Perfect time for Fran to move on?
- Thread starter tweeterhawk
- Start date
Fran has done a nice job at Iowa in conference play, but his tournament records stink and unfortunately winning in March matters. He overachieved this year by getting to .500 in conference play but the Big 10 is just awful. This team would’ve been lucky to win 5 games in the big 12.
I like Fran, but it’s time for a change. I don’t see any miracle where Fran gets the fan base energized again, and bc of that I think Beth has some tough decisions to make. We bring back some nice young talent next year…but Fran has continued to squander talent in the tournament. I don’t have a lot of faith he can make a deep run with this group if he can’t with a NPOY, lottery pick and another second round pick playing side by side.
A lot of people were mad at Lute. Don't think you'd hear much from fans if Fran left.
Raveling left UIowa for another job. He was NOT fired. He left UIowa for Southern Cal. There were stories later about why Raveling left Iowa but he was never fired from UIowa….he left UIowa on his own accord for another MAJOR college basketball job.
BirdistheWord
HB Legend
Good context and agree on the inferiority complex. But we switched from Hayden to Kirk and that worked out. But 25 years with the same guy? Thr program was in more than good shape, until KF HAD to promote Brian and the last few years have damaged the brand.
On hoops side, somewhat hit or miss but some good coaches mixed I. There. Dr Tom and Fran, Alford less so but not horrible. Lick was abysmal and set us back for sure.
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The life away from basketball for a black coach in Iowa just didn't
keep Raveling mentally stimulated enough. That's why he left for USC. Great recruiter but his game coaching left something to be desired. What a recruiting class he left Dr. Tom, too bad the good Dr screwed up by continuing to apply the press in the 2nd half game against UNLV. Worst coaching malpractice and brain fart I've ever witnessed by an Iowa coach in my life time. Iowa should have walked away with an easy win. Brings back horrible memories....
This fascination with Devries escapes me. What, there are no other coaches in the game that could do as well or better?
Raveling later said he regretted leaving Iowa. Don't remember his exact words but something to the effect of not being mature enough to know what a good thing he had.
Agree about the UNLV game.
What don’t you understand? Over the last 5 years he’s won more games than only 2 teams I believe. More than Kansas even. At DRAKE. Look, there absolutely zero guarantee with any coach you bring in. Alford was the golden boy years ago. And it’s not like another super successful Power 6 coach is leaving and coming to Iowa. If you’re successful at a Power 6 why are you leaving? If Fran leaves we’re taking a chance on a successful mid major. It’s how this works.
The exposure that Ms Clark has afforded the University has shown a lime light that even the dimmest of bulbs in administration can fathom. The success of high profile athletic teams increase applications to universities maximizing competition for admission. Even with some of the undercurrent of hatred of athletes in academia, those in charge should recognize this effect.
I believe they all stay, but you’re correct, Iowa needs another “true” point guard to go along with Harding.
According to the B1G stats, Iowa's average "attendance" (meaning tickets sold) was 10,300/game, and was 10th in the B1G. It's not very good of course, but it's still a lot of revenue.
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Another response to that same tweet from those same sources. They’re wrong about one thing, many care and we’re ready to move on!
This site also said that it was 100% done deal that Porter Moser was taking the DePaul job this week. They were of course wrong. I’m not going to argue that Fran was probably looking for an extension and kudos to our athletic department for not giving it to him. But it makes his job recruiting effectively much tougher.
Tom Davis did more with that talent than Raveling ever could have done. Davis just got. Ravelings guys into the right positions. His insertion of LOHAUS INTO THE STARTING GENIUS AND PLACING HIM AT THE POINT OF his defense was pure genius. He has offensive talent…and used it.
Too bad Iowa could hire Raveling to recruit and DAVIS TO COACH….then you might have had Ralph Miller ll.
I just want to know from all the Fran-bashes here, what their criteria for the next coach is….at what point do we fire the guy for not living up to their expectations….and no damn vanilla answers……give me some measurables!
Remember, the last time UIowa won a B10 title outright was…….54 years ago! We have had several coaches since….a few good ones, too….how many MORE coaches should we have had during this time period?
Iowa caught lightning in a bottle with #22. No doubt about it.
‘HOWEVER, has in fact admissions to UIowa increased? I believe statistics dont back that up to date. In Iowa’s situation, politics has run counter to UIowa recently. Athletics can be a boost, no doubt, but the function of a regent school is to educate the citizens/residents of Iowa and not necessarily field championship level athletic teams. (College athletics exist because of the existence of colleges.)
I trusted what I was told and will probably be eating crow when Fran stays.
Cook-Garza-Murray-Murray. Fran will never have anyone that talented again and he did very little with it. Although I’ve been done with Fran for years and would love it if he were gone today, my guess is that BG will give him something like a 2-yr Sweet 16 or bust ultimatum, which is more than he deserves. Watching Iowa State play at a level I’ve literally never see at Iowa makes me want to puke, and I sure hope that most fans and the powers that be feel the same.
I’d really like to see a comprehensive list of college coaches who’ve lasted 14+ years at a school with 4 total NCAA tourney wins, zero Sweet 16’s and something like 10 postseason losses to double-digit seeds. My guess is that Fran has set an amazing longevity to productivity ratio record that will never be broken.
I've seen the "overachieved" argument a few times on here. Ok so he overachieved...but how is that any different than having lost 2 more and ending closer to the preseason 10-12th place? End result is the same.
Going to NIT where players maybe get 1-2 extra games a season...and you know fran isn't playing the younger guys any more than usual. Program is beyond stale. Time for a reset.
Going to NIT where players maybe get 1-2 extra games a season...and you know fran isn't playing the younger guys any more than usual. Program is beyond stale. Time for a reset.
Don't forget about 3 consecutive ncaa losses to lower seeded teams.
I hope he's gone. This program needs a shot of adrenaline. Glad for what he's done for the program, I obviously have some gripes in regards to the nepotism, but it's time. He's been here too long without winning anything major.
You tell me……..Be specific. When do we fire a coach? What are (your) expectations….state them ahead of time…like a “job description”….
I would like to see ncaa tourney 4/5 years and stay within that 4-6th Big 10 at worst. 1 sweet 16 minimum in that time frame. So in every 4 tourney appearances...we get to 2nd weekend at least once.
So basically what fran has done.... but with post season success and more focus on defense and guard play. Since my 3 wish list items will never happen (based on what we've seen this long in frans tenure)... I would be happy to role the dice with someone else
