Beth Goetz’s tenure as Iowa AD likely to include some decisions that will shape future of athletics department

IOWA CITY — Nearing the end of her third month as interim athletics director at Iowa, Beth Goetz walked into the Hansen Football Performance Center while not doing anything to draw more attention to herself than what was already inevitably there.

She stood in the back of the large room with floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking Kinnick and listened to Kirk Ferentz talk about the way he “typically” has evaluated coaches and how university leadership’s decision to fire Brian Ferentz — his oldest son and Iowa’s underperforming offensive coordinator — midway through the season was “certainly a departure from that practice.”

Along with surely an uncomfortable move to make while still carrying an interim title, it also was Goetz’s first major decision to make as Iowa’s athletics director.

As Goetz’s tenure as permanent AD begins, other big decisions — ones that could shape the future of Iowa Athletics — are likely looming on the horizon.

Next head coaching hires

Kirk Ferentz, Fran McCaffery and Lisa Bluder — the head coaches of Iowa’s three highest-profile teams — are 68, 64 and 62, respectively. That leaves a high likelihood of Goetz, 49, choosing each of their successors.

The stakes will be high for all three future hires.

Iowa men’s basketball’s tribulations during the Steve Alford and Todd Lickliter eras serve as a reminder of how fragile a program’s place in collegiate sports’ competitive pecking order can be.

Iowa and Nebraska’s football programs are an especially interesting case study for how much a good hire can transform a program (in Iowa’s case) and how much a bad hire can torpedo one (in Nebraska’s case).

Iowa’s hire of Hayden Fry after the 1978 season elevated a program that had gone almost two decades without a winning record into a relevant program that consistently went to bowl games over the next four-plus decades under Fry’s and then Ferentz’s leadership.

Before Nebraska’s 2014 firing of Bo Pelini and subsequent hiring of Mike Riley, the Huskers had only two losing seasons in the previous five decades. After that decision, the Huskers have finished with losing records in eight of nine seasons.

Out of all the factors that will contribute to Goetz’s legacy, likely none will be bigger than her hiring decisions for football, men’s basketball and women’s basketball.

Adaptation to changing landscape

As much as collegiate athletics has changed with the advent of the transfer portal and athletes’ ability to profit off their name, image and likeness, more change is almost certainly on the way.

If either the National Labor Relations Board complaint for unfair labor practices or the Johnson v. NCAA court case goes against the NCAA’s favor, some athletes could be considered employees of their university (and would need to be compensated accordingly). The House v. NCAA lawsuit, at the same time, could lead to revenue-sharing with athletes.

NCAA President Charlie Baker, seeing the legal writing on the wall, proposed creating a new subdivision where schools would pay at least half of their athletes $30,000 per year through an “enhanced educational fund.”

Goetz told the university’s Presidential Committee on Athletics last month Baker’s proposal would likely come with a price tag of “a little more than $9 million” for Iowa while noting this is only the beginning of the NCAA’s diolague on the topic.

“It’s very important that the president of the NCAA acknowledged the landscape,” Goetz said at the time. “I appreciate the leadership that he took to get this discussion started.”

While it is unclear what exactly collegiate athletics will look like when the discussions end, strong leadership atop Iowa’s athletics department will be crucial for staying competitive in the changing landscape.

As Goetz works to best position the Hawkeyes for future success, Iowa’s share of the Big Ten Conference well-negotiated media rights contract gives Goetz a financial advantage to work with.

Future of Carver-Hawkeye Arena

This month marks 41 years since Carver-Hawkeye Arena — the home competition site of Iowa’s basketball and wrestling programs — opened.

Carver’s age is showing.

The lack of a lower concourse or premium seating options and an unenticing student section layout are among the challenges the arena faces early in its fifth decade of existence.

It’s something the athletics department seems to recognize, as it began a feasibility study for a significant renovation of the arena.

“Obviously we love Carver,” Goetz said in October. “We love the environment there. It’s been just a great friend and home to us for about 40 years, and we need it to continue to be so for a few more decades to come.”

A well-executed reimagination of Carver-Hawkeye Arena could drastically change the game day experience for four sports while creating new revenue streams for Iowa Athletics.

Without an effective face-lift, this year’s turnout woes at men’s basketball games could be a forewarning of what’s to come.

Comments: john.steppe@thegazette.com