Is Barta really that bad????

[PhantomFlyer]

What is your opinion of Bump Elliott?? Most will te you he was a very good AD. But.. He hired FXL as football coach then replaced him with Bob Commings before striking it rich with Hayden. All ADs make occasional mistakes in hiring coaches. Barta has done well. The discrimination issues May or may not have been mistakes

Not a great comparison. Bump hired Lute and Gable who were both home runs. Hayden was a home run. Bump had a monumental task in trying to hire a good football coach. Iowa was terrible, a Big Ten doormat, for most of the 60's and 70's.

Barta was hiring a basketball coach to replace an unpopular Alford, but the program wasn't in shambles, and had a winning history since the 60's.

Lickliter was a terrible hire by Barta. One of the criticisms of Alford was his style of basketball was boring. Fans weren't filling Carver and you hire a Dick Bennett clone, in the slow down pace of ball he wanted to play. Five minutes into an interview Barta should have realized Lick wasn't the guy. He was not a good salesman, lacked personality (which would hurt in recruiting), he was uncomfortable with the media. Lick hated raising money, going around the state pimping the program, dealing with boosters, and recruiting. These should have been easy things to uncover from just talking to the Butler people. Butler was a solid program before Lick ever arrived, and you step out the campus door and you can find plenty of D1 talent within the city. The media in Indianapolis don't put the Butler coach under a microscope, because pro sports rule in big cities, then the Hoosiers rule for the college teams. To coach in Iowa you better be able to handle the heat because there are no pro sports, college sports are everything for Iowans.

 

[milehighhawkeye24]

Our facilities have improved because of the extra $$$ we are receiving from the BTN contacts.

Barta is BAD.

Although that $ has been very helpful, the $ we receive from B10 network would not even come close to covering one of our facility upgrades, 25 milliion is a nice chunk of change but those upgrades have been done through private donations led by Barta....good try though.....can you specifically tell me what exactly has been so awful about him....obviously been some bumps in the road but most of our important programs are on the up and up and so are our facilities....not sure what else to judge his position on????

 

[shoot_the_three]

Holy crap I think I agree with milehigh!?

 

[thewop]

You guys are ignoring the gender discrimination issues hanging over the athletic department. I don't have a lot of knowledge about it, but it's a pretty big deal and has brought a lot of negative attention to the school from certain groups. These issues alone might be enough to get him dismissed.

Yes, Barta has hired some good coaches. But Brands was a no-brainer, and Fran campaigned pretty hard for his job. It's not like Gary had to do a lot of digging and hard work to get those two guys. Heller is obviously a great addition, but I don't know much about his hiring, so I can't say anything other than how good a job he's done since coming to Iowa City.

Speaking of Fran, don't forget that the only reason Fran has needed to be our savior is because of Lickliter. He was a Barta hire, and the program was a mess for years both while and after he coached here. If Fran has another couple of good seasons, I'd be willing to call the men's basketball program a wash under Barta. We've just now got the arena full (or mostly full) again for most games, and the student attendance is still pretty bad.

Except the discrimination against a female doesn't hold any water. It certainly appears they discriminated against a male, but nobody cares about that, and it was clearly underlings. Sure it's under his watch, but the big case with the field hockey coach certainly doesn't appear that it's going to stick. Not only that, the AD would have been sued if he'd kept her as well, and would be in the same boat now.

In my judgement of Barta, I don't hold gender discrimination stuff against him based on what we know today (that could change). That said, I'm not a huge Barta fan. I'd like to see him be more personable, less ivory tower. In the end, what happens on the football field will seal his fate, it's just what being a big time AD is these days.

 

[Recruiting Violation]

Except the discrimination against a female doesn't hold any water. It certainly appears they discriminated against a male, but nobody cares about that, and it was clearly underlings. Sure it's under his watch, but the big case with the field hockey coach certainly doesn't appear that it's going to stick. Not only that, the AD would have been sued if he'd kept her as well, and would be in the same boat now.

In my judgement of Barta, I don't hold gender discrimination stuff against him based on what we know today (that could change). That said, I'm not a huge Barta fan. I'd like to see him be more personable, less ivory tower. In the end, what happens on the football field will seal his fate, it's just what being a big time AD is these days.

Good points, and I appreciate the non-confrontational and informational response. My major point in posting in the thread was to let people know that Gary has not had an ideal tenure, and the current upswing in some on-field (or court) results does not automatically make him a great AD. I happen to believe that he is genuinely a good guy and I think it's clear he wants us to win. However, I am not sure that he is a long-term solution for the athletic department. I would hope we could do better with the amount of money coming in from B1G/BTN as well as donors. If Gary sticks around for a bit (or a lot) longer, I hope he proves me wrong.

 

[Titanhawk2]

You gave a nice list of the good things he's done I'll try to give some of the bad:

1) Ferentz - 10 year contract. This cannot be understated how bad this was not only for the length of time but for the money of which much is guaranteed.
2) Field Hockey - Gender Discrimination. Enough said.
3) Lickliter - Worst hire in Iowa basketball history?
4) Softball Hire - Went from a perennial top 25 team to off the map.
3) Gameday Football Atmosphere
4) Terrible Director's Cup scores

#1 If KF was never going to be let go, and I don't believe that would have been a consideration, then this is moot
I believe #2 was sanctioned by the university, including the president
#3 (or should that be #5?) is also probably more a result of what the university wants, not the athletic department

 

[milehighhawkeye24]

Holy crap I think I agree with milehigh!?

Cyber high five!!!!!!!!! It was a full moon eclipse, could have something to do with it LOL

 

[Hwk-I-St8]

You gave a nice list of the good things he's done I'll try to give some of the bad:

1) Ferentz - 10 year contract. This cannot be understated how bad this was not only for the length of time but for the money of which much is guaranteed.
2) Field Hockey - Gender Discrimination. Enough said.
3) Lickliter - Worst hire in Iowa basketball history?
4) Softball Hire - Went from a perennial top 25 team to off the map.
3) Gameday Football Atmosphere
4) Terrible Director's Cup scores

1. Most thought the extended contract for KF was a good thing at the time. Many were worried we'd lose him.
2. Enough said? Not sure I'd agree. I think we were in a no-win situation there, but I'd rather get sued by the coach than by the players. Ironic that we have simultaneous lawsuits for discriminating against men and women...which is it?
3. Sure, bad hire in retrospect, but most were pumped. He was the hot commodity at the time and getting lots of praise nationally. At the time, it seemed like a good get.
4. Agreed.
5. (3b?) It's getting squared away. Most of the issue I'd lay on Mason and the police (I strongly suspect at Mason's behest). The changes to lot 43 were a huge hit...not sure how you resolve atmosphere vs the high level donors.
6. (4b?) - as noted by the positives listed, I suspect the director's cup scores will start to rise with us doing so much better in a number of non-revenue sports.

In general, I'd say the facilities upgrades and most recent coaching hires outweigh most of the mistakes.

 

[Chasedapainter]

should of retired Roy Marbles number last fall

Absolutely

 

[Titanhawk2]

Absolutely

I don't believe that's an athletic department thing. There is some board with a lot of others that runs this