Those four varsity sports included men’s and women’s swimming and diving, men’s tennis, and men’s gymnastics. University of Iowa President Bruce Harreld and Athletic Director Gary Barta released a joint letter, addressing the public on the difficult decision made by the university.

A source with knowledge of the decision told KRUI that there was no formal communication between the sports’ student-athlete leadership and the Iowa administration prior to Friday morning. The athletes first found out about their program’s discontinuation at the 10:30 A.M. meeting on Friday.

All four programs had attained varying degrees of success at the University of Iowa. Iowa’s swimming and diving program holds a notable place in the history of competitive swimming, as the program is the birthplace of the Butterfly stroke.

The technique was developed by Iowa swimming coach David Armbruster and athlete Jack Sieg in the early 1930s. While the technique was not initially accepted, the International Swimming Federation went on to adopt the stroke for races in international competition.

Men’s Gymnastics had seen newfound success in recent years, including winning a share of the Big Ten title in the 2018-19 season. That season saw three Iowa gymnasts take home All-American honors, and was also the 50 year anniversary of the program’s 1969 NCAA Championship.

Men’s Tennis also appeared to be on the rise as the 2019-20 season saw the program reach their highest ranking in school history with a high-water mark of #23. The program also saw it’s longest winning streak since 1991 by winning seven matches in a row.

The cuts came about from the aforementioned deficit in the 2020-21 Iowa athletic budget due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The budget deficit stands at $65-70 million and a loss of revenue of over $100 million, all stemming from the cancellation of the fall football season from Big Ten president’s and conference commissioner Kevin Warren.

Iowa becomes the first athletic department in the Big Ten to announce the discontinuation of athletic programs because of COVID-19 related financial hardship. While other schools have cut salaries and furloughed employees, it is with near-certainty that program cuts across the Big Ten will become prevalent without fall football revenue.

The post Iowa Athletic Department Announces Discontinuation of Four Sports appeared first on KRUI Radio.

Mid-Monday morning, it was announced by the athletic department that longtime strength and conditioning coach Chris Doyle and the University of Iowa had reached a “separation agreement” and that Doyle was no longer with the program.

Part of the agreement above included a severance payment of $1.1 million and continued health insurance over the next 15 months as Doyle was still under contract at the time of his resignation.

The announcement of Doyle’s departure came a mere few hours before Iowa Athletic Director Gary Barta was set to speak to the media at Carver-Hawkeye Arena on Monday afternoon.

Barta started off Monday’s press conference with the news that Hush-Blackwell of Kansas City was leading the investigation of the Iowa football program and that the investigation will take “weeks, not months.” There is no hard date set for the announcement of the findings.

The main topic of Barta’s statements were the issues with the football program, which included an apology to anyone who fell victim to the culture of racism within Iowa athletics and had a less-than great experience at Iowa.

“One of the things I want to do, and it’s really important to me, is to say I’m sorry,” Barta said. “To any former student-athletes, coaches, staff, current student-athletes, anybody who has had a negative experience with Iowa football.”

Barta then referenced that discrepancy in the graduation rate of African-American student-athletes and white student-athletes, that was discovered in 2018. Barta then created a task force to investigate the issues with the program.

In both the wider context of the United States and the events and dialogue within the Iowa football program, Barta stated that the changes the program made following the task force were not enough and were not happening at a fast-enough pace.

When talking about conversations had with student-athletes, the Iowa Athletic Director of 14 years took a few moments to gather his composure. A sign of regret and sheer pain that something of this nature happened under his oversight. These few moments spoke of the weight on Barta’s shoulders, of remorse for the culture of racism that was allowed to grow under his leadership.

“As we go forward, we are committed to change and improvement. I promise you we will make mistakes, and when we do, we’ll correct them,” Barta said. “I can tell you they won’t be perfect, there’s always going to be differing opinions on what we should do. Change is going to take time.”

One of the notable changes included the hiring of former Iowa defensive lineman Broderick Binns as the overseer of Iowa’s diversity task force.

The topic of the conversation then turned to Kirk Ferentz and what he has done to improve the culture within the program he’s built for 21 years. Barta still believes that Ferentz is the man for the job.

“I do remain confident that Kirk Ferentz can lead this team going forward and many of the attributes are still there,” Barta said. “The foundation is still sound, but we need to rebuild trust.”

One of the biggest questions for Barta was the handling of allegations against offensive coordinator Brian Ferentz, as nepotism laws prevent Brian from reporting to his father, reporting to Barta himself instead. Barta said he’d pay more attention to the findings of the investigation more than social media accusations.

“I don’t know everything that’s been said about Chris Doyle, or about Brian Ferentz. I’ve heard Seth Wallace’s name mentioned, I’m sure Kirk has been mentioned, I’m sure I’ve been mentioned,” Barta said. “I’m comfortable now waiting for that review.”

Barta also said that his comfort in waiting for the review is also what helped him decide to come to terms of separation with Chris Doyle, rather than waiting for the investigation to conclude.

For a brief moment, the conversation turned to the COVID-19 pandemic, as Barta announced the players, coaches and staff have been asked to sign a pledge to help take personal responsibility. As of Monday afternoon, 3 Iowa athletes in total have tested positive for the virus.

As the press conference concluded after 50 minutes, it was clear to me that the Iowa Hawkeye football program is the initial gust in the winds of change around college football.

The change of making the game more inclusive, rather than divisive. Becoming more uplifting, rather than defeating. Making student-athletes empowered, rather than silenced.

On display today were the commitments of Kirk Ferentz, Gary Barta, and Iowa players to making meaningful change in Iowa Athletics.

The post Doyle severance, Barta regret highlights newsworthy day for Iowa football appeared first on KRUI Radio.

But with Iowa’s Athletic Director Gary Barta, The Hawkeyes are filling up on Kool-Aid.

I was feet from Barta in late December, days before the calendar turned and Iowa got squashed in the Rose Bowl. With a peaceful demeanor and a reserved grin, Barta stood above the elevator at the LA Hotel Downtown, reiterating the strength of the UI Athletic Department.

“The foundation means the people are terrific, the facilities are terrific, the historical approach is terrific, the student-athletes are terrific,” he said. “The foundation is strong, it’s as strong as it’s ever been.” (Source: Hawk Central)

New UI President Bruce Harreld agrees. Last week, Harreld and Barta put pen to paper on a new contract that will keep Iowa’s AD in town through June, 2021. Barta’s base salary and job security are both ascending.

Yet days before the announced extension, The U.S. Department of Education unveiled an imminent federal probe into Barta’s athletic office, questioning the existence of gender bias in play at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. According to the Associated Press, a team of investigators will land in Iowa City in April, surveying the flat landscape and considering counts of gender discrimination in 13 areas.

The UI Athletic Department is also currently in litigation over the suspicious firing of Tracey Griesbaum, who coached Iowa’s Field Hockey program for 15 years. In January, an independent investigator came forward with findings that “a reasonable person” could see gender discrimination at play in Griesbaum’s firing.

While the wording would make Ted Wells blush, it highlights a glaring crack in Barta’s self-assessed foundation. Yet the choppy waters turned calm once the wins piled up in Iowa’s glamor sports.

In this year’s public relations campaign, the athletic department chose to run with the last line of the fight song: until the game is won. They even launched a satellite website, with each individual and team accomplishment in writing.

Nowhere does it mention that Iowa has 72 rowers on the Women’s Rowing roster, 32 more than the Ohio State Buckeyes, the top team in Iowa’s region from the latest poll last May. Barta is accused of methodically stashing women on the team to keep the school within legal parameters, and free from paying for a new women’s sport.

Chances are very good Barta will have to answer those questions in April. But, it’ll probably only happen behind closed doors.

That’s because out in the open, winning seems to come before everything else.

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