I think it'd be interesting to find a new coach

[General Tso]

Curious what everyone else thinks? Seems like this season isn't going so well.

 

[RagnarLothbrok]

Curious what everyone else thinks? Seems like this season isn't going so well.

Bad seasons happen. To every program.

The question is to the body of work and trajectory of the program.

If so-so, mediocrity is okay, then Iowa should stick with Fran. If Iowa wants an opportunity at something a little better, then they need to part ways with Fran.

It’s that simple.

 

[HawkBall23]

I'm soooo torn.

I'm just not sure 15 years is enough of a body of work to evaluate whether a coach should be retained or not.

KF is still kicking after 25 years, so maybe Fran should be allowed to stick around another 10-11 years?? I hate to not give a man making millions for continual under-performance a true shot to prove himself.

 

[nu2u]

Seems like this season isn't going so well.

Damn

 

[Herky T Hawk]

Bad seasons happen. To every program.

The question is to the body of work and trajectory of the program.

If so-so, mediocrity is okay, then Iowa should stick with Fran. If Iowa wants an opportunity at something a little better, then they need to part ways with Fran.

It’s that simple.

Fran was mediocrity, he’s trending worse than that now. His Big Ten career record stands at 142-140 and will likely be right at .500 in 8 days. Since the start of 2012-13, he’s finished between 3rd and 6th every season but one. He’s been the definition of mediocrity, until now. And with the expected exodus of players we won’t be improving much, if anything, next season under Fran.

 

[General Tso]

(Sorry, lame attempt at being a smartass on my part)

 

[Max_Rebo]

Bad seasons happen. To every program.

The question is to the body of work and trajectory of the program.

If so-so, mediocrity is okay, then Iowa should stick with Fran. If Iowa wants an opportunity at something a little better, then they need to part ways with Fran.

It’s that simple.

I appreciate your post, but I think it’s about more than being comfortable with so-so results. I think it’s about hope.

Generally speaking, I think most fans are content to live with what I will call “pretty good” or “decent” seasons, as long as it’s reasonable to believe a “great” season is coming soon. And by “great,” I mean a team that advances to at least the Sweet 16. Or in football, a team that at least makes the playoff.

In the 1980s, and much of the 1990s, that’s what we had in basketball. Most seasons, we weren’t much better than we’ve seen lately. But we almost always had a reasonable expectation that a magical season might be coming soon. And it happened a few times.

Some might argue with me, but I think we have that desirable situation right now in football. Sure, most years, we are an 8-4/9-3 team. But it’s not outlandish to think that we could easily win 10 or 11 games in a season, and qualify for the 12-team (or soon to be 16-team) playoff. So we have hope.

But with McCaffery’s teams right now, that kind of hope has faded to the point that it no longer exists. He squandered some of his best opportunities when we had several future NBA players on the team. And with a continued de-emphasis on defense and rebounding, and an inability to recruit or develop high-level guards, there’s no reason for any reasonable fan to expect anything different in the future.

Honestly, I would equate it to the end of the Tom Davis era in many ways. While many lament that we pushed TD out the door, the reality is that we struggled to ever be more than “pretty good” under his leadership. I’ll always remember a radio call-in show late in his tenure when a caller asked TD when fans could expect Iowa to compete for a conference title. Davis’ response was basically “no time soon.” To me, that was one of the most damning things to say. It implied a sentiment that TD was content with “pretty good,” and had no aspirations to be “great.”

So, all this to say, I could be content with a coach who mostly produces “pretty good” results. But you’ve got to give me hope that there might be something better. You’ve got to aspire to greatness. And you have to deliver on that hope once in a while. That’s what builds excitement in the program. That’s what gets fans to fill the arena, and support NIL programs.

With McCaffery, my hope is gone. He’s been a “pretty good” coach, and I do appreciate that. But he will never be great, and that is what we must aspire to. We need a coach who gives us hope.

 

[Beattheohiostate]

I appreciate your post, but I think it’s about more than being comfortable with so-so results. I think it’s about hope.

Generally speaking, I think most fans are content to live with what I will call “pretty good” or “decent” seasons, as long as it’s reasonable to believe a “great” season is coming soon. And by “great,” I mean a team that advances to at least the Sweet 16. Or in football, a team that at least makes the playoff.

In the 1980s, and much of the 1990s, that’s what we had in basketball. Most seasons, we weren’t much better than we’ve seen lately. But we almost always had a reasonable expectation that a magical season might be coming soon. And it happened a few times.

Some might argue with me, but I think we have that desirable situation right now in football. Sure, most years, we are an 8-4/9-3 team. But it’s not outlandish to think that we could easily win 10 or 11 games in a season, and qualify for the 12-team (or soon to be 16-team) playoff. So we have hope.

But with McCaffery’s teams right now, that kind of hope has faded to the point that it no longer exists. He squandered some of his best opportunities when we had several future NBA players on the team. And with a continued de-emphasis on defense and rebounding, and an inability to recruit or develop high-level guards, there’s no reason for any reasonable fan to expect anything different in the future.

Honestly, I would equate it to the end of the Tom Davis era in many ways. While many lament that we pushed TD out the door, the reality is that we struggled to ever be more than “pretty good” under his leadership. I’ll always remember a radio call-in show late in his tenure when a caller asked TD when fans could expect Iowa to compete for a conference title. Davis’ response was basically “no time soon.” To me, that was one of the most damning things to say. It implied a sentiment that TD was content with “pretty good,” and had no aspirations to be “great.”

So, all this to say, I could be content with a coach who mostly produces “pretty good” results. But you’ve got to give me hope that there might be something better. You’ve got to aspire to greatness. And you have to deliver on that hope once in a while. That’s what builds excitement in the program. That’s what gets fans to fill the arena, and support NIL programs.

With McCaffery, my hope is gone. He’s been a “pretty good” coach, and I do appreciate that. But he will never be great, and that is what we must aspire to. We need a coach who gives us hope.

Yes, hope is what we need . . . in Iowa City and in Washington, DC. Hope in Iowa City would be fun. Hope in DC would be life-changing.

 

[Fan In Black]

interesting take. let me think about it.

 

[RagnarLothbrok]

Fran was mediocrity, he’s trending worse than that now. His Big Ten career record stands at 142-140 and will likely be right at .500 in 8 days. Since the start of 2012-13, he’s finished between 3rd and 6th every season but one. He’s been the definition of mediocrity, until now. And with the expected exodus of players we won’t be improving much, if anything, next season under Fran.

Well, yeah. I was trying to be nice.

 

[RagnarLothbrok]

I appreciate your post, but I think it’s about more than being comfortable with so-so results. I think it’s about hope.

Generally speaking, I think most fans are content to live with what I will call “pretty good” or “decent” seasons, as long as it’s reasonable to believe a “great” season is coming soon. And by “great,” I mean a team that advances to at least the Sweet 16. Or in football, a team that at least makes the playoff.

In the 1980s, and much of the 1990s, that’s what we had in basketball. Most seasons, we weren’t much better than we’ve seen lately. But we almost always had a reasonable expectation that a magical season might be coming soon. And it happened a few times.

Some might argue with me, but I think we have that desirable situation right now in football. Sure, most years, we are an 8-4/9-3 team. But it’s not outlandish to think that we could easily win 10 or 11 games in a season, and qualify for the 12-team (or soon to be 16-team) playoff. So we have hope.

But with McCaffery’s teams right now, that kind of hope has faded to the point that it no longer exists. He squandered some of his best opportunities when we had several future NBA players on the team. And with a continued de-emphasis on defense and rebounding, and an inability to recruit or develop high-level guards, there’s no reason for any reasonable fan to expect anything different in the future.

Honestly, I would equate it to the end of the Tom Davis era in many ways. While many lament that we pushed TD out the door, the reality is that we struggled to ever be more than “pretty good” under his leadership. I’ll always remember a radio call-in show late in his tenure when a caller asked TD when fans could expect Iowa to compete for a conference title. Davis’ response was basically “no time soon.” To me, that was one of the most damning things to say. It implied a sentiment that TD was content with “pretty good,” and had no aspirations to be “great.”

So, all this to say, I could be content with a coach who mostly produces “pretty good” results. But you’ve got to give me hope that there might be something better. You’ve got to aspire to greatness. And you have to deliver on that hope once in a while. That’s what builds excitement in the program. That’s what gets fans to fill the arena, and support NIL programs.

With McCaffery, my hope is gone. He’s been a “pretty good” coach, and I do appreciate that. But he will never be great, and that is what we must aspire to. We need a coach who gives us hope.

I think you hit the nail on the head.

Iowa is never going to be a powerhouse in football or basketball, but that doesn’t mean Iowa should settle for below average results. It is more than possible for Iowa to be competitive most years with the occasional special season sprinkled in where they are legitimately in the top 10-15 range and can win a few games in the NCAA Tournament.

No Iowa team is going to do shit in March, though, when they never rebound or defend. That is always the one constant with Fran teams: no toughness, no defense, and no rebounding. It’s always about how great your offense is, but even that only goes so far. At some point, you have to get stops in order to win games of consequence. With Fran, Iowa never really has, unless you want to puff up about the one conference tournament run he had (which IIRC was punctuated by a first round NCAA exit).

 

[TRHawkeye145]

Bad seasons happen. To every program.

The question is to the body of work and trajectory of the program.

If so-so, mediocrity is okay, then Iowa should stick with Fran. If Iowa wants an opportunity at something a little better, then they need to part ways with Fran.

It’s that simple.

Yep - and if you look at the trajectory of the program the last 4 years...it's getting worse

 

[mrcyfan]

I was going to suggest Norman Dale, but you can strike him from the list…..

 

[83Hawk]

I appreciate your post, but I think it’s about more than being comfortable with so-so results. I think it’s about hope.

Generally speaking, I think most fans are content to live with what I will call “pretty good” or “decent” seasons, as long as it’s reasonable to believe a “great” season is coming soon. And by “great,” I mean a team that advances to at least the Sweet 16. Or in football, a team that at least makes the playoff.

In the 1980s, and much of the 1990s, that’s what we had in basketball. Most seasons, we weren’t much better than we’ve seen lately. But we almost always had a reasonable expectation that a magical season might be coming soon. And it happened a few times.

Some might argue with me, but I think we have that desirable situation right now in football. Sure, most years, we are an 8-4/9-3 team. But it’s not outlandish to think that we could easily win 10 or 11 games in a season, and qualify for the 12-team (or soon to be 16-team) playoff. So we have hope.

But with McCaffery’s teams right now, that kind of hope has faded to the point that it no longer exists. He squandered some of his best opportunities when we had several future NBA players on the team. And with a continued de-emphasis on defense and rebounding, and an inability to recruit or develop high-level guards, there’s no reason for any reasonable fan to expect anything different in the future.

Honestly, I would equate it to the end of the Tom Davis era in many ways. While many lament that we pushed TD out the door, the reality is that we struggled to ever be more than “pretty good” under his leadership. I’ll always remember a radio call-in show late in his tenure when a caller asked TD when fans could expect Iowa to compete for a conference title. Davis’ response was basically “no time soon.” To me, that was one of the most damning things to say. It implied a sentiment that TD was content with “pretty good,” and had no aspirations to be “great.”

So, all this to say, I could be content with a coach who mostly produces “pretty good” results. But you’ve got to give me hope that there might be something better. You’ve got to aspire to greatness. And you have to deliver on that hope once in a while. That’s what builds excitement in the program. That’s what gets fans to fill the arena, and support NIL programs.

With McCaffery, my hope is gone. He’s been a “pretty good” coach, and I do appreciate that. But he will never be great, and that is what we must aspire to. We need a coach who gives us hope.

About Davis……don’t forget he once couldn’t be bothered to leave the golf course to meet with a recruit.

 

[DewHawk]

I appreciate your post, but I think it’s about more than being comfortable with so-so results. I think it’s about hope.

Generally speaking, I think most fans are content to live with what I will call “pretty good” or “decent” seasons, as long as it’s reasonable to believe a “great” season is coming soon. And by “great,” I mean a team that advances to at least the Sweet 16. Or in football, a team that at least makes the playoff.

In the 1980s, and much of the 1990s, that’s what we had in basketball. Most seasons, we weren’t much better than we’ve seen lately. But we almost always had a reasonable expectation that a magical season might be coming soon. And it happened a few times.

Some might argue with me, but I think we have that desirable situation right now in football. Sure, most years, we are an 8-4/9-3 team. But it’s not outlandish to think that we could easily win 10 or 11 games in a season, and qualify for the 12-team (or soon to be 16-team) playoff. So we have hope.

But with McCaffery’s teams right now, that kind of hope has faded to the point that it no longer exists. He squandered some of his best opportunities when we had several future NBA players on the team. And with a continued de-emphasis on defense and rebounding, and an inability to recruit or develop high-level guards, there’s no reason for any reasonable fan to expect anything different in the future.

Honestly, I would equate it to the end of the Tom Davis era in many ways. While many lament that we pushed TD out the door, the reality is that we struggled to ever be more than “pretty good” under his leadership. I’ll always remember a radio call-in show late in his tenure when a caller asked TD when fans could expect Iowa to compete for a conference title. Davis’ response was basically “no time soon.” To me, that was one of the most damning things to say. It implied a sentiment that TD was content with “pretty good,” and had no aspirations to be “great.”

So, all this to say, I could be content with a coach who mostly produces “pretty good” results. But you’ve got to give me hope that there might be something better. You’ve got to aspire to greatness. And you have to deliver on that hope once in a while. That’s what builds excitement in the program. That’s what gets fans to fill the arena, and support NIL programs.

With McCaffery, my hope is gone. He’s been a “pretty good” coach, and I do appreciate that. But he will never be great, and that is what we must aspire to. We need a coach who gives us hope.

I agree with all Max stated, as there is just no hope right now IMO for Iowa to achieve any level of success with McCaffery. It is not about winning every game, it is about the hope we might have a good year and get to NCAAT and make a splash. Without hope, people are apathetic. But again JMO.

 

[BurgHawk87]

Yes, hope is what we need . . . in Iowa City and in Washington, DC. Hope in Iowa City would be fun. Hope in DC would be life-changing.

Your life must be exhausting

 

[tweeterhawk]

I agree with all Max stated, as there is just no hope right now IMO for Iowa to achieve any level of success with McCaffery. It is not about winning every game, it is about the hope we might have a good year and get to NCAAT and make a splash. Without hope, people are apathetic. But again JMO.

Iowa is beyond turning around with Fran at the helm. We can only hope Beth realizes that.

 

[EvilMonkeyInTheCloset]

Curious what everyone else thinks? Seems like this season isn't going so well.

Nah. Just keep doing what we're doing and hopefully we'll strike gold one of these days.

 

[TampaHawkfan]

Iowa is never going to be a powerhouse in football or basketball, but that doesn’t mean Iowa should settle for below average results. It is more than possible for Iowa to be competitive most years with the occasional special season sprinkled in where they are legitimately in the top 10-15 range and can win a few games in the NCAA Tournament.

And I'm good with that. Just give me the occasional "season to remember" where Iowa makes a good tournament run, seriously challenges for a conference title, etc. I'm not asking for national titles or Elite 8 runs every year. I'd like a little higher ceiling even if that comes with some peaks and valleys.

Fran has had chances to deliver at least a couple of those types of seasons, but dropped the ball every time. Now the program is trending the wrong direction.

It's time for fresh hope.

This high floor/low ceiling stuff isn't doing much for me.

 

[Hawkfan_08]

And I'm good with that. Just give me the occasional "season to remember" where Iowa makes a good tournament run, seriously challenges for a conference title, etc. I'm not asking for national titles or Elite 8 runs every year. I'd like a little higher ceiling even if that comes with some peaks and valleys.

Fran has had chances to deliver at least a couple of those types of seasons, but dropped the ball every time. Now the program is trending the wrong direction.

It's time for fresh hope.

This high floor/low ceiling stuff isn't doing much for me.

In those great seasons the ball wasn't dropped in the tournament, it was punted out of the arena. The disappointment from those teams hurt.

 

[TampaHawkfan]

In those great seasons the ball wasn't dropped in the tournament, it was punted out of the arena. The disappointment from those teams hurt.

Those 2021 and 2022 tournaments are where Fran finally lost me. He had a 2 seed and a 5 seed, and managed but one win.. Over Grand Canyon.

When I wrote the "dropping the ball" comment, I was also thinking of some February/March meltdowns when the team had been rolling.

One year, I think bracketology had them maybe as high as a 4 seed IIRC, then they fell apart and ended up in the First Four game.. losing to TN.

Then a couple years later, they were up to #3 nationally and were even briefly projected as a 1 seed, only to fall apart again. They got drilled by Villanova that year in the 2nd round.

Just lots of missed opportunity.

 

[hawkjt]

I appreciate your post, but I think it’s about more than being comfortable with so-so results. I think it’s about hope.

Generally speaking, I think most fans are content to live with what I will call “pretty good” or “decent” seasons, as long as it’s reasonable to believe a “great” season is coming soon. And by “great,” I mean a team that advances to at least the Sweet 16. Or in football, a team that at least makes the playoff.

In the 1980s, and much of the 1990s, that’s what we had in basketball. Most seasons, we weren’t much better than we’ve seen lately. But we almost always had a reasonable expectation that a magical season might be coming soon. And it happened a few times.

Some might argue with me, but I think we have that desirable situation right now in football. Sure, most years, we are an 8-4/9-3 team. But it’s not outlandish to think that we could easily win 10 or 11 games in a season, and qualify for the 12-team (or soon to be 16-team) playoff. So we have hope.

But with McCaffery’s teams right now, that kind of hope has faded to the point that it no longer exists. He squandered some of his best opportunities when we had several future NBA players on the team. And with a continued de-emphasis on defense and rebounding, and an inability to recruit or develop high-level guards, there’s no reason for any reasonable fan to expect anything different in the future.

Honestly, I would equate it to the end of the Tom Davis era in many ways. While many lament that we pushed TD out the door, the reality is that we struggled to ever be more than “pretty good” under his leadership. I’ll always remember a radio call-in show late in his tenure when a caller asked TD when fans could expect Iowa to compete for a conference title. Davis’ response was basically “no time soon.” To me, that was one of the most damning things to say. It implied a sentiment that TD was content with “pretty good,” and had no aspirations to be “great.”

So, all this to say, I could be content with a coach who mostly produces “pretty good” results. But you’ve got to give me hope that there might be something better. You’ve got to aspire to greatness. And you have to deliver on that hope once in a while. That’s what builds excitement in the program. That’s what gets fans to fill the arena, and support NIL programs.

With McCaffery, my hope is gone. He’s been a “pretty good” coach, and I do appreciate that. But he will never be great, and that is what we must aspire to. We need a coach who gives us hope.

Nailed it.
I like high tempo ball that fran has brought but like dr tom he could not sustain the critical mass of top athlete recruiting to really flourish.

I do not dislike Fran but I think it's time.
I even feel like the 4 million over a three year period buyout is fair to both sides ...really at present value it's like a one year severance pay.

Beth needs to pull the trigger and then prove herself with a good hire.
Jan Jensen was an easy popular hire.
Now is when Beth proves her mettle.

 

[Underscore2]

If Barta was still AD, how much more of a mess would this be, I wonder..

 

[hawkeyebob62]

Curious what everyone else thinks? Seems like this season isn't going so well.

I'd say a better word might be, "imperative" rather than "interesting". But that's just me, prolly.

 

[HawkLogic]

I think you hit the nail on the head.

Iowa is never going to be a powerhouse in football or basketball, but that doesn’t mean Iowa should settle for below average results. It is more than possible for Iowa to be competitive most years with the occasional special season sprinkled in where they are legitimately in the top 10-15 range and can win a few games in the NCAA Tournament.

No Iowa team is going to do shit in March, though, when they never rebound or defend. That is always the one constant with Fran teams: no toughness, no defense, and no rebounding. It’s always about how great your offense is, but even that only goes so far. At some point, you have to get stops in order to win games of consequence. With Fran, Iowa never really has, unless you want to puff up about the one conference tournament run he had (which IIRC was punctuated by a first round NCAA exit).

In the past you could often see a Mid Major make a run in NCAA tourney with 2 or 3 white guys starting. Those guys are always junkyard dogs on defense and hungry---opposite of Fran's mindset/system. Fran's NO defense approach is DOA come NCAA tournament.

The advent of NIL/Portal has also put an end to Fran's approach of developing guys and giving out union cards-- the successful P5 schools are just bringing in Portal guys from Mid majors and donor loser schools (like Iowa) and getting better. Fran is trying to develop Mulvey, Braun, Dimbele, Traore,Tadjo, Harding, Pryce, Kingsbury into quality Big10 players. His development successes---Freeman and Dix will portal out to a winning school because who wants to stick around and lose games at a bottom feeder.

I like the back stories/hustle on most of our roster---but that doesn't make up for lack of athletic talent and/or skills.

 

[intrepodor]

I appreciate your post, but I think it’s about more than being comfortable with so-so results. I think it’s about hope.

Generally speaking, I think most fans are content to live with what I will call “pretty good” or “decent” seasons, as long as it’s reasonable to believe a “great” season is coming soon. And by “great,” I mean a team that advances to at least the Sweet 16. Or in football, a team that at least makes the playoff.

In the 1980s, and much of the 1990s, that’s what we had in basketball. Most seasons, we weren’t much better than we’ve seen lately. But we almost always had a reasonable expectation that a magical season might be coming soon. And it happened a few times.

Some might argue with me, but I think we have that desirable situation right now in football. Sure, most years, we are an 8-4/9-3 team. But it’s not outlandish to think that we could easily win 10 or 11 games in a season, and qualify for the 12-team (or soon to be 16-team) playoff. So we have hope.

But with McCaffery’s teams right now, that kind of hope has faded to the point that it no longer exists. He squandered some of his best opportunities when we had several future NBA players on the team. And with a continued de-emphasis on defense and rebounding, and an inability to recruit or develop high-level guards, there’s no reason for any reasonable fan to expect anything different in the future.

Honestly, I would equate it to the end of the Tom Davis era in many ways. While many lament that we pushed TD out the door, the reality is that we struggled to ever be more than “pretty good” under his leadership. I’ll always remember a radio call-in show late in his tenure when a caller asked TD when fans could expect Iowa to compete for a conference title. Davis’ response was basically “no time soon.” To me, that was one of the most damning things to say. It implied a sentiment that TD was content with “pretty good,” and had no aspirations to be “great.”

So, all this to say, I could be content with a coach who mostly produces “pretty good” results. But you’ve got to give me hope that there might be something better. You’ve got to aspire to greatness. And you have to deliver on that hope once in a while. That’s what builds excitement in the program. That’s what gets fans to fill the arena, and support NIL programs.

With McCaffery, my hope is gone. He’s been a “pretty good” coach, and I do appreciate that. But he will never be great, and that is what we must aspire to. We need a coach who gives us hope.

I would like to hope we could at least be competitive in every game.
That hope is gone.

 

[intrepodor]

If Barta was still AD, how much more of a mess would this be, I wonder..

Frightening

 

[icwesthawk]

Yes, hope is what we need . . . in Iowa City and in Washington, DC. Hope in Iowa City would be fun. Hope in DC would be life-changing.

The last 4 years in the district sure were life changing and cringeworthy