Barta

[mikesright]

Not a fan of Barta. But I also don't want Mr. Boston Market to pick the next athletic director either. Bruce Harrald is the mastermind behind not settling the discrimination lawsuit and stiffing hospital contractors among other public embarrassments for the university, in my opinion. Hopefully Barta retires after the conclusion of the deal and we have a better president of the university to make a decision on the long term future of the athletic department.

 

[Frosty7130]

Easy for keyboard simpletons to cast simplistic ad hominem from afar but results matter.

There are a lot of moving parts and I'm happy with the direction of all of our major athletic programs.

Barta has helped in the development of great staffs and our major programs are consistently in the top half of the conference.

When you look around the conference there might be 2 to 3 other departments in better shape now.

Would you want to be Illinois, Maryland, Indiana, Rutgers, Minnesota or Nebraska right now?

It's not an either or situation.

Barta does well on the fundraising side of things, and gets credit for McCaffery and Heller, but little else is his doing.

Brands is a Gable disciple and Iowa wrestling would still have been strong with or without him, KF was Bowlsby's hire, and Iowa is still a top 25 athletic department regardless who's running the show.

He's been a total disaster on the PR and conflict resolution front, completely fumbling the Meyer/Griesbaum case, giving ridiculous contracts to KF (my only gripe with him), and the blowing rhe Gary Dolphin situation way out of proportion.

Barta overall has been a net negative for Iowa athletics.

 

[dekhawk]

Iowa can do better than Barta. Disappointed he gets another three years. I don’t want him picking ferentz replacement.

 

[L. Wade Childress]

It's not an either or situation.

Barta does well on the fundraising side of things, and gets credit for McCaffery and Heller, but little else is his doing.

Brands is a Gable disciple and Iowa wrestling would still have been strong with or without him, KF was Bowlsby's hire, and Iowa is still a top 25 athletic department regardless who's running the show.

He's been a total disaster on the PR and conflict resolution front, completely fumbling the Meyer/Griesbaum case, giving ridiculous contracts to KF (my only gripe with him), and the blowing rhe Gary Dolphin situation way out of proportion.

Barta overall has been a net negative for Iowa athletics.

We’ve seen other ADs run off elite coaches by being a douche, or have too quick of a trigger on decent coaches. Barta deserves credit for keeping Brands, Lisa, and Kirk happy.

 

[David1979]

Here to stay.

Dumb.

 

[David1979]

Iowa was just rated #7 for athletic programs in the country by ESPN.

Football finished 25th with an Outback Bowl Victory.

WBB made the Elite 8

MBB made the round of 32

Track program finished top 25

Baseball program although a bad finish has picked up.

Wrestling finished top 5 and is favored by many to win it all in 2020.

You'd have to be obtuse to say this year wasn't s success for our athletic programs. Are you?

And he has done a horrible job both in contract negotiations and in handling firings. The lawsuit they lost was a total disaster and how he didn't get fired after that is beyond me. Sends a horrible message that he wasn't let go and that he is getting a raise and extension.

 

[Niko13]

So if you're the athletic director what is your call?

It's easy to sit back and complain that we're not OSU or Wisconsin.

Do you not extend KF and elect for the unknown of a new coaching staff?

I'd argue that you would have been an idiot not to extend him. I believe we're in great shape now and trending up.

A lot of you guys criticize without any substantive action plan for what you believe we should do differently with head coaching decisions.

Wisconsin was not Wisconsin until they decided to take the next step. We have all of the resources Wisconsin does. If they can compete year in and year out for conference titles then so can Iowa. Any other thought is just stupid.

 

[HawkInArk]

Wisconsin was not Wisconsin until they decided to take the next step. We have all of the resources Wisconsin does. If they can compete year in and year out for conference titles then so can Iowa. Any other thought is just stupid.

But we're ok with just being competitive with the occasional surprise season. "At least we're not Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, Minnesota, or Nebraska." Sincerely yours, CP84

 

[CP84]

Wisconsin was not Wisconsin until they decided to take the next step. We have all of the resources Wisconsin does. If they can compete year in and year out for conference titles then so can Iowa. Any other thought is just stupid.

Actually Wisconsin is more ideally located in rich recruiting territory being close to Milwaukee and Chicago plus Minneapolis. They just finally started recruiting their market better.

Minnesota by contrast misses most of the major prospects in Minneapolis every year. It's possible that Minnesota will miss all top 7 local BB recruits this year.

 

[CP84]

But we're ok with just being competitive with the occasional surprise season. "At least we're not Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, Minnesota, or Nebraska." Sincerely yours, CP84

"Why aren't we Ohio State? Waaaaah! Iowa is too elite for a 9.25 football wins per year average over the past 4."

Signed,
Delusions of grandeur

 

[CP84]

Submit your business plan on hawkeyereport before you issue criticism. Lol

Looks more like it's submit your strawman.

 

[HawkInArk]

"Why aren't we Ohio State? Waaaaah! Iowa is too elite for a 9.25 football wins per year average over the past 4."

Signed,
Delusions of grandeur

Yup, that's what I'm looking for - to be an equal of Ohio State....not even close to anything anyone here has said in this thread, or any other for that matter.

 

[Frosty7130]

We’ve seen other ADs run off elite coaches by being a douche, or have too quick of a trigger on decent coaches. Barta deserves credit for keeping Brands, Lisa, and Kirk happy.

That has much more to do with the fact that they're all good coaches who excel in their respective sports, and therefore earn the contracts they get (in most cases), as well as Iowa fans greatly valuing stability in the athletic programs.

I'm not saying he's the worst AD in the world, but he certainly not good.

 

[CP84]

Yup, that's what I'm looking for - to be an equal of Ohio State....not even close to anything anyone here has said in this thread, or any other for that matter.

Nobody knows what you're saying, maybe not even you.

The bottomline is that in both football and basketball, Iowa has been generally in the top half of the conference over the past 10 years.

In football we are 4 seasons removed from 12-2 and just won the Outback against the #18.

Our basketball recruiting is the best it's been since the 1990s for both men's and women's.

To imply that we're not meeting expectations is delusional. You would have been a member of the crowd running off Tom Davis and clamoring for the exciting young Steve Alford.

 

[CO_hawk]

"Why aren't we Ohio State? Waaaaah! Iowa is too elite for a 9.25 football wins per year average over the past 4."

Signed,
Delusions of grandeur

Lol, how many years are you going to include 2015 in your averages?

 

[CO_hawk]

Someone is outnumbered here, and I don't think he/she realizes it.

 

[LarryMullenJr.]

You make no sense.

Fran has restored the program to Tom Davis levels after inheriting a dumpster fire.

Our football program has won at least 8 games, including our best season just in 2015.

Our WBB has been great with the coach of the year.

Our track program just won the conference.

Are you saying we should be beating Michigan and OSU in major sports routinely?

Back to Tom Davis levels? Are you smoking something? I would venture a guess that most here would take Tom in his prime here in a heartbeat instead of Fran.

 

[HumbleP1e]

I'm in the middle. I think there is more general success occurring at Iowa than is recognized. But, as another poster mentioned, I was surprised at how few championships have been won across the department since say 2010. Aside from Michigan, OSU, and PSU, we should be next heading the rest of the conference with regularity in most every sport in my opinion. Lots of really good. Not much great. Most Iowa fans are okay with that. It could be a lot worse for sure. 7th this year is great! Is it an aberration? Sustainable?

My only true beefs over that time are as follows, and there are probably rational explanations for much of it:

1). Volleyball success. There is simply too much in state talent to not be really good in my opinion. I have never understood why UNI and ISU have consistently been better.

2) the Kinnick upgrades. We have a great venue and fan base. Game day at Kinnick is majestic. But, the way the improvements have been done is cobbling at best. We have asymmetrical parts that neither unify an era nor modernize it in presentation significantly. It looks like multiple people with varying visions all took on a part all to themselves. I just think it should have been done way better with a much better long range vision from the start.

3) football ticket pricing that leads to a lack of sellouts and rebuffs families from considering attendance. It doesn't affect me, but I just think it's ridiculous to not accomplish complete attendance that represents a truly robust fanbase. We're making money hand over fist from the conference. If somebody in charge can't figure how to get a several year long sellout streak going, in my opinion, they're not doing very much. 3 inch putt on flat ground. It's not TVs...traffic...there are hundreds if not thousands of people tailgating at and around Kinnick who have no intention of paying to go in the game.

4) The wonky typing function on HR. Maddening at times. Lol

That's it. Love to see softball and wrestling get back to high water marks of the past. Love what women's basketball, baseball, track and field, and golf doing. Love to see football go on an all-time great 5 year run, including a Natty as KF eventually retires.

Proud to be a Hawk fan for life!

 

[L. Wade Childress]

I hate this idiot and won’t spend a dime at the university until he is gone. I’m sure the U doesn’t care about that because I’ve personally told the powers that be. He has repeatedly tripped over his dick and made himself as well as the university look stupid.

And for the crowd that wants to tout the money he brings in, I think a monkey could run the athletic dept and make money.

Another thing that Barta does a crappy job of is he makes it very obvious that he and the university take our fan base for granted. And I think it is very telling that when there seems like conflict between him and coaches or the radio guys, fans immediately side against Barta.

I’m fairly confident that Gary and most posters here are completely fine if you go cheer for Iowa State with that ridiculous attitude and lack of respect.

 

[steventrelain]

Iowa can do better than Barta. Disappointed he gets another three years. I don’t want him picking ferentz replacement.

KF has already picked KFs replacement.

 

[CJ_Lucky]

Laughing at anyone that thinks Barta will actually be able to execute a coaching search that matters. Good thing for him Kirk will be picking his replacement before Gary does.

 

[EvilMonkeyInTheCloset]

We can have a successful athletic program and still realize that Barta is a bumbling idiot.

Correct.

 

[EvilMonkeyInTheCloset]

Here to stay.

Lulz gonna be a lot of salty f***s out there that take such things too seriously.

I love it.

 

[SconnieAlum]

Lol, we've had no fewer than 8 wins in the past 4 years. We've had 1 season with a losing record since 2010.

Darkest days my @ss.

Iowa has had 1 losing season since 2000. I would wager about 75-80% of power 5 programs wish they could say that.

 

[SconnieAlum]

Wisconsin was not Wisconsin until they decided to take the next step. We have all of the resources Wisconsin does. If they can compete year in and year out for conference titles then so can Iowa. Any other thought is just stupid.

Except for the fact that Wisconsin has a much larger population, larger urban centers, and no other D1 programs in the state--yup, Iowa has exactly the same resources.

 

[LGEND24]

Iowa has had 1 losing season since 2000. I would wager about 75-80% of power 5 programs wish they could say that.

Two (2006 and 2012).

 

[not_mantiteo]

Iowa has had 1 losing season since 2000. I would wager about 75-80% of power 5 programs wish they could say that.

75-80% of other programs don’t have the fan base or cash flow that Iowa has. In fact, 95% probably don’t. I believe we can do better.

 

[cidhawkeye]

What we have learned is that if you set the bar really low for productivity, performing well below your peer group, cost your employer millions and embarrass your employer and then have a slightly better year but still lower than your peer group and resources you will get a 20% raise and an extension. At perhaps one place in America.

 

[HemiHawk]

Iowa was just rated #7 for athletic programs in the country by ESPN.

Football finished 25th with an Outback Bowl Victory.

WBB made the Elite 8

MBB made the round of 32

Track program finished top 25

Baseball program although a bad finish has picked up.

Wrestling finished top 5 and is favored by many to win it all in 2020.

You'd have to be obtuse to say this year wasn't s success for our athletic programs. Are you?

 

[HemiHawk]

What we have learned is that if you set the bar really low for productivity, performing well below your peer group, cost your employer millions and embarrass your employer and then have a slightly better year but still lower than your peer group and resources you will get a 20% raise and an extension. At perhaps one place in America.

 

[cidhawkeye]

Did you want links that contrast that point of view?

 

[Hawk_4shur]

75-80% of other programs don’t have the fan base or cash flow that Iowa has. In fact, 95% probably don’t. I believe we can do better.

According to this article - Iowa is 18th in revenue, which is pretty great. But, there are 6 teams ahead of them in the B1G. Minnesota, Indiana and Illinois are all in the Top 30.

https://sports.usatoday.com/ncaa/finances/

 

[hexumhawk]

I was going to post about Barta doing an OK job but lets be honest, he really hasnt been that great. His saving grace is probably that him and KF get along well enough.