UI Athletics director talks sports controversy

WASHINGTON — University of Iowa Athletics Director Gary Barta paid a visit to the Washington Noon Rotary Club Thursday, where he shared a meal and discussed a wide range of controversies in the college sports world.

“You don’t know how much I enjoy doing this and how much I appreciate being invited,” he said. “I really love all the small towns in Iowa, and I’ve enjoyed … getting to know the state, getting to know the people of the state.”

As the floor opened up for questions, topics got more contentious.

AD talks Iowa’s offense, worries of nepotism

Iowa football’s underperforming offense this year was an elephant in the room. One visitor asked how the team could attract talented recruits moving forward.

“We’re dead last right now, so at one point does one say, ‘Hey, there has to be drastic changes made?’” he said. “I love Iowa football, I love Iowa sports, I’ll be there screaming my head off at the next game. But as a fan … the product that’s on the field right now offensively is pretty bad.”

Barta acknowledged the offensive line struggles.

“Do we have to be far better than we are right now? Absolutely,” he said. “On the offensive line, we’re playing freshmen and sophomores.”

The athletic director said he trusted Kirk Ferentz’s decision not to change leadership in the middle of the year.

“If we fired Brian Ferentz in the middle of the season, would our offense get any better? I’d say no,” he said. “It’s painful right now, but we’ve got to get through this season. At the end, that’s when he’ll sit down and evaluate, but in the meantime, he’s going to try to win.”

Critics have thrown around the word “nepotism” this football season, citing the familial ties between Iowa Football Coach Kirk Ferentz and Brian Ferentz, his son and offensive coordinator for the team.

Barta said the team took steps to ensure Brian Ferentz’s role was not granted by family favoritism.

“It’s my job to be the neutral party that tries to ascertain whether or not Kirk is making the same decision that he would make if it wasn’t his son in that position,” he said. “As part of the management plan, we put out an anonymous opportunity for every student-athlete and every staff member that works with football, at the end of every year, to ask if they’ve noticed any differences in the way Kirk manages the football team with his son involved.”

Barta favors name, image and likeness when responsible

Asked about the right of student athletes to make revenue in advertisements and appearances, Barta said he was on board with their use of name, image and likeness (NIL).

“In its purest sense, it’s a really good thing,” he said. “If they use that to make some money not based on the tiger hawk but based on their own brand, I think that’s awesome.”

In Iowa, where there’s no state law about students appearing in advertisements, Barta said the University had minimal rules and sought to keep students informed for any business dealings.“

“We ask all of our student athletes to report to use the relationship, they’re not obligated to show us the contract and they’re not obligated to show us how much money they’re making,” he said. “We’re not allowed by the NCAA to work with our students to make sure they fill out a tax form right, or that they sign a contract that’s the right contract. What we are allowed to do is provide education in general. We have someone come in and talk about contracts in general.”

While Barta said name, image and likeness usage had upsides for students, he worried about the practice’s use in sketchy recruitment processes.

“The dark side of it is illegal recruiting, where people are saying, ‘Come to our school, we promise you $100,000 in name, image and likeness money,’” he said. “That’s not name, image and likeness, that’s inducements. That’s illegal recruiting. As a college sports industry, we’re trying to find our way through. It’s new, it’s not going to go away, so we’re working to find the greatest path forward.”

Department in balancing act for transgender athletes

Barta said Iowa sought to balance competing fairness concerns on the subject of trans women competing in sports.

“What everybody’s trying to do is one, be sensitive to the human side of it, those men and women that are in question,” he said. “But then also making sure there’s a physiological decision point. Right now the way the Olympics does it and the NCAA does it, which means the way we would do it, has to do with testosterone and the medical side of it.”

As of Aug. 1 this year, NCAA allows athletes not undergoing hormone treatment to compete in the division of their sex assigned at birth. For trans women undergoing treatment, however, rules call for “documented testosterone levels” based on their sport at the beginning of its season and again six months later.

“This means that student-athletes who have already been competing do not need to demonstrate the newly adapted sport-specific testosterone levels for the entire prior year if they are not available,” an NCAA website on the subject said. “For participation in NCAA championships, transgender athletes must additionally provide documentation of testosterone levels to the CSMAS with laboratory work completed within four weeks of the championship selections.”

Growth of Big Ten unexpected, but good business move

Barta said he welcomed the Big Ten’s growth, even if it presented challenges.

“It’s change, I would’ve never guest it,” he said. “A lot of these changes are uncomfortable, but I’m OK with being uncomfortable.”

Financially, however, he said the move was a win.

“If you look at it from a business perspective we now have … the largest television market in the country,” he said. “For those of us in the Big Ten, Iowa in particular, it’s not going to be that big of a deal. Our soccer team or our football team or whatever traveling out to L.A. once or twice a year, probably once, is not that big a deal.”

Comments: Kalen.McCain@southeastiowaunion.com