Put yourself in Barta's shoes

Hate him for his drinking problem, I get that but to think that he couldn't turn Iowa around almost instantly is being very shortsighted. BCG was the recruiting coordinator for Baylor in 96 and landed a top 10 recruiting class - at Baylor for christs sake. He then worked with Bill Self at Tulsa and then at Illinois so he has some Big10 ties.


He then turned around a terrible UTEP team with a top 25 recruiting class. You get that right? A top 25 class at UTEP. He then went to A*M and instantly turned a program around that had one winning season in 11 years...sound familiar?

He was fired by Kentucky after going 22-14. He had a great recruiting class there and if given time would have taken them to the tournament and make some pretty big waves.

I don't like his drinking any more than the next guy but to think that he couldn't instantly turn our program around isn't really thinking this through.

Long term, he's not the answer. But we need to get this ship going in the right direction sooner rather than later. He can get us headed in the right direction and then I could see him screwing it up by drinking OR he could take a higher paying more prestigious position - probably by year 3 or 4. By year 3 or 4 of BCG we would be back in the tournament and headed in the right direction.
 
BSpringsteen said:
You are Gary Barta, what do you do...

Do you fire a coach that was your marquee hire, thereby acknowledging a bad decision was made on your watch and that your second biggest revenue sport has been a financial liability because of it.

Making this decision makes you look like you have bad judgement.

Do you stand by your man and hope that things turn around and you look like the genius that hired basketballs Kirk Ferentz which undoubtedly earns you praise and a fat raise?

But another year of this and Lick may not be the only one in hot water.

Interesting conundrum.
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I think you are missing a part of this conundrum. This one is almost a Catch-22. By firing a coach that was his marquee hire Barta would be acknowledging he has "bad judgment".

However if Barta continues to go with Lickliter only to have the same results in 2010-11 resulting in having to fire Lickliter at that point in time, Barta has then amplified his inadequacies in judgment. (More simply put; Barta couldn’t recognize he was throwing good money after bad).

Obviously if Lickliter is retained and turns it around next year Barta is considered a "genius".

But if Lickliter doesn't turn it around, which error in judgment is more egregious for an AD? Hiring the wrong fit in the first place or not being able to recognize you've hired the wrong fit?
 
tubahawk said:
I think you are missing a third rationale. This one is almost a Catch-22. By firing a coach that was his marquee hire Barta would be acknowledging he has "bad judgment".

However if Barta continues to go with Lickliter only to have the same results in 2010-11 resulting in having to fire Lickliter at that point in time, Barta has then amplified his inadequacies in judgment. (More simply put; Barta couldn’t recognize he was throwing good money after bad).

Obviously if Lickliter is retained and turns it around next year Barta is considered a "genius".

But if Lickliter doesn't turn it around, which error in judgment is more egregious for an AD? Hiring the wrong fit in the first place or not being able to recognize you've hired the wrong fit?
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What's more, is that if it's the size of the buyout that's an issue this year, one could also look at an error in judgement regarding the size of the contract. 7 years was really putting all your eggs in one basket.
 
hawkeye12345 said:
If I were in his position, I would have a short list of potential candidates already on file. I would then have my agency making speculative inquiries with these coaches to see what kind of interest level is out there. If one of the coaches on my short list shows a keen interest then I execute but if there isn't a guarantee of me getting one of them then I ride this out another year. No sense in going further in the hole on the Lick contract than necessary IF you don't have a better solution in place prior to giving him the axe.

We don't want to take a bad situation and make it worse. Another year also buys a little more time on the upgraded facilities.

As much as I don't want to see Lick coach another game, let alone another year, I don't want to compound the problem by being forced to hire someone that isn't going to be any better than what we've got. We need a rock solid recruiter.
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I agree with this approach...check the interest level with finding a replacement and see if there are any biters.
 
I hate to say it, but when/if Lickliiter is fired or resigns, a Paul Rhoads-type hire will be needed to re-unite the fan base.[/QUOTE]


My vote is for fellow Lone Tree, IA alumnus. Steve Forbes
 
Put yourself in Barta's shoes? No thanks. But how tough of a decision does he really have to make?

Life has dealt Barta a jack-seven off-suit. Sitting across from him is this basketball season, and it went all-in. Will Barta call?? Oh, the drama.

Seems like an easy decision to make: fold, and see what the next hand (coaching staff) brings.

To quote a great sage:
"You gotta know when to hold 'em,
Know when to fold 'em,
Know when to walk away,
Know when to run."
 
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