The mood of the board regarding Fran

[BlackNGoldBleeder]

Just thought I’d take the temperature of the fan base regarding Fran now that we’re well into another offseason. I’m also throwing out a few grades for those who want to copy and paste with their own.

Recruiting: Fran has a knack for identifying talent early in the recruiting process but is well known for being a bridesmaid. Outside of Jarrod Uthoff, he has mostly struck out in the transfer portal. Tyler Cook has probably been his most impressive recruiting win to date. Overall, there have been too few top 125 players and far too many mid-major-level recruits who failed to produce.

Grade: C-

Player development: We are all familiar with the Frank/Luka Garza workout stories, where Fran would seem to have minimal influence. However, there have been many other kids who have come in under the radar and had a spectacular Iowa career (most notably Aaron White), so it would seem Fran deserves more credit than what he gets. The other side of the argument is Fran has had to take in so many marginal P5 recruits, which obviously increases the odds of a few diamonds in the rough emerging. And, as discussed ad nauseam over Fran’s tenure, no point guard has yet to develop into a difference maker.

Grade: C+

Culture/Program Character:

This is obviously Fran’s biggest strength, as former players all seem to love him and you almost never hear of any Iowa basketball player in trouble with the law.

Grade: A

Program Success: Fran no doubt inherited a mess and has not only turned the program around but has largely produced winning, competitive teams from one year to the next. Fran also brings a fun, entertaining style of basketball that is fun to watch. The main bugaboo has always been defense and athleticism, as well as poor to mediocre results in the NCAA tournament.

Grade: A-

So, if I had to give an overall grade for Fran McCaffrey at Iowa, I would say he’s at a B. He accomplishes a lot with less, runs a clean program, and has sustained winning. I think it’s obvious that what holds Fran back from being a grade A coach is recruiting, as I believe an uptick in talent and athleticism would take care of (e.g.) a lot of the defensive woes that keep the program from flirting with being elite.

 

[CookyMonster]

His best seasons at Iowa are still in front of him.

 

[BlackNGoldBleeder]

His best seasons at Iowa are still in front of him.

I hope you’re right because I don’t believe he’s going anywhere anytime soon.

 

[ICWestfan]

Iowa basketball is what it is. Ebbs and flows baby. Really wish Iowa could play defense, it is the main reason they don't have more success. They are fun to watch, but they still make me want to pull what little hair I have left out of my thick skull.

I have zero expectations for Iowa basketball at this point. The best compliment I can give is they aren't Lickliter bad.

 

[BonzoFury]

I'd say option 2, adding that he's already approaching "long term", which moves it closer to option 3 every year ...unless he adds a Sweet 16 to his resume.

 

[HawkeyeGenius]

Fran is what he is. He's not a great recruiter. He's an above average coach. He's probably never going to win the conference, and spare me the conference tournament. He's rarely, if ever going to get Iowa out of the first weekend of the tournament. He will consistently have Iowa in the top 7 of the conference and playing in the postseason.

 

[BBHawk]

I'm still on the fence about the first option but McC has won a lot here so I chose the 2nd option. I definitely don’t think he has worn out his welcome as I am seeing higher-quality players still coming on board. I think that last year was the staff's best effort yet.

 

[Ronman]

I'm somewhere between the 2nd and 3rd option. I don't believe there is any way, barring a serious malfeasance or behavior incident, that McCaffery will be fired. His results are very much above average in a league that has seen numerous coaching changes for lesser achievements. I do believe he is much better at developing talent than many give him credit for and would give him a solid B in that area and probably as an overall score. Unfortunately, now that he has gotten us so much closer to the goals we would love to attain, a B is just not enough for some fans and I understand the feeling to some degree. I would love to reach that infamous "next level" of league championships and NCAA triumphs as much as any Iowa fan. But at the same time, I have to give McCaffery credit for running a clean, successful program with great student athletes that we can be proud of and providing Iowa fans with entertaining basketball.

 

[Buffalo43]

Fran is an incredibly generous person and a great role model for his players on and off the court and well past their playing days at Iowa. He is a top ten coach when it comes to the game of life. He will not win every basketball game but his teams put it all on the floor everyday as well as in the classroom

I hope he stays as until he retires

 

[Obviously Oblivious]

I think Fran is undervalued by most Iowa fans, I’m not one of those however. His offensive system is quite good but his defensive emphasis certainly lacks success. He’s a good man that does things the right way and from what I understand he is well loved by his players and staff. His ability to take a team that had zero expectations of success last season and get the results he did speaks volumes to me. He’s criticized for not being able to close the deal on high rated recruits and I believe much of that is due to his moral backbone. He’s not going to get down in the mud and funnel money to players and their family just to win. In that sense he’s a perfect fit for Iowa, our fanbase does not tolerate cheating and likely never will.

 

[HawkLogic]

Fran is an incredibly generous person and a great role model for his players on and off the court and well past their playing days at Iowa. He is a top ten coach when it comes to the game of life. He will not win every basketball game but his teams put it all on the floor everyday as well as in the classroom

I hope he stays as until he retires

Is it a trait of the generous to yell at refs "M'efers stole" the game after your team in fact did not play any defense? Fran might be a good person when he's calm but the placing college coaches on Pedestals when you are a fan and incapable of know them is silly. If you do know Fran on personal level, then you are an insider and have your own agenda and are being dishonest in your post by not disclosing your relationship.

I remember Wisky Fan posting on HR "as great a coach as Bo Ryan was...he was even greater person."..and then it came out grandpa Bo had been having sex with another woman besides grandma.

Fran is solid coach, close to Davis in many of the metrics....but 27 year career and no sweet16's, he is far from Hall of fame material other than for longevity. I also don't necessarily agree that Fran's best years are ahead of him....that is TBD...one could say he has blown his shot at greatness with so-so NCAA tourneys while having Luka Garza and Keegan Murray.

 

[Hawk_4shur]

Fran is Iowa Basketball, for better or worse. Not able to get the BIG recruit, not able to win the regular season (BTT was nice tho), not able to get to the S16. Heartbreaker losses, heartbreaking injuries.

Everyone clamors for defense, I get that. But maybe better defense would sacrifice offense with Iowa's non-uber talent? Iowa is famous for guys that aren't good at everything.

Will the next guy be better? I doubt it. But, it's probably time to find out soon.

 

[OutbackBowl2017]

Great guy, ok recruiter, great offensive mind, not a good defensive minded coach. Heard a stat that Fran is only one of four coaches since WWII that’s coached 11 plus seasons and hasn’t made it to a S16. That pretty much sums up Fran. Nice guy but can’t close out on big time recruits or get that win to take him and his team to the next level.

 

[TheTruthTheWholeTruth]

Is it a trait of the generous to yell at refs "M'efers stole" the game after your team in fact did not play any defense? Fran might be a good person when he's calm but the placing college coaches on Pedestals when you are a fan and incapable of know them is silly. If you do know Fran on personal level, then you are an insider and have your own agenda and are being dishonest in your post by not disclosing your relationship.

I remember Wisky Fan posting on HR "as great a coach as Bo Ryan was...he was even greater person."..and then it came out grandpa Bo had been having sex with another woman besides grandma.

Fran is solid coach, close to Davis in many of the metrics....but 27 year career and no sweet16's, he is far from Hall of fame material other than for longevity. I also don't necessarily agree that Fran's best years are ahead of him....that is TBD...one could say he has blown his shot at greatness with so-so NCAA tourneys while having Luka Garza and Keegan Murray.

Speaking of agendas. You’re showing your ass….again

 

[Scott559]

For me the simple reality is that historically Iowa does not invest in the BB program in regard to ranking in conference. So if you take the “ You get what you pay for” thought process the University is getting a very good return on their money with Fran.

 

[SDHawkDoc]

Somewhere between your second and third options.

Fran is an OK coach when looking at his results. Better than average in conference. Completely forgettable in the NCAA tourney.

I'd be fine if he announced his retirement tomorrow and say thanks and enjoy it. But I fully expect him to coach through the completion of Patrick's eligibility at a minimum.

 

[iahawks10]

Is it a trait of the generous to yell at refs "M'efers stole" the game after your team in fact did not play any defense? Fran might be a good person when he's calm but the placing college coaches on Pedestals when you are a fan and incapable of know them is silly. If you do know Fran on personal level, then you are an insider and have your own agenda and are being dishonest in your post by not disclosing your relationship.

I remember Wisky Fan posting on HR "as great a coach as Bo Ryan was...he was even greater person."..and then it came out grandpa Bo had been having sex with another woman besides grandma.

Fran is solid coach, close to Davis in many of the metrics....but 27 year career and no sweet16's, he is far from Hall of fame material other than for longevity. I also don't necessarily agree that Fran's best years are ahead of him....that is TBD...one could say he has blown his shot at greatness with so-so NCAA tourneys while having Luka Garza and Keegan Murray.

At least you’re getting closer to the correct number of years Fran has been a head coach. Still not correct, but way closer than you were four months ago. Good job.

 

[skydog0784]

I voted #1. He’s a top 5 best men’s coach ever at Iowa IMO - probably #4 behind O’Connor, Olson, and Miller. Ahead of Davis.

I believe Fran will go on a deep NCAA tournament run similar to what he did last year in the B1G tournament before he retires in 7 years.

 

[The Deplorable Sleeping Dog]

F McC has done a very good job at Iowa. Not great but hardly bad or even mediocre.

It's only fair to compare coaches to the coaches at the same institution because every place is different. Fran inherited a catastrophe. The prior 11 seasons had seen the drama and ineptitude of Alford and however one would describe the Lickliter years-just too many negative adjectives to settle on just one.

Iowa was never a recruiting giant, although we weren't the No Name City McC inherited. He turned it around pretty fast. A lot of all Big Ten players, a national All American and another guy that was 1st AA twice and NOPY his senior year. Qualified for 6 NCAAs and really 7 because they qualified in 2020, the tournament was just cancelled.

That's not "nothing" at Iowa. He's ended at least the first of our bad streaks this season, it had been 16 seasons since we last won the BTT, so that streak is dead.

On the other hand, there have been far too many big games where the team came out flat. I've already forgotten the opponent that clowned us out in the 1st round. Same thing with Oregon, Cincinatti, Temple and several Big Ten games that come to mind.

But, we've got a few really good players coming to the program, and maybe more. The source of the good players is not important.

On balance, and given the long term costs of disruption, I voted a 2.

 

[Knothole Hawk]

I'm somewhere between the 2nd and 3rd option. I don't believe there is any way, barring a serious malfeasance or behavior incident, that McCaffery will be fired. His results are very much above average in a league that has seen numerous coaching changes for lesser achievements. I do believe he is much better at developing talent than many give him credit for and would give him a solid B in that area and probably as an overall score. Unfortunately, now that he has gotten us so much closer to the goals we would love to attain, a B is just not enough for some fans and I understand the feeling to some degree. I would love to reach that infamous "next level" of league championships and NCAA triumphs as much as any Iowa fan. But at the same time, I have to give McCaffery credit for running a clean, successful program with great student athletes that we can be proud of and providing Iowa fans with entertaining basketball.

This sums up how I feel. I think the level of players coming on board are getting better and I do think we break thru in the tournament in the future. But a lot depends on how this NIL stuff shakes out.

 

[hawkeyeinmo]

Interesting to see that half the “would be nice if he left town” votes are from Cyclone fans.

 

[BlackNGoldBleeder]

Interesting to see that half the “would be nice if he left town” votes are from Cyclone fans.

Perhaps more interesting was their conspicuous absence from this board for over three years. Odd, their renewed interest in Iowa basketball.

The need for validation generates perplexing behaviors in some, I guess. 🤷‍♂️

 

[Buffalo43]

Is it a trait of the generous to yell at refs "M'efers stole" the game after your team in fact did not play any defense? Fran might be a good person when he's calm but the placing college coaches on Pedestals when you are a fan and incapable of know them is silly. If you do know Fran on personal level, then you are an insider and have your own agenda and are being dishonest in your post by not disclosing your relationship.

I remember Wisky Fan posting on HR "as great a coach as Bo Ryan was...he was even greater person."..and then it came out grandpa Bo had been having sex with another woman besides grandma.

Fran is solid coach, close to Davis in many of the metrics....but 27 year career and no sweet16's, he is far from Hall of fame material other than for longevity. I also don't necessarily agree that Fran's best years are ahead of him....that is TBD...one could say he has blown his shot at greatness with so-so NCAA tourneys while having Luka Garza and Keegan Murray.

You obviously did not understand my post getting his players to reach their life long term goals is what i admire about Fran

 

[iahawks10]

F McC has done a very good job at Iowa. Not great but hardly bad or even mediocre.

It's only fair to compare coaches to the coaches at the same institution because every place is different. Fran inherited a catastrophe. The prior 11 seasons had seen the drama and ineptitude of Alford and however one would describe the Lickliter years-just too many negative adjectives to settle on just one.

Iowa was never a recruiting giant, although we weren't the No Name City McC inherited. He turned it around pretty fast. A lot of all Big Ten players, a national All American and another guy that was 1st AA twice and NOPY his senior year. Qualified for 6 NCAAs and really 7 because they qualified in 2020, the tournament was just cancelled.

That's not "nothing" at Iowa. He's ended at least the first of our bad streaks this season, it had been 16 seasons since we last won the BTT, so that streak is dead.

On the other hand, there have been far too many big games where the team came out flat. I've already forgotten the opponent that clowned us out in the 1st round. Same thing with Oregon, Cincinatti, Temple and several Big Ten games that come to mind.

But, we've got a few really good players coming to the program, and maybe more. The source of the good players is not important.

On balance, and given the long term costs of disruption, I voted a 2.

Not an unfair post by any means, but Iowa beat both Temple and Cincy in the NCAA tournament.

 

[hawkeyekid]

I like the guy. I think he gets treated unfairly by refs especially compared to other coaches.

Good evaluator of talent and can definitely teach kids how to run an offense. Players seem to love him. Most knowledgeable media persons seem to like him.

Even a couple Sweet 16s and he'd be even higher up in my mind. That being said, I'm ok with him here and I wouldn't jump off a bridge if he left.

 

[Herky T Hawk]

Off the court I think he’s a great person. On the court I think he lets his competitiveness get the better of him and channels his energy the wrong way. He is better than he was, but has spent too much energy against the refs rather than on his team in timeouts. He has gotten better with in game coaching and using timeouts, which is crazy to say for a coach with almost 40 years of experience. He hasn’t adapted to the current climate in recruiting. But he does have an eye for talent. Unfortunately recruiting is fickle and he comes up 2nd or 3rd too often. He refuses to recognize his team’s deficiencies on defense. He has shown that his system can usually keep our team as a middle of the pack or better team in conference. We’ve mostly avoided the big drops that other schools with better recruiting grounds have hit.

What you end up with is a coach that, at the point he is in his career, pretty much is what he is and has likely reached near his ceiling. He has an opportunity this year with a significant overhaul of his staff to make some changes. We will see how that goes. If he hires more yes men that can’t recruit then Fran is just going to coast through the rest of his tenure. If he brings someone in that will challenge him to be better and brings that closer mentality in recruiting then he has a shot at pushing up a level.

Im of a mindset where if he left tomorrow I’d wish him well. If he stayed tomorrow I’d root for him to succeed. This is where a lot of our fan base was in 1998 when Bowlsby announced that Dr. Tom’s contract wasn’t going to be renewed. But we can’t let past history prevent us from making decisions now as the way that situation went has no bearing over two decades later.

 

[TritonHawkeye]

His best seasons at Iowa are still in front of him.

I would hope so! I like Fran and have been a supporter for a long time but it is time to either get to the next level or try for someone that can get there.

Next Level is B10 reg champs, tourney champs and eilte 8. Fran has only hit one of those in his lengthy tenure. It is time to start expecting more but it feels like a we are moving in a direction of more of the same... Not a hater but it is truly time to either move forward or move on. Not upgrading talent via the portal is unfathomable when you are paid to win games

 

[DanHawkPella]

The main grumbling seems to be (A) success in the NCAA tournament and (B) utliization of the transfer portal.

I think his recruiting has been solid considering what he is recruiting to, which is by most 3rd party standards the 8th most attractive program in the B10. He does, however, need to find ways to bump this up now that we're starting to have consistent Top half finishes in the B10.

Post season success has been elusive for him, but he did go 4-1 this last season and unfortunately they lost a post season where I think his team was really hot (pandemic year) at the end. The next step is clearly winning 2 or more games in the NCAAs. It is kind of unfortunate that so much weight is placed on just those 2 games, because it obscures much of the other successes. I understand how important it it for program prestige, I just wish fans didn't translate that into assumptions about whether a coach CAN win in the postseason. Fran clearly can, he's just under his expected average so far - the B10's went a good way towards getting him back to his expected average, but he needs NCAA wins to fully dig out of the whole he created.

Regarding the portal I don't have any problem with him not using the portal if it means bringing guys in who aren't better than the current starters, because that is just going to cause underclassmen to transfer (which is ok if they don't project to being solid B10 players, but in most cases we wouldn't want them to transfer). However, there are cases - like Center this year - where the need is obvious and we need to find success in the portal. The jury is still out on that. So I wouldn't measure HOW MUCH he uses the portal, because we will never be ISU in that regard and comparing the two based on volume of transfers is stupid imo. However, we can measure how well he does when there is a NEED (such as bringing Rebraca in last season, or Center this season, or even PF if Kris goes pro for example although that timing wouldn't be ideal).

 

[Herky T Hawk]

I would hope so! I like Fran and have been a supporter for a long time but it is time to either get to the next level or try for someone that can get there.

Next Level is B10 reg champs, tourney champs and eilte 8. Fran has only hit one of those in his lengthy tenure. It is time to start expecting more but it feels like a we are moving in a direction of more of the same... Not a hater but it is truly time to either move forward or move on. Not upgrading talent via the portal is unfathomable when you are paid to win games

I think another way to look at it is this, in 2020-2021 he had two 2nd round draft picks getting NBA minutes, one likely first round pick in Keegan, and another player in Kris that is likely going to be a draft pick one day. He couldn’t make the 2nd weekend happen with that roster.

Will he ever have another team with that much talent stockpiled on it? When is he ever going to luck into three likely NBA players that are less than one year apart in age and all living within 40 miles of Iowa City again?

 

[BVHawkeye]

I love his style of play. My only wish is to kick our "D" up a notch. When a team plays up temp and leads the league in scoring (or near the top) there will be more possessions for the other team. Just stopping dribble penetration and improved rebounding would jump us into the top four every year. Maybe I'm dreaming but that is what I think. Kids "should" love to play this style!

 

[nbanflfactory]

His best seasons at Iowa are still in front of him.

Doubtful

Jbo made it clear our nil work is a total joke and it's gonna cost in major sports....

Don't listen to any tool that tries to say we're doing a decent job!

 

[unoHawkeye]

The main grumbling seems to be (A) success in the NCAA tournament and (B) utliization of the transfer portal.

I think his recruiting has been solid considering what he is recruiting to, which is by most 3rd party standards the 8th most attractive program in the B10. He does, however, need to find ways to bump this up now that we're starting to have consistent Top half finishes in the B10.

Post season success has been elusive for him, but he did go 4-1 this last season and unfortunately they lost a post season where I think his team was really hot (pandemic year) at the end. The next step is clearly winning 2 or more games in the NCAAs. It is kind of unfortunate that so much weight is placed on just those 2 games, because it obscures much of the other successes. I understand how important it it for program prestige, I just wish fans didn't translate that into assumptions about whether a coach CAN win in the postseason. Fran clearly can, he's just under his expected average so far - the B10's went a good way towards getting him back to his expected average, but he needs NCAA wins to fully dig out of the whole he created.

Regarding the portal I don't have any problem with him not using the portal if it means bringing guys in who aren't better than the current starters, because that is just going to cause underclassmen to transfer (which is ok if they don't project to being solid B10 players, but in most cases we wouldn't want them to transfer). However, there are cases - like Center this year - where the need is obvious and we need to find success in the portal. The jury is still out on that. So I wouldn't measure HOW MUCH he uses the portal, because we will never be ISU in that regard and comparing the two based on volume of transfers is stupid imo. However, we can measure how well he does when there is a NEED (such as bringing Rebraca in last season, or Center this season, or even PF if Kris goes pro for example although that timing wouldn't be ideal).

It all comes back to A. Nobody would care about Fran’s ability to work the portal if he were having more success in the Dance

 

[SDHawkDoc]

It all comes back to A. Nobody would care about Fran’s ability to work the portal if he were having more success in the Dance

Everyone is free to set their goals and expectations as they see fit. Mine have always been NCAA tourney performance above all else. This is the entire source of my frustration with the McCaffrey era, his inability to have any accomplishment of significance with the team when it comes to the NCAA tourney. The last 2 seasons of underperformance are eyesores. Fran's a perfectly ok coach otherwise. If you don't care much about the NCAA tourney then he's your guy.

 

[ryanhawk33]

**** the portal. If someone wants to transfer here to play for Fran and Iowa, great. If a transfer is just looking for money, I don’t want him. This is still college.

If Iowa starts adding transfers like clown cc, I’ll prob be done with college bb. There’s no point for me in watching minor league nba. I’ll just watch the pros. As of a couple years ago, college was about loyalty and developing the guys you get to try to make a run when you get the right chemistry. Now it’s turning into pay for play, which is not what NIL was intended to do but Mark Emmert is completely worthless so this is what we’ve ended up with.

Wouldn’t surprise me if Emmert and other ncaa officials knew what would happen because the rich schools were paying them off for years to let it happen.

 

[unoHawkeye]

Everyone is free to set their goals and expectations as they see fit. Mine have always been NCAA tourney performance above all else. This is the entire source of my frustration with the McCaffrey era, his inability to have any accomplishment of significance with the team when it comes to the NCAA tourney. The last 2 seasons of underperformance are eyesores. Fran's a perfectly ok coach otherwise. If you don't care much about the NCAA tourney then he's your guy.

Pretty much agree. I stay optimistic that it can/will happen under Fran though. We’ve seen Iowa win regular season tournaments under Fran, seen an NIT finals appearance, and have now seen a Big Ten Tournament championship (which you can place whatever level of importance on that you’d like, but was a bugaboo for many until this year)

Fran is more than capable of coaching teams to tournament wins. Maybe this will be the year…

 

[nbanflfactory]

**** the portal. If someone wants to transfer here to play for Fran and Iowa, great. If a transfer is just looking for money, I don’t want him. This is still college.

If Iowa starts adding transfers like clown cc, I’ll prob be done with college bb. There’s no point for me in watching minor league nba. I’ll just watch the pros. As of a couple years ago, college was about loyalty and developing the guys you get to try to make a run when you get the right chemistry. Now it’s turning into pay for play, which is not what NIL was intended to do but Mark Emmert is completely worthless so this is what we’ve ended up with.

Wouldn’t surprise me if Emmert and other ncaa officials knew what would happen because the rich schools were paying them off for years to let it happen.

We get it, you want Iowa sports to be mediocre at best...

 

[Hawk_4shur]

Bottom line for me - my confidence level that the next guy will be better is less than 50%.

 

[Rustys Dad]

His best seasons at Iowa are still in front of him.

Serious question: He’s been here 12 seasons; has not made the Sweet 16, and his Big 10 record at Iowa is 117-108 (.520)… Why do you think his best seasons are still in front of him!? Based off of what?

 

[BBHawk]

Serious question: He’s been here 12 seasons; has not made the Sweet 16, and his Big 10 record at Iowa is 117-108 (.520)… Why do you think his best seasons are still in front of him!? Based off of what?

In the B1G only,
In seasons 1 - 4, Iowa was 30 - 42.
In seasons 5 - 8, Iowa was 38 - 34
In seasons 9 - 12, Iowa was 47 - 32.
It seems pretty obvious.

 

[CookyMonster]

Serious question: He’s been here 12 seasons; has not made the Sweet 16, and his Big 10 record at Iowa is 117-108 (.520)… Why do you think his best seasons are still in front of him!? Based off of what?

Trajectory