Tag: Gary Barta

Gary Barta retirement news electrifies social media

The college football world—and Iowa Hawkeye fans—had plenty of reactions across social media to the bombshell that Gary Barta was retiring.

The Gary Barta bombshell was made for social media.

Of course, on Friday morning, news broke that Barta would be retiring on Aug. 1. After 17 years leading the Iowa Hawkeyes, a new athletics director will soon be presiding over the University of Iowa’s athletics.

Iowa won four wrestling national championships and just played in the women’s basketball national title with Caitlin Clark and co. this past spring. In addition to those accomplishments, Iowa captured 27 Big Ten team crowns under Barta’s watch.

Still, the Barta story at Iowa isn’t one without controversy. It’s a complicated legacy that resulted in a series of discrimination settlements totaling over $11 million during his run as the Hawkeyes’ athletics director.

Naturally, given the complicated history, some Iowa fans saw this as a welcome bit of good news. Meanwhile, others pointed out that the Hawkeyes’ athletics programs have had a fair bit of success with Barta as the AD.

Iowa fans had plenty to say on social media about the news on Friday morning. From potential replacement candidates to just pure shock, here were the best reactions to the breaking news.

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Iowa AD Gary Barta announces upcoming retirement

Iowa athletics director Gary Barta announced he will be retiring on Aug. 1 after 17 years leading the Hawkeyes’ athletics department.

The University of Iowa is officially in the market for a new athletics director. Gary Barta announced he is retiring on Aug. 1 after 17 years overseeing the Iowa Hawkeyes‘ athletics department.

“It has been an absolute privilege and honor to serve in this role the past 17 years. I’m humbled to have worked beside and on behalf of so many student-athletes, coaches, staff, donors, fans, and community leaders over the past two decades,” Barta said in a statement.

UI President Barbara Wilson celebrated Barta’s tenure and the Hawkeyes’ accomplishments under his direction.

“Gary’s achievements at the University of Iowa are significant, and our coaches and student-athletes have enjoyed tremendous success on and off the field during his tenure. I’m grateful for his leadership as a Hawkeye and I wish him well in his retirement,” Wilson said.

Under Barta’s watch, the Hawkeyes captured four NCAA team championships and 27 Big Ten team titles. More than 160 student-athletes were recognized as first-team All-Big Ten athletes, multiple athletes captured National Player of the Year and Big Ten Player of the Year honors and there were Coach of the Year recognitions as well.

On the gridiron, the Hawkeyes tallied an overall mark of 137-79 (83-59 Big Ten) with head football coach Kirk Ferentz during Barta’s oversight. In men’s basketball, Barta hired Todd Lickliter to succeed Steve Alford who left for New Mexico in the spring of 2007. Lickliter compiled a record of just 38-58 (15-39 Big Ten) before being fired after just three seasons.

Barta’s next men’s basketball hire was a good one. Fran McCaffery has taken the Hawkeyes to seven NCAA Tournaments, including each of the past four. McCaffery holds a 261-176 (126-118 Big Ten) and is just 10 wins shy of tying and 11 wins shy of surpassing Tom Davis as Iowa’s all-time wins leader.

Meanwhile, women’s basketball is of course coming off a Final Four and national championship game appearance with the nation’s best player in Caitlin Clark. The Hawkeye women’s squad has won back-to-back Big Ten Tournament championships, too.

In wrestling, Barta orchestrated the hire of Tom Brands. Brands just completed his 17th season guiding the Hawkeye wrestling program. Iowa is a five-time Big Ten and three-time NWCA Coach of the Year. In 17 seasons as Iowa’s head coach, Brands has led the Hawkeyes to four NCAA and six Big Ten team titles, crowning 13 NCAA champions, 25 Big Ten champions and 100 All-Americans.

Before this past athletics year, Iowa’s athletics programs had won 11 Big Ten championships along with a Big Ten West division crown in football since the fall of 2020.

The fundraising and facility growth with Barta as Iowa’s athletics director was significant, too. Iowa totaled more than $380 million in facility upgrades and new construction projects.

Those projects included Kinnick Stadium’s North Endzone; the Hansen Football Performance Center; the Gerdin Athletic Learning Center; the Carver-Hawkeye Arena Howard Family Pavilion; the Goschke Family Wrestling Training Center; the Nagle Family Clubhouse and Hoak Family Golf Complex; the Iowa Soccer Operations Center; the P. Sue Beckwith Boathouse; and the Campus Recreation and Wellness Center among others.

The University of Iowa also raised more than $650 million in private support for athletics scholarships, operations, facilities and endowments. With Barta as Iowa’s AD, the athletics endowment grew from $31.6 million to $76 million.

Of course, Barta’s tenure at Iowa wasn’t without plenty of controversy. There were a series of discrimination cases, the latest of which resulted in a $4.175 million settlement to former players that sued the program for racial discrimination. It brought the grand total of settlements for the University of Iowa north of $11 million during Barta’s tenure.

After Barta and the University of Iowa initially asked for $2 million of taxpayer funds to cover the racial discrimination settlement, the University of Iowa wound up reimbursing the state to cover the costs. Rob Sand, Iowa’s State Auditor and a member of Iowa’s Appeal Board, called for Barta’s resignation after he and the University requested the $2 million in taxpayer funds.

There will be an interim athletics director announced next week and a search for the replacement should begin immediately. David Eickholt of Hawkeye Insider with 247Sports indicated that his top name to watch as a successor for the University of Iowa is Beth Goetz.

Goetz joined as Iowa’s Deputy Director of Athletics and Chief Operating Officer in September of 2022.

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5 takeaways from Ohio State’s rout of the Iowa Hawkeyes

Iowa’s loss inside the Horseshoe had some interesting twists and turns. What were five of the biggest takeaways from the Ohio State rout?

Second-ranked Ohio State (7-0, 4-0 Big Ten) looked the part in dismantling Iowa (3-4, 1-3 Big Ten) in the second half. The Buckeyes handed the Hawkeyes a 54-10 blowout loss. In the process, Ohio State racked up the most points on a Kirk Ferentz-coached Iowa team.

Still, if you watched this game, you understand that’s probably not the greatest indication of how the game played out. Let’s take a look at the five key takeaways for the Hawkeyes.

Big Ten reportedly considering eliminating divisions, moving to eight game conference schedule

According to a report from The Athletic, the Big Ten is considering eliminating the two divisions and moving to eight conference games.

Just when you think the news cycle is ready to settle down in college football, it doesn’t. It reminds us all that following Ohio State, the Big Ten, and college football, in general, is becoming more and more a year-round affair.

The latest development comes in a report (subscription may be required) from Scott Dochterman of The Athletic. In it, Iowa athletic director Gary Barta talks about the future of the Big Ten. Because of the changing landscape, Barta says the conference has been discussing eliminating divisions and moving to an eight-game conference schedule. The move would allow conference teams to schedule more out-of-conference games against the Pac-12 and ACC as part of an alliance the three struck earlier this year.

“We’ve had several conversations,” Barta told The Athletic. “One of the things that we’re watching is whether it’s related to The Alliance, which we’re talking through and/or, what gives us the best opportunity to have the most success in the College Football Playoff format?

“We’re wondering if we’re going to know what the format is before we have to make that decision. So, we’re kind of waiting to see where that lands. But we have had active conversations about the schedule beyond 2022.”

The report goes on to say that the changes could come as early as 2023. Currently, as most know, the conference is split into two divisions, the East and West. Teams play each team in its division, as well as three cross-over games, but the winner of each division meet in Indianapolis to play for the Big Ten championship.

Under the current structure, there is always the chance that perhaps the league’s second-best team gets left out of a shot at a conference championship because of the historical inequality between the two divisions. Just this past season, an Ohio State team with just one conference loss had to sit at home while a two-loss Iowa team met Michigan for the title. Without divisions, the two best teams in the standings could meet for the title not dissimilar to what the Big 12 does today.

Cutting the number of conference games by one would also still allow Big Ten teams to schedule the home games they need for much-needed revenue. A home or away game (presumably rotating) with either a Pac-12 or ACC team would seemingly replace what would normally be a conference home or away game. It’s all in an effort to make the conference stronger with where the playoff model is and might be heading according to Barta.

“Anything we do as a conference has to make our conference better, and so that’s the 10,000-foot principle that we’re operating from,” Barta said. “So, whatever we do in future scheduling, it has to make us better. What will make the Big Ten Conference even stronger? We’re very strong, but what would make us even stronger?”

This is certainly a very interesting development that we’ll have to stay on top of. I’d say we have time before this all gets going even further, but how swiftly rather significant changes get decided on and pushed along have changed in recent years.

More to come.

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What the College Football Playoff committee said after the final CFP rankings

Here’s everything the CFP committee said after ranking and seeding teams where it did.

All of the shouting and arguments are over. OK, maybe not, but the final College Football Playoff rankings have come out so we now know which four teams will be a part of all the fun. Ohio State isn’t but its rival Michigan finally broke through and will be playing for a national title.

The other three teams that are in the playoff include Alabama, Georgia, and Cincinnati. No. 1 Alabama will play No. 4 Cincinnati, and No. 2 Michigan will match up with No. 3 Georgia. There wasn’t much drama with the four teams that got in this year, but there are some questions on how the top four appeared in the seedings and matchups.

Each time the CFP rankings come out, we like to address what College Football Playoff Selection committee chair Gary Barta says in front of the media. He acts as the mouthpiece of the committee and takes on tough questions to provide some insight on why the group ranked the teams where it did.

Barta met with the media again on Sunday and had a lot to say, and we’re bringing it to you once again. Here’s everything Barta said as the face of the CFP Committee after the release of the final rankings.

Everything the CFP committee said about the fifth release of the CFP rankings

Here is everything the CFP committee said about why it ranked teams where it did in the latest CFP Rankings.

The latest College Football Playoff rankings were released Tuesday night, and we’re now less than a week away from knowing which teams will take part in the final four teams to be a part of college football history. Ohio State dropped to No. 7, and it would take some pretty extraordinary things to get the Buckeyes back in the conversation for a spot in all the fun.

Things changed drastically among the teams contending after a drama-filled Rivalry Week and the CFP committee had to do its best to sort it all out. It’s a challenge for sure, but at least CFP Selection Committee Chair Gary Barta makes himself available to face the music and firing squad from the media that questions the way teams are rated.

Barta did the same on Tuesday evening and we like to bring it all to you. Here are all the questions and comments the CFP committee had for everyone through the mouthpiece of Barta.

College Football Playoff committee punishing Notre Dame for no coach?

So this isn’t great.

Notre Dame suddenly missing a head coach appears to have had an adverse effect on its College Football Playoff chances. Some were surprised to see Oklahoma State jump the Irish in the latest rankings. When asked about it on ESPN shortly after the rankings were unveiled, committee head Gary Barta said recent events such as the ones in South Bend are allowed to be factored into the rankings:

So yeah, the Irish appear to have been handed a raw deal through no fault of their own, fair as it might be. We don’t know exactly how good their chances of cracking the top four in the end were before Monday, but what transpired during the course of the day clearly didn’t do them any favors. Now, they’re going to have to pray even harder that enough chaos occurs during championship weekend that they can get in after all. Cutthroat is the world of college football.

What the CFP Committee said after the third release of the College Football Playoff Rankings

A look at what the CFP committee had to say about the latest rankings

With the release of the third College Football Playoff Rankings, Wisconsin saw themselves on the rise yet again while the top four remained steady.

Georgia, Alabama, Oregon, and Ohio State makes up the playoff if it started today, while undefeated Cincinnati would be on the outside looking in.

How solid are the top four? Can Cincinnati find a way to sneak into the playoff as the first Group of Five school to make it in? These are all questions that were touched on after the rankings were released. Current Iowa AD and College Football Playoff Selection Committee Chair Gary Barta addressed the biggest concerns. Here is what he had to say on Tuesday:

Everything the CFP Committee said after the third release of the College Football Playoff Rankings

CFP Committee Chair Gary Barta tried his best to speak to why the CFP Rankings look as they do. Here’s everything he said.

Here we go again. We got our third look at the CFP Rankings Tuesday evening and again got to witness College Football Playoff Selection Committee Chair Gary Barta do a song and dance with some of the questionable decisions the group made.

After appearing on ESPN and trying to justify ranking some teams with very similar resumes ahead of another because of the head-to-head and not others, he then made himself available as the spokesperson for the Committee. We don’t really know if he felt the same way as some of his colleagues, but he is always tasked with speaking from the group.

And … in case you missed anything he said, we bring it all to you here, so grab a beverage and some popcorn, and let’s go. Here’s everything Barta as the mouthpiece of the CFP Committee said during his media appearance on Tuesday night.

What the College Football Playoff Committee said after revealing the second edition of the CFP Rankings

Here is everything the CFP Committee said about the rationale for the second reveal of the rankings Tuesday night.

Queue up the hand-wringing, teeth-gnashing, and mean tweets again because the second edition of the 2021 College Football Playoff Rankings have been released. There weren’t too many changes at the top, but probably the most controversial was the decision to move Michigan ahead of Michigan State despite both teams having the same record and same basic resume with the head-to-head win the Spartans own over the Wolverines.

If you just scratched your head and threw your arms in the air, welcome to the club.

Aside from that though, and the fact that Ohio State moved up a spot into the top four, most of the rest of the reveal was rather ho-hum. However, it should be noted that Purdue jumped up to No. 19 after not being in the rankings at all last week. So, yeah, OSU gets another shot to knock off a ranked opponent this weekend, so there’s that.

As he does every week, College Football Playoff Selection Committee chair, Gary Barta, met with the media to discuss what went on in the meeting room of the committee and why it made some of the moves that we saw. We’ve got all of those comments for you so that you can dissect it a thousand different ways and poke as many holes in the arguments and answers that you desire.