IOWA CITY, Iowa — Iowa athletics director Gary Barta will announce his retirement Aug. 1, multiple school and industry sources said The athletic.
Barta, 59, ranks fifth among Power 5 athletic directors and has led Iowa’s athletic department since 2006. He also chaired the College Football Playoff in 2020 and 2021. Barta and Kirk Ferentz are the country’s longest-serving athletic director-football coach combination at one school.
Iowa has enjoyed an unprecedented longevity as an athletics director. College Football Hall of Fame inductee Bump Elliott worked at Iowa from 1970 to 1991 and was succeeded in 1991 by Bob Bowlsby. Bowlsby, who retired as Big 12 commissioner last year, worked in Iowa until 2006.
Iowa will name an interim athletics director next week, likely deputy athletics director Beth Goetz.
Barta’s influence
Iowa has won four NCAA championships (all in wrestling), earned 27 Big Ten team titles, and produced nearly 500 All-America honors under Barta. Iowa’s student-athlete average GPA has exceeded 3.0 eight years in a row with an 89 percent graduation rate.
During Barta’s tenure, Iowa completed more than $380 million in facility upgrades and new construction projects and raised more than $650 million in private aid for athletic scholarships, operations, facilities and endowments.
Barta and its athletic department have settled $11 million in lawsuits over the past six years involving sex discrimination, racial discrimination, and Title IX.
Probably replacement
Goetz, 48, came to Iowa in September after serving as Ball State’s athletic director since 2018. A native of the St. Louis area, Goetz played football at Clemson, coached football at Missouri-St. Louis and served as interim athletics director at Minnesota in 2015. While Iowa will likely open its job search, Goetz is the favorite to replace Barta.
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