The University of Iowa made the expected decision official today, officially designating Beth Goetz as the interim athletics director. Goetz will take over from current athletics director Gary Barta on August 1, 2023, who is retiring after 17 years in the role.
Prior to being named the interim athletics director, Goetz, 48, served as the deputy athletics director and chief operating officer for the the University of Iowa Department of Athletics. She had been in that role since arriving at Iowa in September 2022 after serving as the athletics director at Ball State for four years.
While at Ball State, Goetz hired eight head coaches and oversaw fundraising efforts for several facilities projects, as well as increased ticket sales in multiple sports. 10 Cardinal teams won MAC championships during her tenure and Ball State posted a Graduation Success Rate of 90 percent in consecutive seasons.
Before leading the Ball State athletics department, Goetz served as chief operating officer/senior woman administrator in the University of Connecticut athletics department from 2016 to 2018. She also has previous experience in a Big Ten institution, having been deputy athletics director at the University of Minnesota from 2013 to 2015 and the interim athletics director for the 2015-16 season.
Goetz has also served in national sports leadership roles in recent years. She was a member of the NCAA Competition Oversight Committee in 2018 and also served as vice chair of the NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Committee in 2021-22.
As a student-athlete, Goetz played collegiate soccer at Brevard College, where she earned All-America honors, and Clemson. She earned a master's degree from the University of Missouri-St. Louis, where she also served as a assistant women's soccer coach, head women's soccer coach, and assistant athletics director/senior woman administrator during a 13-year tenure.
Wilson also noted that a national search for Barta’s permanent replacement is planned for sometime in early 2024. Why such a long timetable to find and announce a permanent replacement for Barta? While athletics director is not a role that you want to rush to fill, a 6+ month timetable to find a replacement does seem rather lengthy.
One reason for the extended timetable for the search might be to let the Fall 2023 semester serve as a trial run for Goetz as athletics director. If she receives positive early feedback for her work as interim athletics director this fall, she likely becomes the frontrunner for the permanent athletics director role once the search officially begins in 2024.
