There’s zero reason not to do it now. Iowa’s getting more money from TV this year in new money than the total cost of Fran’s contract - which is $14 million
I’m going to be brutally honest - I’ve been disappointed with Beth so far. I thought she had the killer instinct when she finally swung the axe on Brian. But the subsequent actions - allowing Kirk to retain full control of his staff, retaining Fran while the basketball team is in this shape, suggest she is comfortable with business as usual as long as each sport isn’t performing at some super embarassing level.
There’s a lot more that suggests she’s naive to the nature of highest level college athletics, such as a move in NIL that spread us thinner by forcing Swarm to support all 22 sports, along with continuing expensive projects like the baseball stadium and new wrestling facility instead of getting donors on board to direct that towards NIL. The revenue number this past year was somewhat disappointing too - suggesting she might have trouble connecting there.
Bottom line is this - she doesn’t have time to settle in. The best AD’s aren’t afraid to remake their departments into their image of what a competitor is. Figure it out or find your way to be gone too.