OT: Iowa Settles Discrimination Lawsuit for $4.175M
Interesting development from out here in the heartland: Iowa settled with 12 former football players who alleged the program - including coaches and weightroom staff - discriminated against them because they were black.
Check it out: Go Iowa Awesome - Iowa Settles Racial Discrimination Lawsuit for $4.2m (rivals.com).
There are a few things going on here - 1) only $2.175 million will be paid for by the University of Iowa Athletic Department, the other $2 million will be paid for from the state's general fund, so Iowa taxpayers 2) the settlement was negotiated by the state Attorney General's office and 3) the State Auditor is pissed and thinks Iowa AD Gary Barta should absolutely be fired at this point.
Some more info here: Ferentz responds following $4 million settlement with former Hawkeye football players who claimed discrimination | who13.com
These allegations first came to light in 2020 and it seemed like a chance for Iowa to break free from both Barta and the Ferentzes, or at least Brian Ferentz who was more directly implicated in the discrimination. Barta is notoriously chummy with Kirk and Fran and many Iowa fans and alums out here don't think it's a great relationship for the athletic program. I have to say, as an Iowa taxpayer, I think it's pretty terrible. Especially because Barta has presided over multiple discrimination scandals that resulted in settlements at this point and it's literally costing the taxpayers money now. I'm interested to see if anything will happen but I doubt it will.
It's easy to snark from the sidelines, but Gary Barta's ongoing tenure will be shown to be worth every penny once Brian Ferentz turns things around and Iowa's offense finishes next year in the S+P-plus top 70
I think you meant to say top 100ish...
Aim for the stars and, if you fall, you'll land on a cloud
I have a hard time believing that Brian Ferentz is capable of doing anything offensive.
That was some offensive offensive coaching last year.
On the field you are correct, off the field it seems very clear HE CAN!
Not sure why, but your post made me think of a great quote from John McKay, first owner of the Bucs, back in the 0-16 days of pure, sheer incompetence.
Someone in the local media asked him in a presser what he thought of his team's execution, and McKay said "My team's execution? I'm all for it."
As a minor correction, the Bucs never went 0-16. Their 0-fer season came during the days of 14 game seasons, so they were 0-14.
Only two team have the dishonor of going 0-16; the Lions and Browns. We should not diminish the magnitude of their accomplish by crediting others with the achievement if they didn't really earn it.
It's really hard to comprehend how the general public is essentially liable for the personal and private actions of public employees.
I get it's a pretty simplistic view, but no way this should pass the smell check for people in charge of public finances. sad that it's not cause for immediate dismissal and not sure I want to dig deeper to see how common it is
Come to Chicago and see how much the city pays out for police misconduct annually...
Ferentz and Barta must know where the bodies are buried. They’ve got a cult-like stranglehold on that state.
Edit: you can throw McCaffrey in there too I guess.
As a fellow Iowan I would offer that there's an awful lot going on in this situation with multiple confusing threads. Personally I don't think Kirk Ferentz is a racist or runs a discriminatory program, although the comments and behaviors of his staff are obviously not under his control and are of course his ultimate responsibility. These allegations came out of the blue in 2020, as far as I could tell, with no history of similar problems even though Kirk has coached here since 1999. What to make of that, I'm not at all sure.
Then there's the Barta issue--I'm more inclined to think negative things about him but if you ask me exactly why I can't really be specific. He seems like a normal (e.g. commonplace) jock sniffing corporate type AD who sucks up to any and all of those in his arena whose support he needs to stay in power. I don't think he's outright incompetent but as OP pointed out there have been multiple large scale lawsuits brought against the athletic department that have cost the university (and other entities) an awful lot of money. At some point a trend becomes a pattern becomes a problem....
Finally there's the current issue of the state auditor, a democrat in a red state, stating that if the Iowa taxpayers are going to be held financially responsible for what is ultimately Barta's failing in the athletic dept then he wants Barta gone as part of the deal. I have no idea how long he might be able to hold his ground on this one or where it goes in the long run but like OP said, I sort of doubt he can force the Board of Regents to kick Barta to the curb.
Exactly - he's one of those losers who got into college athletics so he could go golfing with rich guy boosters and tell everyone at parties that he's good friends with the head football coach. 'Jock-sniffing' is spot on. I also don't think Kirk is a racist or a bad dude, but I think he's an old-school kind of guy who unfortunately turned a blind eye towards that stuff, esp the behavior of his own son.
There's something weird going on here but I'm not sure what. My attorney friends here said something similar: they don't know how Barta's dismissal could be part of the settlement. But I think it's interesting that the two people who voted to approve it were Republicans and the AG is also a Republican and very new on the job. She just won an upset victory over the longest serving AG in US history who did the job pretty well and with few scandals, distractions and errors.
Also - I like to think we're not a red state...yet. But it's sure getting a deep shade of purple around here.
Ds and Rs living together in the same state?!? What’s next? Cats and dogs living together in harmony?!?
Brian Ferentz remains the actual failson that everyone else thinks other failsons are.
The funny thing is that once Iowa does move on from Ferentz they'll likely suffer some level of degradation of on-field play. Kirk seems like an awful guy to play for and an asshole to deal with but his teams generally outplay their talent level. They absolutely should have moved on from him years ago but it's still going to be weird reading people lament the good old days.
I love how people call people assholes. When they know nothing about them personally. "You seem like an asshole"
Iowa's definitely in a spot where Ferentz has them by the balls. Like when Ferentz leaves, there's certainly no reason Iowa couldn't bottom out in similar ways to how other Big Ten west teams have bottomed out recently, but also Ferentz is absolutely wasting great defense and special teams units giving his kid a cushy job he doesn't deserve.
Absolutely. I've gotten a sense that Brian Ferentz is a good offensive line coach; I've heard a couple of coach/scheme-type people say that he'd be a solid OL coach in the NFL and in the event he did get fired/his dad retired and Iowa didn't install him as HC he'd give that a go. But as an OC and seemingly as a human being he's awful.
Kirk kept the Fry-era success going and has, somewhat miraculously, maintained a level of success in the modern college football landscape that few could hope to replicate. Like you said, there's a trough of Nebraska, Indiana, usually Purdue, pre-Fleck Minnesota, pre-Bert Illinois where teams just go to die and Iowa has largely stayed above that station in life. When he leaves Iowa is likely to fall back down into that group, and in the new Big 10 without divisions there isn't the opportunity to back into a division crown by going 8-4 and getting walloped by OSU or UM.
Just want to second the comments about Ferentz maintaining Fry-era success, against all odds. I've said this before in response to 'Ferentz is an idiot' type threads; what he's done since 1999 is rebuild from scratch (1 win in his first season after Fry retired) and kept Iowa above the fray. Some years better than others, of course, and there's an obvious ceiling at play, but it's a truly fantastic job of coaching overall.
This program would absolutely drop like a stone--and probably will--with any other coach who Iowa might reasonably hire. Michigan fans and other blue blood programs aren't in the same position as second tier programs like Iowa. Ferentz is still here--despite his flaws--because he is one of a very select few who can succeed consistently.
So Barta is to Iowa as David Brandon was to Michigan, albeit screwing up the program in different ways. You hate to see it happen. Now, if only OSU could hire its own Brandon/Barta when Smith leaves.
I don't see an immediate parallel. Brandon wanted to be king himself, while Ferentz seems to own Barta.
I do think this is instructive for people who think that Warde should simply be the instrument of the football program. A little bit of cool distance--at least as seen from without--is both smart and professional, IMO.
We are so fortunate that the "nepotism" at Michigan does nothing more than reveal how fantastic a coach Jay Harbaugh truly is and what a bright future he seems to have.
Is this another part of the Michigan difference™?
The state auditor clearly aimed at the wrong target, if he'd demanded the head of Brian Ferentz instead of Barta maybe he gets that second vote to kill the settlement.
I'm not an Iowa resident, but if I were, I can't imagine how I wouldn't be infuriated that my tax dollars are going to help clean up the mistake of a private citizen.
Just continues to show how Ferentz can seemingly hold that university, and somehow by extension that entire state, hostage. What does he know that somehow keeps him, and especially his son, gainfully employed?
Millionaire coaches harass players and taxpayers get stuck with the bill. Ferentz must know things.
Let's look at the possibilities:
1) Real discrimination (not a matter of interpretation) happened, so the University agreed to a settlement. They settled because their employees were clearly guilty.
2) Real discrimination did not happen in any meaningful way and the charges were baseless. The University agreed to a settlement because they believed it was financially cheaper and more expedient to do so. They'd rather spend $X to get it over with then spend some factor of $YX (where Y is >1) to clear the name of their employees and institution through the courts.
3) It falls into a gray area where words were said that may be offensive to some, but material discrimination did not occur. Again, the university settled for reasons of expediency and $$.
If #1 is the case, all named parties should be fired. I will guarantee that discriminating on the basis of race violates their employment agreement. If they are guilty of discrimination and that's why the University settled, then they should be fired.
If #2 is the case, then for me it revolves around the value of Y. If I was an Iowa alum, employee of the athletic department and/or Iowa taxpayer, I would be angry at refusing to defend the individuals and institution unless Y is a very big number. I'd gladly have my institution/employer/alma mater pay 2x or more the settlement amount to disprove the allegations.
Then there is #3. I have less problems with settling under #3, but I want to know the specifics. I want to know that the reality is much closer #2 than to #1.
Good breakdown, well done. Ferentz was supposedly pissed because he said the coaches DID NOT want to settle. And it sounds like he thought they could win if they fought it. But, like you said that could be significantly more expensive. And Ferentz is not a lawyer and it's likely the athletic department and the state did not want the players to air all those allegations publicly in a high-profile trial. Might not be a good look for the program.
So, after lawyers fees and court costs each of the players will end up with $47.13. But justice was served.
The old insanity is the new sanity.