The plan was for the Gary’s to meet with the media on Wednesday afternoon.

The Gary’s are Iowa athletic director Gary Barta and Hawkeye play by play voice Gary Dolphin.

Then an incident after the Iowa/Ohio State game on Tuesday night made Wednesday an unexpected doubleheader presser that featured Barta and Fran McCaffery discussing a two game suspension for the Iowa basketball coach.

The press conference or any sort of expanded comments on the suspension of Dolphin was long overdue. The suspension for the rest of the basketball season was announced on Friday after comments he made at the end of the Maryland game on Tuesday that used the fictional character King Kong to describe the play of Terps big man Bruno Fernando at the end of the game.

The result was a massive firestorm from Iowa fans on social media. There was rampant speculation and also a pretty significant movement to reinstate Dolphin to the broadcast.

On Wednesday it was announced that Gary Dolphin would return to his seat in the booth for spring football and he would also return to his full-time spot providing play by play for Iowa football and men’s basketball.

Some thoughts on the Dolphin and Barta press conference

- I thought Dolphin did a nice job of explaining his thoughts on the situation and he was very sincere in his thoughts. He said he was disappointing in himself and he was also disappointed in the suspension. It was certainly a learning and teaching moment based on his comments. There’s no question that this hit Dolphin hard. He certainly loves the Hawkeyes and his job and is anxious to get back to it.

- It was also certainly clear that Dolphin doesn’t enjoy being a distraction. He was very clear that no one from Learfield, Iowa, or Fran McCaffery have tried to remove him from the broadcast team. It was also clear he wished he could be back on the broadcast for post season play, but he was accepting of the decision to make his return to the booth at the spring game.

- Gary Barta’s opening remarks quickly acknowledged that perhaps he took too long to meet with the media and answer some of the questions about this situation. He also called this a learning experience for him. Having said that, he indicated that they spent the weekend talking with Dolphin and Learfield, who is technically Dolphin’s employer.

- Barta said he reached out to colleagues around the country to get their thoughts on unconscious bias and wanted to make sure he was doing right for the Iowa student-athletes, Iowa, Learfield, and Gary Dolphin. His conclusion was that while the words were insensitive in nature, that they weren’t intentional and that this shouldn’t be career ending.

- Dolphin felt that he wanted to talk to the fans and get back in his chair. He’s always going to be unhappy with a suspension, but he understands it and is going to learn from it.

- There’s no question that Dolphin loves Iowa fans. He said Iowa is a radio state. People in Iowa listen to their radios. He just asked that everyone move on and not be overly critical of Gary Barta or Iowa. He said he appreciates the support from the fans, but encouraged everyone to move on.

- Barta said he understands the critical comments about the decision and the lack of not talking sooner. He said he’s been here 13 years and understands the privilege of the job. He understands the frustration, but he’s also needs to explain it. He detailed talks he has had with minority student athletes and statements made to them in the community that have been hurtful. In this case, while the intent was not to hurt, it was hurtful.

- Barta did say that all the punishment went through Learfield. He indicated that this was the second suspension in a few months and that was taken into account in this second suspension. Barta said the length of the suspension was basically decided in the first 48 hours. He said part of the delay in saying more than a statement on Friday was they were still resolving other issues. He also said that in instances like this in the future, he is going to have private personnel discussions and until those are done, he wouldn’t comment further. He said in hindsight, he wished he would have explained more about why they weren’t commenting before this press conference.

- Dolphin said his relationship with Fran McCaffery is good. He said he called Fran last Thursday night and they visited. Told him he was sorry for creating a distraction and they have a positive conversation. He said Fran wished him good luck and they have no issues. He said all coaches are different and not all agree with his style. He said Fran has an Irish temper like he does and that their disagreements have always been professional in manner. They have to do with style and they adjust. Dolphin said he thinks Fran is a great coach and he’s funny, but he can get upset and that doesn’t bother him at all. He acknowledged their differences, but added that they talk those things out and move on.

- Dolphin said he has not yet reached out to Bruno Fernando from Maryland. He said he will make that attempt after the season more than likely. Just not right now. Barta said he had a conversation with Maryland they appreciated the fact that he reached out.

- Barta discussed the change in the culture where something like King Kong references, which Hayden Fry once used to describe one of his Iowa players and no one raised an eyebrow. He said in the past 10 years or so, if you flip on an old sitcom, sometimes you can get real uncomfortable with some of those shows. When he watched them 10 years ago, he doesn’t remember it bothering him. He feels like he now has a better awareness today. Said that today there is more awareness of the feelings of others.

Then after a short break, part two of the press conference was underway and it included Barta and Fran McCaffery who were discussing his two game suspension following his post-game outburst towards an official in the tunnel where he used profanity and questioned the integrity of the official.

-Barta said he and McCaffery have discussed issues in the past as they have come up. He declined to go into detail about those issues, but he 100% supports Fran as the head coach and looks forward to him being at Iowa for a long time. Barta said after the game he was made aware of what had happened. Barta was not in Columbus, but he spoke to Fran after the game. He said he talked to the Big Ten and also the University President and finalized the suspension this morning. He said Fran fully accepts the suspension.

- McCaffery then spoke and said he is a passionate person. Loves his players and his family. He said his emotions got the better of him last night and he apologizes and regrets what he said. He said he accepts full responsibility. Fran then tried to explain what it’s like to sit in his seat. He said a lot of things happen during the course of a year or four years and he said his players know and understand is how passionate he is about them and their future and wants nothing but the best for them. He was fighting for them and that will never change.

- Barta said this is the first time he has had to suspend McCaffery. The previous time it was from the conference. He said they talk almost daily during the season and then at the end of the season and they look at how the program can get better. Said it’s no secret that he is passionate and that was one of the reasons Barta was excited to hire him. He loves Fran’s coaching, his style, and who he is. If Barta has an issue with something that makes him uncomfortable, then they talk about it. This one happened to be public and they have dealt with it.

- McCaffery said the fact that his son was indirectly involved because he got a technical doesn’t factor into this. He was simply protecting one of his players.

- McCaffery said that the game didn’t go as they hoped. He said he said what he said wasn’t meant to be public. He didn’t want to say it out on the floor. He waited. Someone ended up hearing it and that’s unfortunate, but also the reality. He said his intention for it to remain private. McCaffery said even if it didn’t go public, it’s probably something he and Barta would have spoken about privately. McCaffery also added that he regrets saying what he said.

- McCaffery said as a whole the leagues officials are good and they do a good job of educating them and communicating with the league office and during games. He said at times things happen in games that he feels are peculiar and at that point, he speaks on it. McCaffery also said the officials are professionals and he doesn’t think something like this will linger. He said every coach has officials at some point in the season, so it’s not isolated

- McCaffery said he doesn’t think this will impact his team. He feels good about his leadership with Nicholas Baer, Tyler Cook and Jordan Bohannon and they will help the team in this situation. He added that he has a veteran coaching staff. Four have been head coaches and there’s not much they haven’t seen. They will handle this. Andrew Francis has the scout for Rutgers and he will coach the team on Saturday and then Kirk Speraw has the scout for Wisconsin and will coach the team in that game.

- McCaffery said he will be allowed to participate in the pregame ceremony for senior day with Nicholas Baer. He said Baer has been a big part of his career at Iowa and he is one of the most special people and families he has ever been associated with. Barta added that he was very comfortable with that.

- McCaffery was asked about discipline and how he could expect it from his players when he didn’t show appropriate discipline. He said he simply regrets his action, but no regrets for fighting for them and they know that.

- McCaffery discussed the use of the term cheater to the official. Said he shouldn’t have said that, but he wasn’t feeling good about what had taken place. Said the official in question has been a man of integrity in the past, so for that reason, he shouldn’t have said it.

- The issue of anger management came with the regard to McCaffery’s demeanor and Barta said any of those discussions would remain private. McCaffery said he’s normally a pretty calm guy, but he does get upset from time to time during the heat of the game.