Iowa’s next AD will likely make some critical head coaching hires in football and men’s and women’s basketball
Here is a short list of candidate for football if it were to happen sooner than later
By Pat Harty
IOWA CITY, Iowa – There is a very realistic chance that the next University of Iowa athletic director could be responsible for hiring new head coaches in football, men’s and women’s basketball, baseball and wrestling.
Beth Goetz currently holds the title of Iowa interim athletic director with Gary Barta set to retire in August after having run the athletic department since 2006.
Barta hired two men’s basketball coaches during his time at Iowa, but he failed miserably the first time when Todd Lickliter was hired to replace Steve Alford shortly after the 2006-07 season.
Lickliter was fired after just three seasons, and after an alarming number of player defections.
Fran McCaffery was hired to clean up Lickliter’s mess in 2010, and McCaffery has since built Iowa into a consistent NCAA Tournament team.
So, in this case, Barta was one-for-two.
Barta also hired Rick Heller as the Iowa baseball coach and Joey Woody as the Director of Track and Field and Cross Country, and both hires have paid huge dividends.
But on the other hand, Barta hired Marla Looper as the Iowa softball coach in 2010, and that proved to be another disaster as the program suffered through a steady decline after having been a Big Ten power for nearly two decades under previous head coach Gayle Blevins.
Renee Gillispie was hired to replace Looper in 2018, and while the program has made considerable progress under Gillispie, it still isn’t close to where it was during the glory years under Blevins.
Athletic directors are judged on multiple factors such as the ability to raise money, the ability to lead, and the ability to make sound business decisions.
But the most important thing an athletic director does is hire head coaches, and the importance increases significantly when it’s football and men’s basketball, the two key revenue producing sports.
A bad hire in football might only last three or four years from when the coach is hired and then terminated, but the impact could be felt for much longer.
Iowa’s next athletic director will take over an athletic department in which the football coach and the men’s and women’s basketball coaches are all in their 60s, while Rick Heller is approaching 60 and Iowa wrestling coach Tom Brands is 55.
All of these head coaches are having success, and in the case of Iowa women’s basketball coach, Lisa Bluder, unprecedented success.
Iowa recently extended Bluder’s contract through the 2028-29 season, and deservedly so, after she led the Iowa women to the NCAA championship game for the first time ever this past season.
Kirk Ferentz is also signed through the 2029 season as the Iowa football coach, while Fran McCaffery and Tom Brands both have multiple years left on their contract.
So, there are no signs that any changes are imminent as all five of these head coaches are secure in their job.
This column isn’t to suggest that any head coaching changes are coming, or that any changes should be made because the five head coaches mentioned in this column have all earned the right to stay for as long as they want.
But it also doesn’t hurt to look ahead, or to plan for what is inevitably coming down the road.
Kirk Ferentz, who turns 68 on August 1, has shown no signs that he is even thinking about retiring as he prepares for his 25th season as the head Hawk.
He has kept himself in good shape and has led Iowa to 20 bowl games.
At Ferentz’s age, however, the end is obviously coming sooner than later.
He might coach through his contract, which would be seven more seasons, or he might step away sooner.
What if Kirk Ferentz were to decide in the next year or two that he was ready to retire?
An athletic director should always have a short list of candidates, and if I were the Iowa Athletic Director, this would be my short list of five for football, but in no specific order.
Phil Parker: He is now widely recognized as the top defensive coordinator in college football, and it’s easy to see why because of how well his defenses have performed on a consistent basis.
Iowa’s defense allowed just 3.99 yards per play last season – tied for the best nationally over the last 10 years – and the Big Ten’s best since 2007.
Iowa also held opponents to 13 or fewer points in 10 of 13 games last season, nine opponents to 10 or fewer points and four at three or fewer points.
Iowa also led the nation with six defensive touchdowns last season.
Parker has been with Kirk Ferentz at Iowa since the beginning, dating back to 1999, and has been the defensive coordinator since 2012.
Parker said at media last summer that he hasn’t ruled out being a head coach some day, but he also said that he and his family value the stability from being in one place for so long.
Parker, with his performance, and with his loyalty, has earned the right to be considered as the successor for Kirk Ferentz, but Parker also turned 60 in March, so his window of opportunity is shrinking.
LeVar Woods: He has excelled in every role as an assistant coach under Kirk Ferentz.
Woods, 45, was named Iowa’s special teams coordinator in 2017 and has also coached tight ends and linebackers.
A case could be made for Iowa having the best special teams in the Big Ten, if not the country.
You would be hard-pressed to find a better punter/kicker combination than Iowa’s one-two punch of senior punter Tory Taylor and sophomore kicker Drew Stevens.
Woods traveled all the way to Melbourne, Australia to recruit Taylor, and Woods now looks like a genius as Taylor has been a force since he arrived.
Woods also grew up in northwest Iowa and played as a Hawkeye under both Hayden Fry and Kirk Ferentz, and for seven seasons in the NFL as an outside linebacker.
So, he has credibility in that regard.
Woods is also immensely popular with Iowa fans and with the Iowa media.
Perhaps the biggest knock on Woods is that he hasn’t ever been an offensive coordinator or defensive coordinator.
He also hasn’t coached anywhere except for under Kirk Ferentz at Iowa.
Chris Klieman: The Waterloo native and former Northern Iowa defensive back has come a long way since finishing 3-7 in his only season as the Loras head coach in 2005.
The 55-year old Klieman has led Kansas State to at least eight wins in three of his four seasons as head coach, including a 10-4 record this past season, which culminated with a berth in the Sugar Bowl.
Prior to coaching at Kansas State, Klieman compiled an incredible 69-6 record and won four national titles in his five seasons as the head coach at FCS power North Dakota State.
Bret Bielema: One of three former Hawkeyes to make this short list, Bielema is currently rebuilding the Illinois program, and so far, his rebuild is moving in the right direction.
Illinois finished 8-5 last season, its first winning season since 2011, and was led by one of the best defenses in the country.
Expectations are as high as they’ve been in years as the 53-year old Bielema enters his third season as the Illinois head coach.
This season will also be Bielema’s 16th season as an FBS head coach with previous stops at Wisconsin, where he compiled a 68-24 record and coached in three Rose Bowls, and at Arkansas where he finished 29-34 over five seasons.
Even with his struggles at Arkansas, the good outweighs the bad with Bret Bielema.
His outgoing personality has helped to make him an effective recruiter and fundraiser, and once a Hawkeye, always a Hawkeye.
Bielema joined Hayden Fry’s program as a walk-on in 1988 and would go on to become a key member of the defensive line and a team captain.
Bielema also coached under Fry at Iowa and then helped Kirk Ferentz lay the foundation at Iowa in three seasons as an assistant coach.
Mark Stoops: He is the third former Hawkeye to make this short list and is also one of three brothers from Ohip that all played defensive back under Hayden Fry at Iowa.
Stoops has been the head coach at Kentucky since 2013, and he has finished with a winning record in six of his last seven seasons for a school that is known more for its success in men’s basketball.
It isn’t easy winning in football at Kentucky, and yet the 55-year old Stoops has shown that it can be accomplished over an extended period.
Kentucky has played in seven consecutive bowl games, and faced Iowa in its last two bowls, earning a split against the Hawkeyes.
It’s reasonable to think that if Mark Stoops can have sustained success at Kentucky, then he could do the same at his alma mater.
And that’s one of the reasons he is on this short list.