Published May 26, 2023
Gary Barta to Retire
Ross Binder  •  Hawkeye Beacon
Managing Editor

Gary Barta, longtime University of Iowa athletic director, announced Friday that he would retire, effective August 1. Barta, who was hired to replace Bob Bowlsby in 2006, is the fifth-longest tenured athletics director among Power 5 universities. In addition to his role as athletics director at Iowa, Barta also served as the chairman of the College Football Playoff in 2020 and 2021, a role that saw him answering questions about the CFP Selection Committee's rankings during the season.

“It has been an absolute privilege and honor to serve in this role the past 17 years. I'm humbled to have worked beside and on behalf of so many student-athletes, coaches, staff, donors, fans, and community leaders over the past two decades," Barta said in a statement announcing his retirement.

The university announced that it will name an interim athletics director next week, while it conducts a search for a new full-time athletics director. Current deputy athletics director Beth Goetz is the expected choice in that role.

“Gary’s achievements at the University of Iowa are significant, and our coaches and student-athletes have enjoyed tremendous success on and off the field during his tenure,” said UI President Barbara Wilson in the university announcement. “I’m grateful for his leadership as a Hawkeye and I wish him well in his retirement."

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IOWA ATHLETICS UNDER BARTA

On the field, Iowa teams won four NCAA championships (all in wrestling) and combined for 27 Big Ten regular season and tournament championships, most recently in women's basketball in March. During Barta's 17-year tenure, Iowa football played in two BCS-level bowl games, winning the 2010 Orange Bowl and losing the 2016 Rose Bowl, and twice won the Big Ten West division (in 2015 and 2021).

“The success enjoyed by our student-athletes and coaches during my entire tenure, and especially the past several years, has been impressive and record breaking on so many levels,” Barta noted.

Despite a 16-year span as the leader of Iowa athletics, one of the most unique aspects of Barta's tenure was the infrequency of his major coaching hires. Barta inherited incumbent coaches in football (Kirk Ferentz), women's basketball (Lisa Bluder), and wrestling (Tom Brands) who remain in those roles today due to the consistent levels of success they have maintained during their time at Iowa.

The only major sport where Barta has made a coaching hire since his arrival at Iowa is men's basketball — and there he made two.

After delivering an ultimatum that led to then-head coach Steve Alford's departure to New Mexico following the 2006-07 season, Barta hired Butler head coach Todd Lickliter as Iowa's new men's basketball head coach. While Lickliter was the reigning NABC National Coach of the Year when hired, his tenure at Iowa was a disaster, marked by a stream of player exits, three consecutive losing seasons, and cratering attendance numbers and fan support.

Barta terminated Lickliter's contract after the third season and brought in Siena head coach Fran McCaffery in 2010. McCaffery remains Iowa's men's basketball coach today, having guided Iowa to NCAA Tournament eligibility in five consecutive seasons (four appearances and a projected 6-seed in the COVID-canceled tournament in 2020), as well as a Big Ten Conference Tournament championship in 2022.

While he's never had to hire a new head football coach at Iowa, Barta's oversight of the football program has not been without controversy.

Barta has overseen several extensions to Kirk Ferentz's contract since his arrival in 2006, which have often generated controversy due to the length and onerous buyout terms attached to the deals.

Barta opted not to discipline Ferentz or strength and conditioning coach Chris Doyle after offseason workouts that landed 13 players in the hospital with rhabdomyolysis in 2011. Doyle would later be bought out from his contract as a result of a 2020 investigation into claims of racial discrimination in the Iowa football program.

Barta has also been embroiled in controversies involving Brian Ferentz, the son of head coach Kirk Ferentz and Iowa's current offensive coordinator. Hiring Brian to Iowa's staff in 2012 required the creation of a workaround with Barta serving as Brian's official supervisor, in order to maintain adherence with UI rules regarding nepotism. Brian was also named in the 2020 racial discrimination investigation and subsequent lawsuit, but was allowed to keep his job.

Most recently, in the wake of historically poor offensive numbers, Barta rewrote Brian Ferentz's contract to include new stipulations that must be met in order to be offered an extension next season.

FOLLOW THE MONEY

Off the field, Barta's tenure at Iowa revolved around money — in both good and bad ways. Iowa completed nearly $400 million in construction projects during Barta's time at Iowa, highlighted by multiple renovations to Kinnick Stadium as well as the construction of new practice facilities for the football, basketball, and wrestling programs and new facilities for golf and soccer and the Gerdin Athletic Learning Center.

However, Barta and Iowa have also settled multiple discrimination lawsuits, with costs including damages totaling nearly $12 million over the last six years. Those lawsuits involved allegations of gender discrimination, racial discrimination, and violations of Title IX, the federal civil rights law prohibiting sex-based discrimination among educational entities.

The Title IX lawsuit was precipitated by Barta's controversial decision to cut four sports during the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic: men's tennis, men's gymnastics, and men's and women's swimming and diving. Women's swimming and diving was restored in the conclusion of the lawsuit, but the other sports were not. Women's wrestling was also added as a result of the Title IX lawsuit settlement.

Still, with the Big Ten's television revenue soaring and ticket sales remaining high in the revenue-generating sports, Barta's legacy includes a stronger financial base than the one he inherited.

THE FUTURE

While the university is expected to conduct a national search for a new athletics director, Goetz, the current deputy (and likely interim) athletics director, may be the favorite for the role.

Goetz arrived at Iowa in September of 2022 after serving as athletics director at Ball State since 2018. Goetz has previous Big Ten administrative experience as the interim athletics director at the University of Minnesota in 2015, and was under consideration for the University of Wisconsin's athletic director position in 2021.

Goetz was also a collegiate soccer player at Clemson and served as a soccer coach at the University of Missouri-Saint Louis.