Beth Goetz spoke with the media for the first time on Thursday since taking on the role of Iowa’s interim athletic director on Aug. 2.
From NIL and the ongoing gambling investigation to keeping the tradition and culture at Iowa that has been built by past leaders, Goetz emphasized how important it is to be the “best version of a Hawkeye in each sport.”
She served as Iowa’s Deputy Director of Athletics and Chief Operating Officer for the past 11 months and was promoted after former athletic director Gary Barta announced his retirement on May 26. Goetz will be paid a base salary of $650,000.
Goetz, who grew up in Florissant, Missouri, is excited to be closer to home after previous stops at Minnesota, Butler, Connecticut, and most recently, Ball State.
“I am certainly familiar with the long history here, the history of women’s athletics … and the reputation Iowa has both in the Big Ten and across the country,” Goetz said on Thursday. “All of those things were appealing, and talk about rewarding, to know all that and then show up and say, ‘Hey, it’s even better than what I expected.'”
Goetz said one of her top priorities is to make sure Iowa Athletics continues to be innovative and host events that create traction for the university.
Iowa wrestling hosted Grapple on the Gridiron in 2015 at Kinnick Stadium against Oklahoma State. This event marked the first time two college squads wrestled in a football stadium. A record 42,287 fans attended the meet, and later that night, Iowa football defeated Minnesota in front of 70,000 Hawkeye fans to go 10-0 for the first time in program history. Goetz, who was the interim athletics director at Minnesota during the 2015-16 season, attended both events.
On Aug. 10, Iowa Athletics announced the Crossover at Kinnick, an outdoor scrimmage at Kinnick Stadium featuring the Hawkeye women’s basketball team and the DePaul Blue Demons.
The contest will be on Sunday, Oct. 15 at 3 p.m., with proceeds from the event benefiting the University of Iowa Stead Family Children’s Hospital.
Tickets became available to the general public on Thursday, and Goetz said there’s been about 30,000 sold so far. The current women’s basketball attendance record is 29,619 and was set in the 2002 national title game between Connecticut and Oklahoma in San Antonio’s Alamodome.
“The entire thought process in terms of putting this game together, the Crossover at Kinnick, was Coach Bluder,” Goetz said. “I’m not even sure we were two weeks removed from the Final Four, and she said, ‘Hey, I’ve got this idea.’ So clearly we had to vet it. It took us a while to sort of work through that but could not be more excited.”
NIL, relationship with Iowa Swarm
To keep up with the ever-changing landscape of college athletics, it’s critical for every institution to have a plan regarding name, image, and likeness — and Goetz understands this.
The Iowa Swarm, which is a 501c3 non-profit corporation founded by Brad Heinrichs in 2022, gives Iowa athletes an opportunity to build their brand while giving back to the community. In its first year of existence, the collective raised “well north of $3 million” when including pledges, Heinrichs said earlier this summer on The Cedar Rapids Gazette’s Hawk Off the Press podcast.
The collective’s newest money-maker is Swarm Golden Ale, a custom-brewed beer made by Exile Brewing Co. in Des Moines. 20 percent of the revenue from sales is donated to the collective, and the beer will be sold inside Kinnick Stadium this fall.
Goetz said she has sat down and talked with Heinrichs about future plans and how the athletic department can better support the collective. While the athletic department can’t make direct donations to the Swarm, it can promote fundraising and make the collective more well-known across Hawkeye nation.
“Really what Brad and his team have done is given us a chance to be successful,” Goetz said. “The way that they did it, if you look across the country, many of the other collectives didn’t quite have the same success right out of the gate, and I think they’ve been very thoughtful there. His team is almost in daily conversations sometimes with ours and has been, but we’re appreciative of his efforts, of all of those who have chosen to contribute there, and they’re doing some exciting and fun things.”
Gambling investigation
On May 8, the Iowa Racing and Gaming Committee launched an investigation into sports gambling by student-athletes at Iowa and Iowa State.
So far, six current and former Iowa athletes, along with Hawkeye football graduate assistant Owen O’Brien, have been issued criminal charges. The others involved include current football players Aaron Blom and Jack Johnson, former Hawkeye football players Reggie Bracy and Arland Bruce, former basketball player Ahron Ulis, and former baseball player Gehrig Christensen.
Bruce transferred to Oklahoma State in the offseason, while Bracy and Ulis transferred to Troy and Nebraska, respectively. Christensen retired from baseball in a June 8 Instagram post. Blom and Johnson still remain on the football roster.
Each of the seven are being charged with one count of tampering with records related to the investigation. The charge is labeled as an aggravated misdemeanor but could be punishable by a maximum sentence of two years in prison if convicted.
The student-athletes convicted could also face a permanent loss of athletic eligibility, per NCAA regulations that prohibit athletes from betting on their own games or other sporting events at their schools.
Goetz said she doesn’t have any indication of what the response will be from the NCAA or Iowa’s Division of Criminal Investigation, but the athletic department and athletes will continue to cooperate and be as transparent as possible.
“On the reinstatement process specifically, we have submitted all the requested information to date to the NCAA, and we’re optimistic that we are just hopefully days away from getting some feedback at least initially on what that means for our student-athletes who currently are here and have remaining eligibility,” Goetz said.
Brian Ferentz’s contract amendments
On Feb. 6, Iowa Athletics announced contract amendments for Brian Ferentz, Iowa football’s offensive coordinator.
Previously, Ferentz’s contract automatically extended for one-year periods on July 1 of each year. His terms of employment are now from Feb. 1, 2023, through June 30, 2024.
The contract also lists designated performance objectives that must be met, including an average of at least 25 points per game and at least seven wins in the 2023 season, including any regular season or bowl games.
The contract amendment states if these performance objectives are not met, Ferentz’s contract will terminate on June 30, 2024.
Goetz said the performance objectives are still in place this season despite the departure of Barta.
Because of the familial relationship with head coach Kirk Ferentz, Brian Ferentz directly reports to Goetz. She said she has had several conversations with Kirk and Brian Ferentz regarding the upcoming season.
“I was 100 percent convinced going into those conversations, I was going out, that their focus is on how do we win football games and how do we develop these young men,” Goetz said. “We understand [the contract] is going to be talked about a lot. But it’s just not something we’re going to be thinking about week in and week out. We’re going to cheer for the team, support the program, support our coaches the way we always do, and we’ll evaluate at the end of the season.”
While Goetz said she hopes to keep Iowa’s long-tenured coaches, such as women’s basketball’s Lisa Bluder, in the program as long as she can, she knows there may come a time when she has to make a new hire. Bluder’s contract was recently extended until 2029, and men’s basketball coach Fran McCaffery’s contract is set through the 2027-28 season.
Goetz said that she doesn’t believe every coach can be equally successful at each place, so it is important to find candidates that fit the culture and meet the values the university represents.
“No one, and I mean no one in the country can look across a department and say, ‘Hey, we have that experience, the success, the tradition, the type of people that Iowa has,'” Goetz said. “There’s just no way to measure that except to recognize each day how fortunate we are to have these Hall-of-Fame coaches that are running around our halls each and every day.”
Conference expansion
Goetz said on her first official day as interim athletic director, she was thrown into the conversation about expanding the Big Ten.
USC and UCLA announced their move to the Big Ten last summer. Oregon and Washington were then approved to join the conference on Aug. 4, with competition to begin in all sports in 2024-25.
The additions will make the Big Ten the largest conference in college football history with 18 teams.
There have been concerns from fans about the long travel and expenses that come with adding these four schools, but Goetz said she is confident that Iowa football will only have to travel out West once each season. Goetz added that other Hawkeye sports already travel out West for non-conference competition, so she doesn’t think it will be much of a change.
Her biggest priority with conference realignment is making sure student-athletes stay on top of school and take care of their physical and mental well-being.
“I think we can find a really good balance as to what those costs might be, to what the experience might be,” Goetz said. “And obviously making sure we put our students in an environment where they can be successful in the classroom, that they’re getting the appropriate rest they need, and we’re managing all the other things that come with being a high-level Division I athlete.”