? Was Kirk Ferentz offended by the revision of Brian’s contract? If Barta had Kirk Ferentz’s support, would he still be AD? — Tim B.
Brian’s future really depends on offensive production. If the offense averages 17 points per game again, he’s not going to be the coordinator. If he’s removed, I’d give it a 50-50 chance for Kirk to go, too. If Brian gets another job on his own, Kirk likely will stick around. I know all of our focus is on the Kirk-Brian relationship, but he has two other sons with James playing in New England and Steve working as an assistant at Florida Atlantic. He also has two daughters, and he sometimes likes talking about them more than his sons.
Kirk and Barta once were in lockstep, but their partnership has frayed during the past few years. Barta’s tepid response to The Swarm Collective when Kirk wanted a wholehearted embrace caused a rift. Then Barta reworking Brian’s contract drove a wedge between them. Kirk’s frosty statement last week confirmed their icy relationship.
(Top photo: Matthew Holst / Getty Images)
