Goetz did what 60+ other P5 athletic directors would - and should - have done. She clearly saw a problem and made a move. It doesn't make her a "genius" or a "savior" - it just means that she's clearly more competent than Barta ever was (who indeed was terrible at his job).
Would Goetz put more pressure on Frankie Mac to make a deeper tournament run, or at the very least force his hand by demanding better results on the defensive end?
Would Goetz put more pressure on Tom B to stop settling for Top 5 finishes on the mats?
So far, I'm cautiously optimistic that Goetz would indeed be a sizable improvement over Barta (not that it's a high hurdle to clear). Making he move that needed to be made certainly is a feather in her cap, but again this is a move any competent athletic director would have made (and probably before 2023 if we're being honest). We like to poke fun of Iowa State and Nebraska, but even ISU's MBB program has accomplished far more than Iowa has over the past 2 decades, and while Nebraska has made bad hire after bad hire after bad hire, they do at least hold the AD accountable and terminate them regularly for sucking. Barta would have gotten the boot at Nebby for sure. Only at Iowa would he have sit pretty for years and years and years without feeling any sort of pressure.
That being said, if Goetz is determined to be the best candidate for the position, fine. Whoever the full-time AD is needs to realize first and foremost that Iowa is in a precarious position. It's not a true powerhouse in the money sports, and it's a small-market program. Starting next year, it's only going to be more difficult to compete in an expanded B1G, and if the leadership is lackluster, then Iowa is going to get left in the dust.
