Longtime University of Iowa athletics director Gary Barta is expected to announce his retirement on Friday, sources told ESPN. He is expected to step down on Aug. 1, according to sources.
Barta, 59, has been Iowa’s athletic director for 17 years, making him the second-longest tenured AD in the Big Ten conference behind Ohio State’s Gene Smith.
Barta has played a significant role in college athletics, including his recently completed three years as a member of the College Football Playoff selection committee. He served as chairman of the CFP committee in 2020 and 2021.
His position included great success on the field. According to Iowa’s history, the school has won 11 Big Ten championships since the fall of 2020. Iowa’s women’s basketball teamguided by the stars Caitlin Clark they played for the national title in 2023.
Iowa to men’s basketball team has won at least 20 games in each of the past four seasons and has won the Big Ten championship in the 2021-22 season.
At this time a football team posted 10 consecutive winning seasons under coach Kirk Ferentz. This success included the 2015 season that saw the team appear in the Big Ten tournament and earn a trip to the Rose Bowl. The Hawkeyes also played for the Big Ten title in 2021.
From the field, Barta’s time had many high-profile lawsuits, which Iowa paid more than $10 million from 2017. This included settling more than $4 million for a group of Black former Iowa football players who sued the university for discrimination. There was also a $6.5 million payout in 2017 due to the firing of a former hockey coach. The former sports director also won $1.4 million in damages in 2017 in a discrimination lawsuit.
In addition, the school announced earlier this month that it is fully cooperating with the athletic search and that the school has “received information on 111 candidates,” although only 26 are athletes.
Barta’s retirement doesn’t come as much of a surprise in the college athletics industry. In September 2022, the school hired Beth Goetz, former athletic director at Ball State, to serve as associate director and chief operating officer.
Because Goetz resigned as athletic director, the hiring led to speculation that Goetz could soon replace Barta. He will be loved for the job. The school is not expected to name a replacement right away, especially while Barta is working over the summer.