Iowa Athletics Director Gary Barta won’t talk about his football coaches’ future even in the best of seasons, at least not until the season is over.
By Charlie Green
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LOS ANGELES — Oh, what a difference a season can make.
Almost one year ago exactly, Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz faced the wrath of Hawkeye Nation after a blowout loss in the TaxSlayer Bowl capped a five-year stretch of what can be described as mediocre football at best.
Now, wouldn’t you know it, he and his Hawkeyes are two days away from stepping onto the field at the Rose Bowl for the first time in 25 years.
No one understands that juxtaposition like Athletics Director Gary Barta, who predictably had no response to those wondering how Ferentz stands (however few they may be) in the program ahead of the big game.
“My answer this year is exactly the same as it was last year, even though the circumstances are entirely different,” Barta said. “We finish the season, and then we sit down and evaluate how the year went.
“Observe daily, and evaluate annually, and we’re not yet to the evaluation period. Right now, it’s just observe and relish the moment we’re in.”
Barta, while remaining devoted to his process, has less heat on him than he felt a season ago after the Hawks finished 7-6. He said thousands of fans called him during and after the 2014 season seeking the removal of the Hawk head football coach. Only a few have called him in 2015 to apologize, and only a few others have continued to express indignation for the pick-your-award Coach of the Year.
“Last year, I know it rang empty with a lot of people, but one of the things I said was the foundation is really strong,” Barta said. “And I believed it; I meant it.”
Parts of that foundation Barta cited were the people, the facilities, the historical approach, and the student-athletes in the program. The new football facility, a $55 million project, is an obvious bump in infrastructure that can be pointed to as a booster in performance and general excitement around the program.
But the bottom line is that the team needed to win games. Season-ticket sales were down, and Iowa was viewed as an afterthought even in the weak Big Ten West Division.
Things have certainly changed. Barta won’t deny that.
He also won’t say anything about where Ferentz stands, whether he sees him here past his current contract (through 2020) or not.
We don’t know now, and we’ll probably never know until a decision actually comes. What we do know is that he’s committed to how he does things as an executive, for whatever that’s worth.
That doesn’t include giving the public insight to his thoughts on the leader of his department’s primary driver of revenue.
“No doubt, the circumstances are different, but the process is exactly the same, we’ll sit down and say what went well; obviously, a lot of things did,” Barta said. “Where can we get better and where do we go in 2016? So I’m not trying to make light of the fact that the feeling is completely different, but the process is similar.”
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