Are Ferentz, Barta in trouble?
The Iowa City Press-Citizen ran a story today detailing a letter to the University of Iowa from the mother of the alleged victim in the Abe Satterfield-Cedric Everson sexual assault case. They had quotes from the mother, too. And I’ve got to tell you, it doesn’t look good for coach Kirk Ferentz, director of athletics Gary Barta or anyone involved with the internal investigation that went on last fall.
The gist of the story is that the U of I encouraged the victim to keep the matter in house, that it would be handled swiftly within the athletic department and university. All the while, for a month after the alleged incident, the victim’s mother claims the victim was harassed by Satterfield and Everson and other Iowa athletes, including other members of the football team.
Didn’t the U of I learn anything from the Pierre Pierce case? Why, after the way all that went down, would they encourage a victim of a sexual assault not to report it to police? Why wouldn’t they wash their hands of any responsibility in how the investigation was carried out? The alleged victim didn’t file a complaint until a month after the Oct. 14 incident, and, according to the ICPC article, the university hadn’t done a whole lot in the interim to take action. Satterfield and Everson were suspended from the team, but they weren’t kicked off the team, and Everson, allegedly, was living right down the hall from the alleged victim. There is a lot of “allegedly” still in this case that is going to come out when it goes to trial. It’s going to get ugly. Both Satterfield and Everson are going to plead not guilty — Everson already has — and Ferentz and Barta probably will be among those who will testify.
Now, according to another article the ICPC had today, Gov. Chet Culver is getting involved, and he wants answers. I can’t say I blame him. This whole thing is embarrasing for the football program, the university and the state. And it’s only going to get worse when this goes to trial.
My question is this: How much more of this can Ferentz survive. He’s the highest paid coach in the Big Ten. Fans probably could forgive a 19-18 record over the past three seasons if his players were model citizens off the field and the program appeared to be on the upswing. But that is not the case. Eighteen Iowa players have been arrested or cited 23 times in the past 15 months. A lot of people around the program and university will say that a lot of those incidents were typical alcohol-related citations, and, yes, that’s true, 11 of them were. But, the undeniable fact is that 12 of them weren’t. And of those 12, five were felonies.
Last August, after the arrests of Dominique Douglas and Anthony Bowman in the now-infamous credit card case puncuated what Ferentz thought was a particularly troubling summer of off-field issues, the coach, sitting alongside Barta at a news conference, announced a zero tolerance policy for his players. Within weeks, Clint Huntrods (public intoxication/public urination) and Dana Brown (domestic assault) were dismissed from the team after run-ins with the law.
Since Ferentz’s declaration, though, 12 of his players have been arrested or cited on charges ranging from possession of alcohol to domestic assault to shoplifting to drunken driving to possession of marijuana to sexual assault. And last night, incoming freshman Riley Reiff, 19, took Iowa City police on a 20-minute drunken foot chase through downtown. He was cited for public intoxication and interference with official acts.
So much for zero tolerance.
My question is: How much tolerance will Iowa fans have for Ferentz, especially if the Hawkeyes struggle on the field, as is predicted, in 2008? Could this be Captain Kirk’s last season in black and gold?
And what about Barta? This all went on on his watch. Should he be held accountable?
Tags: Abe Satterfield, Cedric Everson, Gary Barta, Iowa football, Kirk Ferentz, University of Iowa
July 20th, 2008 at 7:28 am
Yes! Barta, Ferentz, the president of the university and the Board of Regents are all responsible and should be held accountable along with any student breaking the law. What is going on? Where are the administration skills needed to run a major university? They have standards, are they enforcing them for the good of all or just who they select. It’s good that the governor is getting involved, but how sad that he had to. I guess we need to wait for the trial, rather than have this case tried in the press. How sad for the students, alum, family and friends of the Hawkeyes. Ferentz has been way overpaid for far too long. This behavior problem among athletes is becoming too prevelant. I understand winning is a good thing, but when it becomes an obsession, as I feel it has in this case, there is a danger for cover-ups. Too much emphasis is being placed on winning and not sportsmanship or the love of the sport or even just plain sensible living.
July 20th, 2008 at 9:58 am
Sadly, any relevance for Iowa athletics is years and years away. It appears we’re sliding back into mediocrity, except for our fondness for the police blotter. This is tough to swallow with other Big 10 rivals like Minnesota and Illinois on the uptick in major sports.
RIP Hawkeyes.
July 20th, 2008 at 4:53 pm
Hell Yes!!! I’ll not attend another Hawk game as long as those two over paid SOBs are employed there! It isn’t THE party U. for no reason!
HIT THE ROAD ferentz & barta!!!
July 20th, 2008 at 7:18 pm
Hard to say the Regents are at all responsible, Marty, but the UI administration looks pretty awful right now. It’s time to see what the Regents do about this now that the word is out.
July 21st, 2008 at 8:10 am
I highly doubt that the victim was “encouraged” not to press charges. Someone probably gave them the facts about the arduous process of a criminal trial and it seemed like a no-brainer to do it informally. The rub comes when the “informal” process is impotent in comparison to the criminal process.
I find it ridiculous that people expect Barta and Ferentz to reenact a scene from CSI or something. I don’t doubt that someone dropped the ball on this but placing the blame on those two is like expecting Sally Mason to enforce parking rules in campus parking lots.
This woman is setting the stage for a civil suit.
July 22nd, 2008 at 11:04 am
Kirk Ferentz is a good football coach and a decent man.
I remember when the U. of Iowa had to bail Gary Snook out of jail
to play Q.B. Anybody who has been a Hawkeye fan can tell
you about all the serious, serious problems with Iowa football players
in legal trouble pre-Ferentz. When I was at Iowa, a co-ed was murdered in the dorms in the 70s. Another student was murdered in downtown Iowa City by a freshman football player in the 80’s. So don’t play this game, that this is all shocking and new at the U. of Iowa. Granted, this doesn’t make what is happening now right. Sally Mason, Gary Barta, Fred Mims, and Kirk Ferentz can not personally monitor athletes behavior 7 days a week, 24 hours a day. Where was the Hillcrest Dormitory staff and security? Ferentz is paid to coach, not to be a cop or therapist. His players are young adults and when they break the law, they will pay the consequences. The players know right from wrong. What does Hawkeye nation want? Do they want to go back to 1-10 or 3-9 records? If you need a plumber, hire a plumber. If you want a football coach, it is best to keep Coach Ferentz at Iowa. And, if you want the sad situations happening in the dorms currently, then the University of Iowa better evaluate campus and dorm security. We know Coach Ferentz can coach football. When these recruits come in they are evaluated. Unless we hire a psychic on the football staff who can tell which players will use poor judgement in their persoal lives, the we need to give Kirk Ferentz the benefit of the doubt. Terry Spratt
July 22nd, 2008 at 1:13 pm
“This woman is setting the stage for a civil suit.”
BINGO!!!!
July 23rd, 2008 at 4:12 pm
I don’t doubt that a civil suit is in the background for the current case, but the fact remains that the Hawkeyes seem to have recruited a crop of loathsome thugs. I am a true Hawkeye fan and alumn. I want a team that I can admire. I want a team that embraces a strong core set of values. Winning is nice, but not at the current price in terms of both dollars and reputation.
July 29th, 2008 at 5:44 pm
Absolutely right on Terry Spratt and ArzHawk. Let the justice system run it’s course and then let’s pass judgement, evaluate individuals actions, examine the U of I policies on these issues and only then take action. I hope some of the responders to this blog (and the PC blogs) aren’t on any juries because due process isn’t a concept they are familiar with.
August 3rd, 2008 at 9:04 am
And the ‘Beat’ rolls on. Iowa please study U of ill. for player conduct.
Iowa coaches are over paid and def. out classed…They can’t even compete with Northern Iowa and Iowa state…face it the party will continue, but winning football is over.
P.S. Basketball stinks too @ Iowa..The only sport there good @ is gay Wrestling.