Barta out?

2). I have a hard time giving him a ton of credit for fundraising. It's not a particularly tough job at Iowa. People love their Hawkeyes and support them financially. Maybe he didn't alienate or piss off donors who wanted to give money. Sort of a low bar.

The entire revenue model in college football changed during his tenure due to Jim Delany's TV prowess and the seismic shift in the way season tickets are now sold at every legit P5 school whereby a "donation" is a prerequisite to obtaining seats.

The donation side exploded beginning with the 2005 season with the Kinnick reseating and tiered donation requirements. Barta will receive credit for this bince he started in 2006 but it was Bowlsby's brainchild.

Furthermore, the vast majority of Barta's tenure was during one of the largest bubbles that has occurred in the history of the world. The Fed began an unmitigated money printing spree in the spring of 2009 that they have just started walking back in the past 18 months. Farm values skyrocketed. The broad stock market indices have seen about a 3-fold increase. Housing went way up. The largest generation to date has begun reaching retirement and spend down age.

Anyone can fundraise in that environment. Fundraising in an environment where things are tight is much harder and I don't have any confidence in Barta's ability to pull that off.
 
I will assume for the moment this is true. Prediction: Within 6 months or less, a flurry of HN posts will blast the stupidity of the new AD.

Yah, I hope they have a name that we can switch one letter out and turn it into something infantile like we could with "Barta".
Something like Soobreath or Isshat.


That being said, I am absolutely guilty of this. Hating on Farta, without real knowledge because my only real insight comes from articles and/or messageboards.

However, in my defense, all I have to do is point to the whole Brain thing. That's a pretty justifiable thing.

But, as others have pointed out, it's not like Iowa has floundered. But, also as others have pointed out...it's a different world in collegiate athletics. And someone at the latter part of their career in athletic directing is probably less likely to thrive in these........."unprecedented times."

I suppose we can give him a golf clap as he exits. But a "don't let the door hit ya...." as he's driving away is fair, too.
 
1). Barta is being forced out, right? He recently said he'd keep at it "as long as they'll have me." It sounds like they will no longer have him.

2). I have a hard time giving him a ton of credit for fundraising. It's not a particularly tough job at Iowa. People love their Hawkeyes and support them financially. Maybe he didn't alienate or piss off donors who wanted to give money. Sort of a low bar.

3). All the scandals and lawsuits aside (which deserve their own thread), he has shown little agility or creativity when it comes to finances.
Keep in mind he's been here 17 yrs... That's a long time he'd been raising this said $ and developing relationships. He was doing this prior to the huge TV $ coming in. He started like the same yr the BIG network did and at the time nobody knew how that was going to take off. He was solid on that part of his gig. And I'm saying this as a guy that's not a fan of his overall job. Just trying to be fair to the guy.
 
Yah, I hope they have a name that we can switch one letter out and turn it into something infantile like we could with "Barta".
Something like Soobreath or Isshat.


That being said, I am absolutely guilty of this. Hating on Farta, without real knowledge because my only real insight comes from articles and/or messageboards.

However, in my defense, all I have to do is point to the whole Brain thing. That's a pretty justifiable thing.

But, as others have pointed out, it's not like Iowa has floundered. But, also as others have pointed out...it's a different world in collegiate athletics. And someone at the latter part of their career in athletic directing is probably less likely to thrive in these........."unprecedented times."

I suppose we can give him a golf clap as he exits. But a "don't let the door hit ya...." as he's driving away is fair, too.

In his defense, being AD at a school like Iowa or South Carolina or NC State or Arizona State is just a terrible fvcking job. You have someone in state sucking some of the air out of the room, you get measured against them, you get measured against the conference which is damned near completely unwinnable for those programs in football and hoops and then you get people who legitimately expect hardware that just ain't gonna show up. You get some flirtation with success and nobody says "hey, great job" they get pissed that they didn't get more.
 
Iowa has had 3 AD's since 1970 and like 5 AD's since the 1940's.... this will not be well liked either, but loyalty, longevity and staying the course has worked well for Iowa throughout the history of their athletic department and that starts from the top down.
 
I wonder if the original plan was to have KF slide into AD role with BF as HC. But that ship had sailed!
 
I wonder if the original plan was to have KF slide into AD role with BF as HC. But that ship had sailed!
He doesn't feel like that sort of guy that wants to administrate to that degree. I could be wrong but his personality and everything just doesn't lend me to believe he even wants to do that. He's a football guy. I don't think overseeing the baseball team and having to hire and fire coaches appeals to him. Hell how many assistants has he let go over the years? Besides the guys involved with Eno Benjamin anyway he's got a slow trigger finger on firing guys. Alvarez had the stomach for it I'm not sure KF does
 
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He doesn't feel like that sort of guy that wants to administrate to that degree. I could be wrong but his personality and everything just doesn't lend me to believe he even wants to do that. He's a football guy. I don't think overseeing the baseball team and having to hire and fire coaches appeals to him. Hell how many assistants has he let go over the years? Besides the guys involved with Eno Benjamin anyway he's got a slow trigger finger on firing guys. Alvarez had the stomach for it I'm not sure KF does
Alvarez loves control, the more the better. But is also a good people person. Sliding over the the AD chair was pretty seamless for him.
 
KF has said dozens of times he has no interests in being an AD and that type of role, smoozing and being a cheerleader wouldn't be his cup of tea.
 
The days of the football or basketball coach sliding into the AD chair once they retire from coaching are pretty much done. Today's AD jobs are going to professionals with backgrounds in sports administration. It is a totally different animal than it used to be.
 
Well, well, well…what this really means. Day 1 of teflon ferentz starting to lose his death grip in the power at the U of I. Depending on if Iowa goes after and lands an AD actually serious about winning and competing on a national level, this lays the groundwork for the Ferentz legacy to have a light at the end of the tunnel
 
Iowa's 247 guy has a source that "confirms" the retirement. My guess is that he's "retiring". He has little interest in NIL, which is a crime these days. On a podcast (and other places), it was stated that he has never called the head of The Swarm. What the...???

Beth Goetz next? Former AD at Ball State, interim AD at Minnesota and current Deputy Director of Athletics and Chief Operating Officer at Iowa.
If that happens….
 
Well, well, well…what this really means. Day 1 of teflon ferentz starting to lose his death grip in the power at the U of I. Depending on if Iowa goes after and lands an AD actually serious about winning and competing on a national level, this lays the groundwork for the Ferentz legacy to have a light at the end of the tunnel

After five years in the south I am extremely satisfied with the Iowa football program on a national level. With the evolution of the game to essentially a track meet on the outside and the task of finding the most outlier freak pass rushers, I believe that Iowa is doing as well as anyone could possibly hope all things considered. I would even say Ferentz is drastically outperforming based on our location and recruiting footprint. Would I like a better offense? Definitely, but it ain't gonna happen. This year's team could be 6-6, but it could also be really special. The fact that I have even a shred of hope to win the conference and make the playoff is really all we can ask for.

Hell, even Clemson fans are coming to terms with the fact that they caught lightning in a bottle with a few consecutive recruiting classes and realize they may never win another title. The top few teams in the SEC are just unreal.
 

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