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IOWA CITY, Iowa – Five days after Gary Dolphin was suspended indefinitely as the voice of Iowa athletics, he wore a black-and-gold tie and walked into a tightly packed room next to athletic director Gary Barta and took his seat on the dais.

Thirty minutes later, both men left the room and Barta returned with men’s basketball coach Fran McCaffery, who was suspended two games for berating an official Tuesday night in the tunnel at Ohio State’s Value City Arena.

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Two public situations involving two of the state’s most recognizable people. Two bruised eyes for the Iowa athletic department, which regularly turns one-day uncomfortable news stories into weeklong fodder on media platforms from Des Moines to Cedar Rapids.

At his postgame of an Iowa basketball loss against Maryland on Feb. 19, Dolphin described Maryland center Bruno Fernando, an African-American, as “King Kong at the end of the game.” A complaint turned into Hawkeye Sports Properties, a subsidiary of Learfield IMG College and Dolphin’s employer, which decided to suspend the longtime broadcaster with Barta’s involvement.

Dolphin, 67, accepted responsibility and showed considerable anguish Wednesday. His suspension lifts when basketball season concludes, and he will return as the voice of Iowa football and basketball this spring. Dolphin spoke of taking future sensitivity classes and limiting an unconscious bias. He would prefer to call games now but understands the reasons behind his suspension.

There are two sides to this debate, and neither is wrong. Dolphin’s comment was insensitive, no matter the connotation. He knows that. He’s also a highly visible figure who made a mistake unworthy of a major hit to his reputation. Barta made the call for the right reasons, to stand up for minorities. He spoke of conversations with Iowa’s African-American athletes who relayed the hurt they’ve experienced through underlying prejudice.

Reasonable people can disagree about the suspension. The problem was, it took five days for Barta to discuss the situation. Barta left Carver-Hawkeye Arena early from Friday’s game and avoided reporters. He told media relations employees he would not take questions. Publicly, it appeared Barta almost abdicated his leadership responsibilities and instead filled them with rumor, innuendo and speculation.

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It’s never too late to do the right thing, but it took Barta four days too long to restore faith among Iowa’s fan base in a polarizing and contentious situation.

“At the end of the day, I do apologize that it took as long as it did, and I understand there’s a clamoring for information,” Barta said. “Social media has sped that up during my career. It used to be when something happened and it took three or four days, the pressure probably was different. Today with social media, the minute something happens, it becomes ‘I want an answer now. I want it fixed now.’ I apologize that we weren’t able to move faster. Maybe I can learn on how we can crunch down timelines like that.”

Blaming social media for a quicker news cycle is like newspapers blaming the internet for declining circulation. The president communicates daily on Twitter. Facebook is the most powerful media entity in world history. Barta started at Iowa on Aug. 1, 2006, and Twitter became a useful instrument in 2008. It’s time to accept that the world has changed. A Friday afternoon news release demands answers that day, especially with a sold-out basketball game that evening. Watching the final minutes of action from a tunnel does not convey the proper tone of leadership.

Dolphin’s suspension created a schism in the fan base. McCaffery’s most recent blow-up dealt Iowa another public-relations disaster. In his ninth year as basketball coach, McCaffery regularly finds negative attention with his emotional outbursts. In 2012 at Michigan State, McCaffery slammed a chair so hard that it left scratches on the floor at the Breslin Center. Luckily for him, it was during a television timeout. In 2014, he rushed the floor toward an official at Wisconsin and was ejected. He received a one-game suspension, and the school was fined $10,000.

The incidents blend together over the years, from skipping postgame handshakes against North Dakota and Iowa State to normal give-and-take with reporters. The latest issue further cements McCaffery’s national reputation as a hothead.

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Following a 90-70 loss at Ohio State on Tuesday, McCaffery followed official Steve McJunkins up a tunnel and cursed him, according to Toledo Blade reporter Kyle Rowland. McCaffery allegedly yelled, “You cheating motherfucker! You’re a fucking disgrace!” Barta suspended McCaffery for two games, and the league fined the school $10,000.

McCaffery, 59, started his portion of the news conference with an apology to Barta and UI President Bruce Harreld, and said he accepted responsibility. Then he drifted between regret and spite.

“Not to necessarily make excuses, but to try to explain what it’s like to sit in my chair and what it’s like to be in that locker room,” McCaffery said. “A lot of things happen throughout the course of a year, throughout the course of four years. The one thing that I can assure you is my players know and understand how passionate I am about them and their future, and I want nothing but the best for them. I’m fighting for them, and I will continue to do that. That will never change.”

Fighting for his players never was, is or will be McCaffery’s problem. His inability to control his emotions remains the issue. So is Barta’s wishy-washy approach to handling his basketball coach.

When asked how many McCaffery suspensions his department can tolerate, Barta said, “This is the first time I’ve suspended Fran.” Officially, the Big Ten suspended McCaffery after his Jan. 5, 2014, incident at Wisconsin. Whether Barta was serious or just joking, the statement doesn’t quite inspire confidence or respect.

When describing the tunnel incident, McCaffery seemed more remorseful for getting caught than for the words he chose or for his delivery.

“I said what I said back in the tunnel directly,” McCaffery said. “I didn’t want it to be public. I didn’t say it out on the floor in front of thousands of people. I said it directly to him, somebody ended up hearing it, you know, OK. That’s unfortunate, but it’s the reality of the situation. My intention was for this to be sort of a private conversation. Unfortunately, it didn’t become that.”

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In the social media world, McCaffery’s reaction is known as sorry/not sorry.

The juxtaposition between Dolphin’s contrition and McCaffery’s defiance could not be more striking. Dolphin appeared heartbroken; McCaffery was angry because he got caught. More than anything, Barta wanted to move past these moments in one fell swoop. It’s not that easy.

The public relations issues have piled up for Barta over the past few years. On Nov. 29, 2017, he handed McCaffery an extension through the 2023-24 season that would require a $9 million buyout if the coach is fired before July 1, 2019. The contract was not announced publicly and was discovered only through a state open-records request. Iowa’s men’s basketball program then posted a 14-19 overall record and a 4-14 mark in Big Ten play.

In 2017, Iowa’s athletic department paid $6.5 million to settle lawsuits by former senior associate athletic director Jane Meyer and former field hockey coach Tracey Griesbaum after a Polk County jury found Barta guilty of discrimination based on gender and sexual orientation and retaliation against Meyer. That settlement depleted department reserves, which previously had grown to around $9 million.

“Maybe the right now, if you snapshot a moment in time, there’s ups and downs,” Barta said. “I’ve only been here 13 years, but during 13 years, we’ve had ups, we’ve had downs. The reputation and the foundation of which Iowa athletics is built is strong. So, this week has been challenging. It’s been challenging for the athletic director, it’s been challenging going through this with Fran. Gary Dolphin, that’s been a challenge. But the answer, the long answer to your question, is I’m confident the foundation is strong and we’ll get back on track. We have a great reputation going forward.”

The reputation may remain strong, but fan confidence in Barta is shaken. Winning usually cures all issues, and the Hawkeyes’ remarkable basketball turnaround should be the primary topic in Hawkeyeland. Iowa is 21-7, boasts 10 Big Ten victories and seems a lock for the NCAA Tournament. Instead, the fallout from the Dolphin and McCaffery situations draw more attention than any of Jordan Bohannon’s late-game heroics. If there’s a shame in any of this, it’s that.

(Top photo of Fran McCaffery by Jeffrey Becker / USA Today)

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