IOWA CITY, Iowa— Beth Goetz was named sports director at the University of Iowa on Thursday morning, marking the first time a woman has led the entire department.
Goetz, 49, has been serving as interim athletics director since August 2, 2023, when Gary Barta retired. She worked as deputy athletics director and chief operational officer for 11 months before succeeding Barta.
It’s a historical move for Iowa, which was the first public university to admit men and women on an equal basis. The only woman to hold a similar role at Iowa was Christine Grant, who was women’s athletics director from 1973 through her retirement in 2001. The department merged following Grant’s departure.
Goetz currently is the only female athletics director in the Big Ten.
Background
Goetz grew up in Florissant, Mo., and earned All-America recognition at Brevard College (N.C.) as a women’s soccer player. She was inducted into the school’s Hall of Fame in 2017.
She transferred to Clemson, where she was a team captain as a starting midfielder in the program’s first season. Goetz became an assistant women’s soccer coach at Missouri-St. Louis in 1996 and then led the program as head coach from 1997-2008. She was inducted into the UMSL Hall of Fame in 2014.
Goetz served in administrative roles at Missouri-St. Louis (2001-08) and Butler (2008-13) before taking over as Minnesota’s deputy athletics director in 2013. In 2015, she became interim athletics director and was a finalist for the full-time position.
In 2016, Goetz was named chief operating officer at UConn, a role she held until 2018 when she became Ball State athletics director. In 2022, she left Ball State for Iowa.
Accomplishments and responsibilities
Bachelor of Arts degree from Clemson in psychology, 1996. Master’s degree from Missouri-St. Louis, 2000.
NCAA Competition Oversight Committee member, 2018
NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Committee vice chair, 2021-22
NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Committee chair, 2022-23
Women Leaders in College Sports’ 2022 NCAA Division I FBS Nike Executive of the Year
Indianapolis Business Journal’s 2021 Woman of Influence
120-90 in 11 seasons as UMSL women’s soccer coach
Ball State won 10 Mid-American Conference titles, including seven in 2021-22, under Goetz
Priorities
Three of Iowa’s highest-profile coaches are in their 60s: football’s Kirk Ferentz (68), men’s basketball coach Fran McCaffery (64) and women’s basketball coach Lisa Bluder (62). Whoever landed the athletics director job might have to hire their replacements, and all three are the winningest coaches in Iowa history. For an athletics director, those are legacy-defining hires.
Goetz has made the relationship with Iowa’s Swarm Collective a priority along with creating a sustainable revenue-sharing model with athletes once a system becomes enacted.
In addition, Carver-Hawkeye Arena is undergoing a feasibility study for a refurbishment. It is also conceivable that the bowl will be reseated with students near the court.
“Moving people around is more complicated than it sounds,” Goetz went on to say. “We want to recognize and serve all of our long-time supporters and season ticket holders. At the same time, you’re inviting your students inside. So there would be a chance while you’re making some moves to sort of do everything at once. But it’s difficult to debate how much of a difference it makes when you’re in those locations (with kids seated close to the floor).
“Just the way she did it, her confidence, her ability to make quick decisions, and her genuine concern. And then when we go back, everyone says it, including those who didn’t make the Final Four. I’m like, “Oh my gosh, Beth was so good at that.” “Everyone was simply like, ‘That’s our person.
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