New Iowa deputy AD Joe Parker brings valued expertise as Hawkeyes brace for changing landscape

IOWA CITY — For a while, Michigan did not exactly pride itself on its athletics facilities.

“I like to say the best thing we could say about our athletic facilities was they were historic,” said Bill Martin, the since-retired athletics director at Michigan. “But they sure weren’t up to speed.”

That changed with Joe Parker, who played a key part in more than $400 million of capital improvements at his alma mater in the 2000s.

“Joe has left his fingerprints on a lot of buildings here,” Martin said.

Now, Parker is putting his fingerprints on Iowa Athletics’ plans for how to navigate the ever-changing collegiate athletics landscape as Iowa’s new deputy athletics director for strategic initiatives.

“At the end of the day, you want somebody that has an incredible amount of expertise, has demonstrated success,” Iowa athletics director Beth Goetz told The Gazette. “We needed to fill that external sort of expertise so we could address the landscape that’s in front of us right now.”

Parker is “integrated into the whole enterprise,” he explained, while taking enough time to understand the upcoming changes and helping Iowa “build a strategy that’s unique to Iowa that can kind of keep us on point.”

“That to me is fun, particularly at a place like Iowa where you do have resources that make it possible for you to make adjustments and be prepared for whatever the model shapes up to be,” Parker said.

What Parker thinks of as “fun” would be a headache for others.

The collegiate athletics landscape is expected to undergo major changes after the House vs. NCAA settlement is finalized.

Most notably, schools are likely going to be able to directly pay athletes beginning in 2025-26, with the total compensation cap expected to be north of $20 million.

“Everyone’s going to work with the intent that they’re going to get there,” Parker said of the cap. “Now, the question will be can everyone do that?”

That leaves Parker — and other administrators at Iowa and across the country — to figure out how to free up $20 million-plus that was spent elsewhere.

“It’s been a lot of contemplating what legacy spending that sort of has gotten layered in over a number of years,” Parker said. “Is it still creating the return that we’re looking for? … Is it absolutely necessary?”

New revenue opportunities also are a factor in that equation, as Parker noted that “sponsorship is an area that we can always get better at.”

Parker’s path to Iowa

After his All-American career as a swimmer at Michigan, Parker initially worked in a sales and marketing role for Seagram distiller. It was a matter of time before he returned to college athletics, though.

“It was a great job — I enjoyed it — but I didn’t feel the purpose that I felt, particularly when I reflected back on what it felt like being a part of a team on a college campus,” Parker said.

Since then, he worked at Texas, Washington State, Oklahoma, Michigan, Texas Tech and most recently as the athletics director at Colorado State.

“He has been at a lot of stops where his experience resume is precisely, I think, preparatory for what he and Beth will need to navigate for a great school in Iowa,” said Chris Plonsky, the executive senior associate athletics director and chief of staff at Texas.

Parker specifically worked in development at Texas, Washington State and Oklahoma. He was a senior associate AD at Michigan, a deputy AD at Texas Tech and then the AD at Colorado State.

“He comes in with a background in development at a time where revenue generation is just critical,” Goetz said.

When Parker was at Texas, where he earned his master’s degree, the Longhorns were amid a previous era of change.

Texas moved from the Southwest Conference to the Big 12 and was “beginning our commercialization” as it sought revenue from things like sponsorships and suite sales.

“Joe was like a breath of fresh air in terms of his experience out in the business world, being able to put a P-and-L together,” Plonsky said. “Those were magical days because it was so critical to our ‘Big 12-ness.’”

Parker’s ability to generate revenue was especially apparent during his nine-year tenure leading Mountain West member Colorado State’s athletics department.

“It’s hard everywhere, but when you’re not at a school that’s generating a lot of revenue, it’s even harder,” Goetz said. “You’d have to ask him what his budget was, but I know coming from a Group of Five school that those challenges are just a little bit greater sometimes.”

Colorado State’s annual NCAA financial filings paint a picture of just how much Parker helped boost athletics department revenue.

In 2014-15, CSU had about $38.5 million in total operating revenue. Fast-forward to 2022-23 — the last full fiscal year with Parker as the AD there — and the Rams had about $64.3 million in total operating revenue.

Colorado State’s prolific revenue growth included key areas such as contributions (from $3.2 million to $11.5 million) and royalties, licensing, advertisements and sponsorships (from $2.8 million to $7 million).

He oversaw the construction of Colorado State’s 41,000-seat Canvas Stadium along with a $37.7 million naming rights deal for the football venue.

“Left them a jewel of a facility there,” Plonsky said.

The Rams also experienced success in several sports, claiming 24 Mountain West titles during Parker’s tenure.

Colorado State and Parker parted ways, however, in February. For as much success as his Rams had success elsewhere, the football program was coming off its sixth consecutive losing season.

“It’s hard to sometimes dissect those things,” Parker said. “I think Jay Norvell is going to be a great leader for the football program, so could I have figured out a way to get Jay to campus sooner?”

Parker is “proud of a lot of the other hiring decisions that I made,” though, and one does not need to look far to understand why.

Niko Medved, for example, has led Colorado State men’s basketball to March Madness bids in two of the last three seasons. Medved already has as many 20-win seasons since his arrival in 2018 as CSU’s previous four coaches combined.

“Loved the work that I did there, but more excited about what’s going on here at Iowa,” Parker said.

Parker’s brief reprieve from collegiate athletics

Having “a lot of gas in the tank” at age 59, Parker did not wait long before pursuing his next opportunity.

“If I could get on a Big Ten campus especially or an SEC campus in the right role where I could serve at the highest level possible — knowing that it was not likely that I was going to be an AD at those places — that would be a great opportunity,” Parker said.

Even the five-month gap between the end of his Colorado State tenure and the start of his Iowa tenure was particularly uncharacteristic for him.

“In other cases, sometimes it was almost a Friday final day and a Monday start date,” Parker said.

He took advantage of the time to recommit “to exercise and move my body more” while also spending time with the “great friends" he and his wife Jen made in Fort Collins.

“Craft brewing is big in Fort Collins, so an afternoon at New Belgium or fill in the blank — one of the 30 other craft breweries — was kind of nice,” Parker said.

(Yes, he’s discovered Iowa City’s Big Grove Brewery. His favorite is a “coin toss” between Easy Eddy and Citrus Surfer despite having “never really explored IPAs” in Fort Collins.)

Parker’s appreciation for craft beers aside, the gap also presented an opportunity to connect with many people in the industry, including former Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany and former American Athletic Conference commissioner Mike Aresco.

A mutual connection with Rich Maloney — the former Michigan baseball coach and the current coach at Ball State, Goetz’s past employer — started the conversation.

Plonsky texted Goetz — somebody that Plonsky considers to be a “superstar” — and Texas AD Chris Del Conte talked to Goetz as well during the process.

“Beth, I promise you you can take this guy to the bank in terms of somebody that will be a loyal soldier and a brilliant mind for you,” Plonsky remembers saying in the text message.

Goetz and Parker — both former athletes — “spent a lot of time on the phone,” Goetz said, as it became clear that the fit was there.

“Beth — I knew before and I know even more now — is an incredible leader in college sports,” Parker said. “She’s got a great vision for what the future can be for Iowa, but there’s also a high level of respect for the past.”

Parker’s first few months as a Hawkeye

Parker, Goetz said, has “hit the ground running” since arriving at Iowa in July.

“He’s already making an impact in so many ways internally, building relationships with donors and he’s going to be a big part of what we’re doing going forward,” Goetz said.

Parker’s relationship-building may be especially on display for Iowa’s Oct. 19 game at Michigan State — his alma mater’s rival.

“Some of our staff that was with Joe at that time — they want to get together and go up and say hi to him if he has time,” Martin said. “So if they would travel an hour to go to our instate enemy to see Joe Parker, that tells you something.”

Comments: john.steppe@thegazette.com

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