Beth Goetz’s love for competing was ingrained in her from a young age.

Athlete, coach, and now the interim athletics director at the University of Iowa, Goetz looks to navigate the ever-changing landscape of college athletics.

“You always aspire to be the best version of who you can be, and I want that for Iowa,” Goetz told The Daily Iowan.

Competing builds confidence

Goetz was the oldest of four girls growing up.

Her parents, Les and Ann, encouraged their daughters to find something they were passionate about and gave them opportunities to play sports since elementary school.

Goetz spent most of her time as a kid playing soccer, basketball, and softball. She continued the three sports into her teenage years and then decided to just play soccer heading into her senior year at Hazelwood Central High School.

Goetz felt that she was most talented in soccer and would thus get more opportunities to continue playing at a higher level.

Goetz started her athletic career at Brevard College in North Carolina. Goetz’s skills on the soccer field earned her All-American status, and she was inducted into the school’s Hall of Fame in 2017.

After obtaining an associate of arts degree from Brevard in 1994, Goetz transferred to Clemson and was a member of the Tigers’ first-ever women’s soccer team.

Goetz started for Clemson as a middle infielder during her junior and senior seasons and helped the Tigers to two consecutive NCAA Round of 32 appearances. Goetz earned her bachelor’s degree at Clemson and moved back near home to get her master’s degree at the University of Missouri-St. Louis.

Goetz said playing sports growing up, and especially in college, set her on a “really great path” for life after graduation. She said it helped build her confidence and ability to navigate problems and work with a team.

Goetz said there is nothing she wants more than for student-athletes to have the same college experience she did.

“The opportunity to participate in sport is transformational, and it is an additive component of the educational experience that sets them apart long after their playing days are done,” Goetz said at her introductory press conference on Aug. 17. “I want more of our students to continue and have opportunities down that path because I want our doctors and our lawyers and our politicians to be former athletes.”

Coaching career

Coaching wasn’t on Goetz’s radar until her Clemson coaches told her to try it out.

Once Goetz started coaching, she never wanted to stop.

Goetz said she wishes she could go back in time with all the knowledge she has now and pour it into the young women she worked with.

“I miss coaching every day — writing the lineups on the back of a napkin and trying to figure out what comes next,” Goetz said. “I just loved practice. It was the best time of the day.”

Goetz was an assistant soccer coach at Missouri-St. Louis while she worked on her master’s degree, and was promoted to head coach at just 23 years old after Ken Hudson stepped down.

Goetz amassed a 120-90-9 record with the Tritons from 1997-2007.

“I think it really shaped how I view college athletics because I got a broad perspective early on,” Goetz said. “There were a lot fewer tools and a lot fewer people around than what you might experience in our world today and certainly in a place like Iowa.”

Athletic Director

Goetz’s first role in an athletics department was from 2001-2008 as an assistant athletic director at Missouri-St. Louis while she was still coaching soccer.

Her coaching career ended when she transitioned to Butler and acted as the associate athletic director from 2008-2013.

When Goetz made the move from Missouri-St. Louis to Butler, she said she was worried how difficult it would be to connect with and show love for her new school.

That worry went away when Butler men’s basketball faced her alma mater Clemson in The 76 Classic, an eight-team tournament held during Thanksgiving week.

Goetz said going into the contest she wanted Butler to win, but “would’ve been happy either way.”

Her thoughts quickly changed when the game started.

“Well, it took me two minutes into the game to cheer for Butler,” Goetz said. “Even though I have an affinity for my alma mater, I
don’t know those people anymore, so that transition was actually really easy.”

Goetz got her first taste of the Big Ten when she was hired as deputy athletics director at
Minnesota from 2013-15 and then promoted to interim
athletic director for the Gophers in 2015-16.

Goetz acted as the chief operating officer at UConn from 2016-18 and spent four years as athletic director at Ball State before becoming Iowa’s deputy director of athletics and chief operating officer on Sept. 7, 2022.

Goetz said a smooth transition to a new school all depends on how you connect with the people there.

“This is Iowa, and it’s the Big Ten, and the opportunity to come be a part of everything I knew about who the Hawkeyes were was something that I just felt like I had to do,” Goetz said. “I wanted to be a part of this team.”

Embracing name, image, and likeness

Goetz’s competitive attitude is promising for Iowa, which is trying to build its NIL presence to compete with leading schools such as USC, Miami, Texas A&M, and Alabama.

The Swarm, Iowa’s NIL collective founded by Brad Heinrichs in 2022, has gained traction in the last year of its existence, but with Goetz’s support, even more can be done.

Heinrichs called his first interaction with Goetz an “impromptu” meeting.

Heinrichs was at Carver-Hawkeye Arena for a basketball event and had told Goetz over text that he was going to be in the building.

Goetz told him to stop at her office when he had a chance, and the pair talked for 30 minutes about the Swarm and how Iowa’s athletic department can better support the collective.

“I voiced a few of my frustrations with the prior administration,” Heinrichs told the DI. “I was hopeful that the athletic department would do more to help us in the future and Beth was very receptive. She is completely on board with NIL.”

Heinrichs added that the athletic department’s support of the Swarm is “paramount to Iowa’s success.”

While the NCAA prohibits athletic departments from financially supporting any NIL opportunities, they can market for collectives and send information to donors to increase engagement.

“There’s lots of different revenue sources, but [NIL] is a really important piece in the landscape right now,” Goetz said. “So we’re appreciative of [the Swarm] and want to collaborate as much as we can.”

Supporting more than just athletes

Goetz has not been named Iowa’s full-time athletic director but is making a very convincing case for her appointment.

She has developed several strong relationships with Iowa coaches in her short time at the university, including head football coach Kirk Ferentz, women’s basketball coach Lisa Bluder, and volleyball coach Jim Barnes.

At volleyball media day on Aug. 19, Barnes said that Goetz is the “real deal,” and displays attributes like relatability and attentiveness, which is something he appreciates in an athletic director.

Goetz has even attended a few volleyball practices and was impressed with the passion the Hawkeyes exhibited on the court.

Barnes said Goetz was very involved during practice and would make comments about the team and how they were executing things.

“I think you want to demonstrate that you’re supportive of them in their process, and that means the process when they have a great day and when they have a challenging day,” Goetz said. “You want them to understand that you value the time, you value their work ethic, and you want to celebrate that just as much as you want to celebrate the day they get to compete.”

But Goetz has shown that she doesn’t just care about Iowa athletes, but every student who attends the university.

Goetz rode around campus on the first day of classes in a golf cart titled the “Prize Team,” and asked students a series of trivia questions.

If the students gave the correct answer, they would get to pick from a prize bucket, which included move-in-friendly items like sunglasses, stickers, and microwavable Kraft Mac N’ Cheese.

“I love that the campus is doing such great things in terms of trying to make sure that they welcome our new students and really let them know that they’ve got people all over the place pulling for them,” Goetz said. “Our role in athletics is certainly to provide a great experience for student-athletes, but it’s also to serve the institution.”