Barta Has Confidence In Ferentz
Iowa athletics director Gary Barta has seen the positives and negatives within the Hawkeyes' football program, and he knows how head coach Kirk Ferentz has handled all of it.
That is why Barta said on Monday he has no concerns about how Ferentz will handle moving forward after allegations of racial disparities within the program were made by current and former players.
"I know how this is impacting him," Barta said during Monday's press conference. "I know what he’s trying to do to move forward. And I know the difficult conversations he’s having, and his willingness to change. Those are the things I’m basing it on."
Barta said he has had several meetings with Ferentz over the last two weeks after the allegations were first posted on social media from former players. Barta was also present during a team meeting last Monday that Ferentz described as "raw and powerful."
Asked if Ferentz should have known earlier about the allegations and problems within the program, Barta said, "As it pertains to not knowing, or should have known, he knows as the leader of the program, he’s responsible for everything that occurs in his program. And how much he knew, or didn’t know, he and I have had several conversations about that. And I believe him that he didn’t know all of the things that he’s heard."
Ferentz has said in the last two weeks that he knows changes needed to be made within the program.
"You’d have to ask him, but I’m confident that what he did know is that there were areas we could get better in, and needed to improve on, and they weren’t enough, the things that we were doing," Barta said.
