HAWKEYE NATION MELTDOWN?

University of Iowa athletic director Bob Bowlsby is leaving to become athletic director at Stanford University. This move, which caught everyone flat-footed, is certainly a good move for Bowlsby, but it leaves the university’s athletic programs in a bit of a lurch. Football is fine, and wrestling will do well under former Hawkeye assistant Tom Brands, but the matter of Steve Alford’s contract remains up in air, with Alford craving an extension despite a first-round bedsoiling in the NCAA tournament and his not-exactly-secret flirtations with other jobs.

Bowlsby deserves considerable credit for hiring Kirk Ferentz back in ‘98, when the thought of hiring a former Hayden Fry assistant who had also worked with Bill Belichick didn’t really jazz anyone. He managed to keep wrestling (a sport in decline almost everywhere) on the front burner and sent a strong message when he dismissed former Hawk grappler Jim Zalesky after this season, even though the Hawkeyes were a strong contender for the NCAA wrestling title. Bowlsby also oversaw significant upgrades in Iowa’s athletic facilities, capped by a masterful remodeling job on Kinnick Stadium.

On the other hand, UI women’s athletics, which once far outclassed the men’s sports, have drifted a bit under his watch, and the Alford hire certainly made lots of news but hasn’t exactly panned out yet.

Still, Stanford’s getting a great AD, and I do believe Iowa will find a good replacement for Bowlsby. I’ve got to believe that the job he’s leaving will be attractive to an up-and-comer like Bowlsby himself was fourteen years ago when he came to Iowa City from the University of Northern Iowa. It wasn’t easy for him to replace Bump Elliott; it may be even harder for the next person to replace him.