Locked On Hawkeyes - Daily Podcast On Iowa Hawkeyes Football & Basketball - Gary Barta to retire as Iowa Athletic Director, Iowa baseball comes back to win

Episode Date: May 26, 2023

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Gary Barta is retiring. That's right. Iowa will have a new athletic director. We get into that. Plus, Iowa baseball makes a run in the Big Ten tournament. They continue all today on Locked on Hawkeyes. Our Locked on Hawkeyes, your daily podcast on the Iowa Hawkeyes. Part of the Locked on Podcast Network, your team every day.

Hey, welcome in. I'm Trent Condon, and this is the Locked On Hawkeyes podcast. Thanks for making Locked On Hawkeyes your first listen every day. Available wherever you get podcasts. You can also find us on YouTube. Make sure you hit that subscribe button. We're pushing the numbers up. We're getting in front of more Hawkeye fans.

And a big thank you to everybody that's been aboard with us. The news of the day, it's a big one. Iowa will be getting a new athletic director. In fact, as we speak here this morning, the news is out from multiple outlets. An official announcement is anticipated a little bit later today. Gary Barta will retire as the University of Iowa athletic director. We'll talk about that. Also break down Iowa baseball with a big comeback win yesterday against Indiana, punching their ticket into the semifinals of the Big Ten tournament and solidifying their case as an NCAA tournament team

and putting themselves in good shape. Maybe they'll be as high as a number two seed in their regional, setting themselves up for an opportunity maybe to make a run, get to the Super Regionals. Hey, we can dream with this team. They've been playing some great baseball. All coming up today here on the show. Let's get into it.

And Gary Barta is going to retire effective August 1st. His retirement will be in there. This is a very interesting case. We've talked in the past about Gary Barta and the amount of money that he has cost the University of Iowa. He has cost the athletic department with the multiple lawsuits that have gone against him. Some of the biggest ones that have been out there, the recent ones, we've had obviously the case with the racial portion of things. You go back to the firing of a couple of females with the staff. He has cost a lot of money, and that's not all.

There's a lot more story to that. But really, the big question I know for a lot of people is, what does this mean? What is the anticipation with this that we are going to see going forward? Does it mean that it's going to be a very simple in-house decision that is going to happen here and we're going to see somebody come in that has connections to the University of Iowa? That's where a lot of people believe this is going to end. But one thing that I do need to say about Gary Barta, I have not been a big fan of Gary Barta, the missteps that he has taken, the toothless nature that he has had at times. He's also brought a lot of success to this athletic department over the last 17 years. And

their negatives, the way that he has handled NIL and the new Swarm Collective, I think is deplorable as it pertains to an athletic director at a program like the University of Iowa. But there are good things. And what he has done in the arms race of college football and college sports in general, Iowa has been able to keep up. Are they ever going to be at the level of an Ohio State or a Michigan Penn State? No. In the Big Ten.

Are they going to be on the national level? But Iowa continues to maintain a top 20, top 15 type status in terms of revenue year after year after year. Being in the Big Ten is a big help to that, but also the way that he generates money. And one thing, and people that have worked closely with Gary Barta, they say is he has always been a guy that has connected incredibly well with the big donors. He is a guy that has been able to go out there in a place where there hasn't had a whole lot going on today overall in the world with, when you just look at the way the breakdown of things, he has done a good job of connecting, getting those big donors and keeping Iowa Athletics solvent and making money that has

continued to be brought in at a high level. So that's something that you do definitely have to mention. Also, who he's brought in as a coach, and Fran McCaffrey, I think you got to start right there. Fran's a guy that has had his detractors. Fran is a guy that obviously we want more, right? He's gotten us back to the level that we saw during 90s Iowa basketball, right? Good enough to make the tournament more times than not, to win a game in the NCAA tournament, but that's basically it. Of course, Dr. Tom in his final season took one more step and got to the Sweet 16, but it was the first time in 11 years that he was able to accomplish that task.

The program had fallen stale, and I think there's an argument that can be made that the same thing absolutely could happen with Fran McCaffrey. But that's where down the line we'll get to that. What he has done, bringing in Tom Brands along with Terry Brands and getting the national championship picture back for the University of Iowa. Now, Penn State has kind of ruined that of what Kale Sanderson has built. has built but the national championships that he's delivered starting early on when he brought the virginia tech transfers with him including brett mack metcalf and and a couple other guys jay borschel they the championships they're rebuilding once again would have had another one in 2020 i don't think there's any doubt about that as the postseason was canceled that season but

you have that component brought in the guy that everybody wanted and has delivered. Lisa Bluter, getting them over the hump. Now, Kaitlin Clark is a huge part of that and playing for the national championship a year ago. But even before that, Lisa Bluter, she was another one of those coaches that could get to the cusp, could get you to the tournament, but couldn't punch through. And eventually she got to that next moment. And then of course, men's football. And ultimately the argument easily can be made that Gary Varda works for Kirk Ferentz. It's not the other way around. Though, yes, the athletic director is the king.

He's at the top. The football coach is really at the top. Well, he maintained the relationship. He did the things that was continually asked out of the athletic department from renovations of Kinnick Stadium and the beautiful North End zone now and how great that looks, what they have done on that side of things. The football complex, that is one of the best in the country and the ability to put that together and keeping Kurt Ferentz happy,

that's a big part of the job. He did an incredible job of that. Now there's the downside of it and having his son as the offensive coordinator and having Gary Barta be the one that has to answer to that. But that is again, more to the story. We continue on. It's a big one here. We'll talk more about what is happening at the University of Iowa. What we anticipate is going to be next. Who is in line to take over for Gary Barta as the athletic director that's as we continue here on Locked Eye Hawkeyes well I'm wearing them today back out of the washer and dryer it is my bird dog shorts so these are absolutely incredible so comfortable I want to

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Bird Dogs, you want to get it, go right now. Birddogs.com slash lockdown college. Get that promo code and get yourself a free Bird Dogs Yeti-style tumbler with every order. Trent Conant back with you again here on the Lockdown Hawkeyes podcast. Thanks for making Lockdown Hawkeyes your first listen every day. So what's next for the Iowa Athletic Department? What direction do they go next and what are we going to see on that front?

Well, one name that continues to be out there is Beth Goetz, who came in a year ago as the number two in command in the athletic department. She was previously the athletic director at Ball State. She was also the interim AD at the University of Minnesota. Speaking of glowing marks, I have heard nothing but positives about Beth Goetz. And this is something from people that work with her on an everyday level, people that work in the athletic department, people that deal with her on the coaching side of things,

and even players. When the questions come up and people that have had interactions, nothing but glowing. And that's inside the athletic department. Outside the athletic department, same thing. Talk to a couple of donors that have had interactions with her, people that have been involved in some different events. Every single one to a T had nothing but good things to say. Another name you have to throw out there is Gene Taylor. Of course, he was the deputy. He was the number two for a number of

years here before he departed and went on to K-State. He's done a great job with that Kansas State program. I think that's another one you certainly have to look at. Now, the problem with Gene Taylor, he's 65. In fact, he's older than Gary Barta. So you have that component, too, that you play with, and that's a big part of this also. So that's one that I know is going to be out there.

She's only been on the job, Beth Goetz, since September of 22, so hasn't been on the job very long. Maybe a good thing, maybe a bad thing. Another component that people are wondering about is what does this mean for the little stipulation that was put into the contract of Brian Ferris? Now, you're not going to see a new AD come in August 1st when Gary retires, and you're not going to see them clean house, fired the offensive coordinator a month before the start of the season. That're not going to see them clean house, fired the offensive coordinator a month before the start of the season. That's not going to happen.

But these are the things now that are going to be on the plate for the athletic department and the new athletic director. This is what a few of the important things that they're going to have to figure out. And it starts on the football side, not only the Brian Ferentz angle. And if Iowa gets to 25 points a game, the kicker comes in and he'll get his money back plus the contract extension for another couple of years. He got that component, but it doesn't make sense. You have the nepotism angle. As we know, Brian Ferentz allegedly answers to the athletic director. I think we all know that's pretty much hogwash, but that is the reality of that.

If things do go south this year, if things do not go the way that we all anticipate, if Iowa does not hit 9 and three or better this year, I would consider it a disappointment. If Iowa doesn't win at least nine games this season, I consider that a huge disappointment. I'm in on this team. I think they're going to be really good. And if the reason they don't hit that,

it's not because of injuries or maybe the defense takes a bigger step back than we think this year or something else. If the reason is, once again, the offense, well, new athletic director, you're going to have to have an incredibly difficult conversation with Kirk Ferris. And let's say Iowa even hits that benchmark. Iowa goes seven and five. That's all they have to do.

And they average 25 and a half points per game. Well, the kicker goes in. Brian Ferris gets an extension. If you're the AD, you got to say no. You got to say absolutely not. We're not bringing back your incompetent son for another year of running this offense when all signs point to him not being able to do that. Not good enough at the job.

So that is going to be a very, very tough part of this job. Ray McCaffrey and the Iowa basketball program has hit a bit of a low after the last two years. Yes, making the tournament. And there's so many good things. And I talk back and forth about this one all the time because I love Fran. I love what Fran has done resurrecting this program. I think people don't realize how poorly Iowa basketball was looked at at national circles after the firing of Todd Licklider and the number of names that were actually interested in taking the job. It was not a plum job. It was not the job that I think a lot of us older people think of.

What do you think of the success of the 70s and the 80s and the 90s that they had? That is not how Iowa basketball was looked at. It was looked at as a bad job that did not have the facilities to keep up, that did not have the infrastructure, did not have the recurring base that you need to compete. That is how Iowa basketball is looked at. And Fran took all of that and he's taken this team to eight NCAA tournaments in the last 10 seasons. That's commendable. Yes, we want to see more success in the NCAA tournament. I anticipate this team's going to be pretty bad this year. I think they're going to be 14 and 19 type of bad.

That's what I expect to see out of this Iowa basketball team. And if you have a year like that, at a fan base that for whatever reason has not been completely enamored with Fran McCaffrey, I don't think that one bad season is enough to fire him, but the pressure is going to be on. And very quickly, you're going to have to make a decision of what needs to be done with this Iowa basketball program. So you have those fronts. What else is out there? What else do you still have to look at of what they're going to do and what they need to do with this program?

Well, the biggest thing is you need to find an athletic director that understands the changing environment of college sports. And NIL has completely changed things. of college sports. And NIL has completely changed things. Name, image, and likeness and the building now for these players to profit off their name, image, and likeness has changed what college sports are. The days of amateur athletics that in a way were a joke because of all the under the table payments that are going out there. Well, now it's all above the board. And to hear that Gary Barta and Brad Heinrichs who runs the Iowa Swarm Collective, to hear that Gary Barta and Brad Heinrichs, who runs the Iowa Swarm Collective, to hear that they have never had a phone conversation before, to hear the unwillingness continually from Gary Barta to make a connection there,

to help out in any way possible. This is the future. This is what athletics are going to be. And for them to continually not do that, you need to find an AD that is not only willing to help out, but understands the lifeblood of athletics, of sports, is players. Men, women, doesn't matter the sport. You got to have the right players.

We can talk about coaches and we talk about it a ton. That's a big part of college athletics. There's no doubt about it. You can talk about the infrastructure. You can talk about the infrastructure. You can talk about weight training. You can go so many different avenues. But ultimately, it comes back to the Jimmys and Joes. It comes back to the Janes too.

You've got to have the right players. And in order to get those players, what you need to do in this environment is you've got to have the money. The new athletic director needs to understand that. The new athletic director needs to get behind Iowa and the swarm. The new athletic director, if they can't deliver that, Iowa athletics is going to be in a really big spot. In full circle, we talked about the football program and the Brian part of it. But what about this? The new athletic director is walking into a head football coach that's been there 25 years,

coming on the heels of a coach that had been here for two decades in Hayden Frye. It is on the horizon. The new athletic director, I would be shocked if they don't make the next hire for the head football coach. Now you can be flippant and say, I'll just give it to Kirk Ferentz and he'll hand the reins off to Brian. That'd be a disaster,

but I know there's plenty of people making that joke and it is a joke. Just get that. That is a joke. But to think that Kirk's going to be here another seven, eight, 10 years, it's just unlikely. It's incredibly unlikely.

Because of that, you have to have somebody that understands the landscape of college football, understands what it takes to be successful, understanding what it takes to be successful at a place like Iowa. Hey, we have been incredibly lucky. I'm 43. And during my years, I don't remember much poor Iowa football. Yeah, there's been stepbacks. And Hayden, first two years at Kirk, that was rough. That was a rough time. That was my senior year of high school. And then, well, Hayden was my freshman year, his final season. And then into Kirk. There's been a couple of down years,

had the four and eight in there. But overall, this has been a program that is consistently a winner and finding that right person. And Bob Bullsby, knock him all you want, for the way that things were handled with Bob Stoops and saying we're going to interview the right guy. Look, Bob Stoops got an offer from Oklahoma he couldn't say no to. Because of that, because of the way this is set up, you have to understand that you have to find the right candidate for Iowa. Just not the hot name, not the top assistant, the right person for Iowa.

It's different. You're battling another in-state program that plays in the Power Five. Nebraska doesn't have that. Minnesota doesn't have that. Wisconsin doesn't have that. Missouri doesn't have that. Your surrounding states, they don't have to deal

with what Iowa has to deal with with Iowa State. And call them little brother, call them whatever you want, but that is still a real thing. You look around, Nebraska has a lot bigger treasure chest as it pertains to money than Iowa does. Wisconsin, they spend incredibly well. And Minnesota, different level because of the professional sports up there. This is not an easy job. And it has to be an athletic director that understands the limitations of the program. Yes, you can reach successes here understands the limitations of the program. Yes, you can reach successes here at the University of Iowa, but it takes a pretty special person. Can they find them?

That's going to be a huge piece of this new AD. We wrap things up here on the Lockdown Hawkeyes podcast. Coming up next, we talk a little Iowa baseball. That's right. The baseball team gets it done. Comeback fashion against Indiana yesterday. The times maybe look dead in the water. They get it done and they move on to the Big Ten baseball tournament semifinals.

A little baseball talk to wrap things up on Lockdown Hawkeyes. Trent Conant back with you one more time on the Lockdown Hawkeyesyes podcast. Thanks for making Locked On Hawkeyes your first listen every day. Every day as we got you covered, a whole lot more coming up in the Gary Barta conversation. We will get you some updates on what is said at the press conference anticipated later here today. At least a press release. And isn't it just like Iowa to have this happen going right into a holiday, a Friday news dumps. Aren't they beautiful? As we wrap things up, let's take a quick look here at what we anticipate to see coming up

for Iowa baseball. So they got the day off today with the win against Indiana. The Hoosiers were the number two seed. They had taken two out of three earlier. They had their ace on the mound in the game against Iowa. Start off beautifully. Iowa goes out there. They put right away, bases loaded, nobody out,

and can't push anything across. Had a couple of other opportunities, and Brody Brecht, he was struggling with the command once again. When Brody's good, he's really good. When that command goes awry, though, he can really struggle. We saw the struggle side of things again yesterday out of him. But he was able to battle after some shaky moments early in the game. It gets to 3-0, 4-1.

Settled down a little bit. Just didn't have the slider going. That was a big thing. Just couldn't find command of the slider in the game. But the thing that you have to love about this Iowa baseball team is they don't quit. And they certainly didn't quit in this one. And they just kept grinding and going out there against a very talented pitcher.

And they're getting runners on. And eventually, somebody's going to come up with the big hit. So they clear the bases on a double. That gives them the lead 5-4. They add a little bit more. Sam Peterson with another monster home run. The young man from Ballard-Huxley is absolutely bombing the ball all over the place. And now they sit in a beautiful position.

So the way the structure is set up, they're on the top of the bracket. And Indiana now has to take on Michigan. The winner of that game today will move on and face Iowa on Saturday. First game will be Saturday morning. If Iowa wins that one with Langenberg on the mound, you feel pretty good. You're going to anticipate, be it Michigan or Indiana, it's going to be a pretty depleted pitching staff from either of those sides, regardless of the way the game plays out today.

You think there's going to be some bullpen opportunities in that one after the heels of what they both went through yesterday. So you have that part. Then, even if Iowa loses that first game on Saturday, the team out of Indiana Michigan that goes on would have to beat the Hawkeyes twice on Saturday so just got to win one out of two if you win that first one even better and then you move on to the championship game on Sunday that creates creates excuse me an interesting dynamic if Iowa does win the game Lang Langberg goes, let's say he has a solid six innings,

you don't have to use a ton out of your bullpen, what do you do on Sunday? Do you bring back Marcus Morgan on short rest? He pitched the opener on Tuesday. He struggled himself with his command. Do you go that direction, go back on short rest, knowing that regionals are looming, or do you make it a bullpen game? And you say all hands on deck here maybe we get an ending of two out of Morgan maybe we can even get an ending or

two out of Brody Brecht and then we piece things together I think that's an avenue they definitely could go I don't think if Morgan gets a start he's going to get any more than say 75 80 pitches I don't anticipate him going real deep and maybe even a little bit less than that so that's one one to keep an eye on here. Get the win in that first game. Don't have to worry about then coming back and getting the nightcap and a Big Ten tournament championship with everything this baseball team has gone through this year. I love watching them. They're grinders. They're tough guys. They're out there. They make it incredibly difficult for the opponents. They are a really good watch and let's hope it continues. Saturday is when things will get started once again. They'll await the winner of Indiana and Michigan. That'll do it for today.

A lot of news going on with the Gary Barta retirement and as always we have you covered on the Lockdown Hawkeyes podcast. Thanks for making Lockdown Hawkeyes your first listen every day. Your team every day. That's what we do on the Locked On Network and teams all across the country. If you're an NFL fan, they got a podcast for you. NBA, NHL, MLB, you name it, we got it here on the Locked On Network. We'll talk to you again

coming up. Enjoy your Memorial Day weekend. Every day should be a busy week with a lot coming up next week and we await what is going to happen with Iowa baseball in the NCAA tournament where the Hawkeyes will be selected and where they're going to be come tournament time. Going to be a fun one. We got you covered

as always on Locked On Hawkeyes. Talk to you again next week. Go Hawks!