I feel bad about the coaching stuff

[HawkeyeGenius]

Now that the conference tournament is over, we may likely have news by this time tomorrow. I feel bad. I like Fran & what he's done at Iowa compared to the era before him. I don't want it to end with him being fired. I really do think he embodies what it means to be a Hawkeye. As a fan, I just feel bad that it's probably going to end with a firing.

 

[EvilMonkeyInTheCloset]

Now that the conference tournament is over, we may likely have news by this time tomorrow. I feel bad. I like Fran & what he's done at Iowa compared to the era before him. I don't want it to end with him being fired. I really do think he embodies what it means to be a Hawkeye. As a fan, I just feel bad that it's probably going to end with a firing.

I appreciate what Fran has done at Iowa......and I hope he gets fired.

I'm ready to rip the bandaid off and find out if we actually make sure all of Iowa fans' worst fears come true and Iowa settles for mediocrity and falls off the map competitivly in the sport of basketball, because that's the most likely scenario, amirite ALL Iowa fans????????

 

[StormHawk42]

I do and I don’t. I appreciate what he’s done and wish it would end differently. On the other hand, he’s going to get $4M on his way out. He’s also made no effort the last 10 years or so to connect with fans or the media, which is why no one is in his corner right now.

Fran is such a prideful person he’s not going to mutually part ways but I wish he would. Calipari knew he had worn out his welcome at Kentucky and moved on first. Wish there was a similar path for Fran but not gonna happen unfortunately.

 

[Quintana]

i've said the same thing to my peeps. i want to like fran, he says the right things and he obviously knows the game. he just can't get over the hump... even with good/great players. his team defense and rebounding is beyond maddening and that doesn't seem to be changing. its time.

 

[jwardelt]

Now that the conference tournament is over, we may likely have news by this time tomorrow. I feel bad. I like Fran & what he's done at Iowa compared to the era before him. I don't want it to end with him being fired. I really do think he embodies what it means to be a Hawkeye. As a fan, I just feel bad that it's probably going to end with a firing.

 

[Bearhawk0505]

He did a serviceable job, and made life changing money for his family. Now it’s time to fire him, pay the buyout, and go get BM from Drake. Easiest business decision ever.

 

[EastIowaHawk]

If Fran is fired, some or all of our recruits will decommit, plus some/most of the coaches and team will leave, and we may enter a year or two of Basketball Recession, also known as Hellacious Mediocrity..

 

[the24fan]

If Fran is fired, some or all of our recruits will decommit, plus some/most of the coaches and team, and we may enter a year or two of Basketball Recession, also known as Hellacious Mediocrity..

U have no way of knowing who or who won’t decommit. It’s a possibility of course , but you can’t keep running it back with the same philosophy. It’s time

 

[TailgateTom]

If Fran is fired, some or all of our recruits will decommit, plus some/most of the coaches and team will leave, and we may enter a year or two of Basketball Recession, also known as Hellacious Mediocrity..

 

[joelbc1]

If Fran is fired, some or all of our recruits will decommit, plus some/most of the coaches and team will leave, and we may enter a year or two of Basketball Recession, also known as Hellacious Mediocrity..

Maybe. Maybe not. This is a new era of college basketball. Nothing can be expected tear to tear any more. Nothing.

 

[Jimmy McGill]

Based on his post game comments, we are going to have fire him.


I don't feel bad for him. He made millions at Iowa. He didn't produce a great product.

 

[GOHOX69]

Fran is coming back. Book it.

 

[HawkBall23]

Thanks to Fran for digging the program out of the ditch it was in when he took the job 15 years ago. Thanks for the good times and the BTT crown 3 seasons ago.

But the bar he needed to jump when he started was incredibly difficult to not hurdle. The program was a sub-basement wasteland when he inherited it.

He got the program back to ground level and occasionally they got up a few of the stairs to the 2nd floor, but that was the best it ever got.


15 years is long enough to figure out that his best was never good enough - aside from that '22 BTT trophy. And that's nowhere enough to retain your position at a program that resides in a P2 (or is it P4 in bball?) conference.

 

[MeetTheFerentzes]

There are a lot of things in life to feel bad about; there’s no need to feel sorry for Fran. He was paid handsomely for doing a mediocre job during a tenure more than double that of the average D-1 coach. Losing your job is part of being in that business. He has been very fortunate compared to most.

I know that’s hard for a lot of Iowa fans to understand, since we are used to our coaches being hired and keeping their job for 50 years or so….

 

[RocknRollface]

If Fran is fired, some or all of our recruits will decommit, plus some/most of the coaches and team will leave, and we may enter a year or two of Basketball Recession, also known as Hellacious Mediocrity..

Nope, its the complete opposite of that now with the portal.

You load up a new roster and roll, just like most other teams are doing every year now.

You got 3 or 4 years tops to make something happen and year one is a huge opportunity with a wide open roster.

 

[Hawkeye_4_Life]

If Fran is fired, some or all of our recruits will decommit, plus some/most of the coaches and team will leave, and we may enter a year or two of Basketball Recession, also known as Hellacious Mediocrity..

We’ve already been in the hellacious mediocrity for several years.

 

[TampaHawkfan]

Thanks to Fran for digging the program out of the ditch it was in when he took the job 15 years ago. Thanks for the good times and the BTT crown 3 seasons ago.

But the bar he needed to jump when he started was incredibly difficult to not hurdle. The program was a sub-basement wasteland when he inherited it.

He got the program back to ground level and occasionally they got up a few of the stairs to the 2nd floor, but that was the best it ever got.


15 years is long enough to figure out that his best was never good enough - aside from that '22 BTT trophy. And that's nowhere enough to retain your position at a program that resides in a P2 (or is it P4 in bball?) conference.

That sums it all up rather perfectly.

 

[MeetTheFerentzes]

If Fran is fired, some or all of our recruits will decommit, plus some/most of the coaches and team will leave, and we may enter a year or two of Basketball Recession, also known as Hellacious Mediocrity..

The new coach will likely bring in players from his previous gig and grab others from the portal, which will be saturated as usual. His very first team will likely be better than what we’ve seen the past 2 seasons, and we’ll have a good idea of his brand of basketball.

 

[IllQChawk]

I doubt every player on Iowa's roster will part ways and if they do so be it. Would I like for Dix, Pryce, Freeman, Harding, Dembele, Traore, and Tonja, return for next year, of course, but if not there's 2000 plus players that will be in the portal in a few weeks and a new coach should have players that want to be at Iowa and play in the Big Ten. We'll see shortly, It shouldn't be to long before we find out the future of Fran and the Iowa basketball program. I'm ready for a change.
The silence of Beth is deafening isn't it?

 

[AmericaNeedsMe]

If Fran is fired, some or all of our recruits will decommit, plus some/most of the coaches and team will leave, and we may enter a year or two of Basketball Recession, also known as Hellacious Mediocrity..

What have the last two seasons been?

I'm ready to clear the decks and chart a new course.

 

[Niko13]

I agree with most said here but I really wish we held KF to the same standards as we hold FM to. That'd be refreshing

 

[waterboy4582]

Fran is coming back. Book it.

So was Harris. Beth can’t take the chance.

 

[IChawkeye45]

He put his family in front of winning at Iowa. Are we really wanting to go through another season of playing Northwestern Technical Engineering State eight times in the non-conference? Are we ready for another no point guard/no defense season as it’s been for the last decade? A part of me wants Fran to stay just to see how low we can really get attendance.

 

[HawkeyeGenius]

I agree with most said here but I really wish we held KF to the same standards as we hold FM to. That'd be refreshing

I will say that Kirk has finished the season in the top ten three times. While not a lot, if Fran had similar that likely means three Sweet 16 or Elite 8 appearances. He'd be able to coach here til he's 80 if he had those results.

 

[BurgHawk87]

If Fran is fired, some or all of our recruits will decommit, plus some/most of the coaches and team will leave, and we may enter a year or two of Basketball Recession, also known as Hellacious Mediocrity..

So the same on court results as this year? This argument doesn't make any sense when the team is already not good.

 

[hawkjt]

Fran has his flaws,no doubt.
We all know what they are.
But he did recruit cleanly,bringing in high character coaches and players.
Did not bring scandal to the program.
Was a players coach, defending his players to the end.

I thank him for his effort and wish him luck.

 

[ichawk24]

The coaching staff had much more job security than most people in their profession. I don't feel sorry for them.

I don't feel any spite for them, either. They are well-paid and should easily find another job in the profession.

 

[hexumhawk]

I don't feel bad one bit. This is big boy D1 basketball and Fran made tons of money and had 16 years to run his program how he wanted to. Most universities would not have kept him for as long as Iowa has for the end results we have gotten.

He didn't do a bad job at Iowa and you could argue he did a pretty good job. He just never made the big jump and lack of postseason success is hard to avoid.

 

[jwardelt]

If Fran is fired, some or all of our recruits will decommit, plus some/most of the coaches and team will leave, and we may enter a year or two of Basketball Recession, also known as Hellacious Mediocrity..

As opposed to the hellacious mediocrity you reside in currently?

 

[SCHawkFan]

If Fran is fired, some or all of our recruits will decommit, plus some/most of the coaches and team will leave, and we may enter a year or two of Basketball Recession, also known as Hellacious Mediocrity..

Drake was forced to make a change last year, and their new coach led them to 30 wins with mostly new players. The portal allows for very fast rebuilds if you have the right coach.

 

[MeetTheFerentzes]

I agree with most said here but I really wish we held KF to the same standards as we hold FM to. That'd be refreshing

I will say that Kirk has finished the season in the top ten three times. While not a lot, if Fran had similar that likely means three Sweet 16 or Elite 8 appearances. He'd be able to coach here til he's 80 if he had those results.

I believe Iowa has 5 top-10 finishes under KF.

And KF will be gone as soon as Kinnick is half-empty on gameday (won't ever happen, and not really fair apples-to-apples, but certainly a factor in his longevity).

 

[TampaHawkfan]

I believe Iowa has 5 top-10 finishes under KF.

And KF will be gone as soon as Kinnick is half-empty on gameday (won't ever happen, and not really fair apples-to-apples, but certainly a factor in his longevity).

I think that's right. 2002-04, 2009, 2015 if I'm not mistaken.

 

[HawkLogic]

Tears should be reserved for people that work 2 jobs and actually struggle to get by---there are millions of Americans like this.
Tears for Dix's mother--I hope all the players' families are healthy.

No tears for Fran---life changing financial success. Went from maybe $300K/yr at Sienna to in $30 million or so in salary at Iowa and now he's angling to be fired instead of taking a negotiated reduced buyout. Iowa ought to force him to be a Janitor for next 3 years to finish the contract. For the $4.5 million buyout, you could hire a mid major coach for peanuts and put the rest into NIL and end up with a better product than Fran will put out next year.

He was OKAY results wise, but played the Nepo game instead of doing his job to maximize wins, the game passed him by and he did nothing adjust his style to changing landscape with first the Portal and then NIL Total OLD man disease, stubborn to fault, now growth as a coach, no defense. Yes man Dillard as his right hand man. Zero marketing skills---attendance is his job.

That rebounding/defensive effort vs Illinois is Fran's crowning achievement. Boys vs Grown men.

I do think Braun, Dimbele, Payton, Pryce, Harding, Dix, etc went out with Grace. Kudo's to their effort.

Burn it down. IF Fran spent $1.5 million in NIL for that group of players, that shows exactly why he needs to be fired---he doesn't understand moneyball at all.

 

[Hawkstate1]

Now that the conference tournament is over, we may likely have news by this time tomorrow. I feel bad. I like Fran & what he's done at Iowa compared to the era before him. I don't want it to end with him being fired. I really do think he embodies what it means to be a Hawkeye. As a fan, I just feel bad that it's probably going to end with a firing.

"I really do think he embodies what it means to be a Hawkeye"

WTF are you talking about? Fran the guy who throws temper tantrums, embarrassing the University, who starts his sons before NBA caliber players. The guy who tolerates players who bitch, whine and moan about the refs. The guy who tolerates teams that play soft, no defense? The guy who can't make it past the 1st round of the tourney? He is not a winner. He does not in any way shape, or form embody what it means to be a Hawkeye. Fire Fran Now!

 

[texas twister]

Fran has known for a long time that the defense sucks. He does nothing to fix the problem.

 

[1inamillion]

I appreciate what Fran has done at Iowa......and I hope he gets fired.

I'm ready to rip the bandaid off and find out if we actually make sure all of Iowa fans' worst fears come true and Iowa settles for mediocrity and falls off the map competitivly in the sport of basketball, because that's the most likely scenario, amirite ALL Iowa fans????????

His teams were not mediocre. They have under performed in the tournaments. As usual, you are into the group think category.

 

[EvilMonkeyInTheCloset]

His teams were not mediocre. They have under performed in the tournaments. As usual, you are into the group think category.

I didn't say they were mediocre...................... 🫠




But since that matters to you, yeah, some of his teams were.

 

[1inamillion]

There will be no more murrays,garzas,dix or Freeman types coming in. Now we have a very good nucleus of players and very good recruitment going on. Too bad for the people who want the new dude.

 

[EvilMonkeyInTheCloset]

There will be no more murrays,garzas,dix or Freeman types coming in. Now we have a very good nucleus of players and very good recruitment going on. Too bad for the people who want the new dude.

Hush Margaret. Pettiness is a bad look on the way out.

 

[joelbc1]

Fran has known for a long time that the defense sucks. He does nothing to fix the problem.

Fran’s philosophy was not ( and is not) the major issue with the men’s basketball program….send your $$$ and the defense will improve… as will the rebounding…Fran’s a solid coach…as were Davis, Olson and Miller…. Never sold on Alford and Lick and Schultz were just overmatched…