Three takeaways from Beth Goetz presser

As the old saying goes, you only get one chance to make a first impression. Based on what Beth Goetz did in her first meeting with the media as the interim director of athletics for the University of Iowa, she is off to a strong start.

For those who don’t know, former Iowa athletic director Gary Barta retired on August 1st and Goetz, who has been the Deputy athletic director for the Hawkeyes, was elevated to the top spot on August 2nd.

Her biography is as impressive as her press conference was on Thursday afternoon at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. Prior to coming to Iowa, Goetz had been the Director of Athletics at Ball State. She also spent time UCONN, Minnesota, Butler, and University of Missouri-St.Louis.

What are some takeaways from her first press conference in front of the Iowa media?

EMBRACING THE IOWA SWARM COLLECTIVE

I think it’s fair to say that Gary Barta took a more standoffish position when it came to Name, Image, and Likeness and the formation of the Iowa Swarm Collective, which supports Iowa football and men’s and women’s basketball.

It appears that Goetz will be taking a much more friendly approach. While Barta wasn’t combative, he certainly didn’t give it a full warm embrace. Goetz spoke in glowing terms about Iowa Swarm CEO Brad Heinrichs and his staff.

“Brad and his team have done is given us a chance to be successful, and 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,” Goetz said. “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.”

Goetz confirmed what Henrichs told us on a recent podcast that the two had spoken more than once and in fact, he sent her a text message of support this morning prior to the press conference.

“I’ve had an opportunity to sit down with Brad, really enjoyed that conversation. He sent me some notes about some tips on today, too. One was to make sure I talked positively about the Swarm. That would be no problem.”

COMING CLOSER TO A RESOLUTION IN SPORTS GAMBLING INVESTIGATION

Goetz was asked about where things stand with the eligibility and punishment for Iowa student-athletes involved in the sports gambling investigation. With the Iowa football season approaching rather quickly, Kirk Ferentz and several players would certainly appreciate knowing how many games they would have to sit, if any.

Right now we know that current Iowa players that are involved are Noah Shannon, who is not facing any legal trouble, and Aaron Blom and Jack Johnson who have NCAA and legal issues.

“We’re optimistic that we are just hopefully days away, perhaps, 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

Feedback seems to be the key word here. It doesn’t appear that the conclusion is happening, but this would be a step in the right direction.

“We don’t really have any indication of what the response will be,” Goetz said. “I think all of you — as well as we have — have seen what the prescribed penalties are, but part of the NCAA process is always to provide mitigation, so what are the other things that may have contributed to any violation that occurred?”

BRIAN FERENTZ CONTRACT IS STILL IN PLACE

For those who were wondering if the change is leadership would lead to a change in the new one year contract for Bran Ferentz, Goetz says business as usual.

She confirmed that she is now the director supervisor for the Iowa offensive coordinator and that his contract, which included new terms that required at least seven wins and averaging 25 points per game, were still in place.

“It is,” she said. “His goal, and I know because I’ve sat down with him, I’ve sat down with Kirk, and really the goal of every coach that we have here is to win games. I’m 100 percent convinced I was 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.

As we look at those types of things, just like we would in any sport, you’re going to evaluate a season at the end and see how you did. But the goal is to win along the way, and I’ve won some ugly games as a coach and I never gave any of them back.”

For those who don’t know, prior to the administrative side of college athletics, she was the head soccer coach at Missouri-St. Louis, so she knows what it’s like to experience the ups and downs of coaching.

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