Does Fran Consider Pitt?

SteveGarvey said:
What? back atchya. You don't think the ACC is better top to bottom than the B1G?
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Wash... We beat them in the challenge this year, did we not?

They have best record in tourney but they've also had some favorable match ups with their best win being over a 7 seed.... I think that's what I heard on the radio.

Dont let one week of bball lead to a conclusion.
 
If this happens good for him and good for us. He has rebuilt this program to respectability and it would be much easier now to get a good coach to want to come here.
 
.....no, but Ben Jacobson would/should.

He'll never ever live that debacle down as long as he remains in CF.
 
Knight78 said:
My guess would be either phdsvp, Playmaker or Hawk90. They seem to know exactly how to produce a winning college basketball team... just ask them.
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Yeah, it is actually pretty easy, you find a coach who can recruit and has had success and then you pay him. You set goals for him, give him 5-6 years...if he has not met the goals you find another one. Some of the goals might be; not losing to your in-state rival 5 of 6 years, having a team that improves as the season goes on (see Wisconsin), winning a B1G Championship, advancing past the second round of the NCAA tourney. Low expectations = low performance.

Setting goals and holding people accountable is an ongoing process in business, why is it so difficult in college sports (at least at Iowa)? Oh, that's right the Mr. Davis to Alford/Lick debacle, can't risk that again. Iowa; third best program in this state I am ashamed to say.
 
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DJL said:
I don't see Fran leaving.....unless he spends a lot of time on HN after losses, then he will want to get the hell away from all of us crazy people
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Same crazy people that pushed Lute Olson to a nothing program in Arizona
 
barker91 said:
Same crazy people that pushed Lute Olson to a nothing program in Arizona
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If I remember right, Lute was tired of living in a glass bowl, with all of the hero worshippers and gawkers the guy couldn't go out to eat without being bothered. It wasn't a problem in Tuscon.
 
Hawk90 said:
Yeah, it is actually pretty easy, you find a coach who can recruit and has had success and then you pay him. You set goals for him, give him 5-6 years...if he has not met the goals you find another one. Some of the goals might be; not losing to your in-state rival 5 of 6 years, having a team that improves as the season goes on (see Wisconsin), winning a B1G Championship, advancing past the second round of the NCAA tourney. Low expectations = low performance.

Setting goals and holding people accountable is an ongoing process in business, why is it so difficult in college sports (at least at Iowa)? Oh, that's right the Mr. Davis to Alford/Lick debacle, can't risk that again. Iowa; third best program in this state I am ashamed to say.
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I actually agree with a lot of this, the question is what goals/expectations was set when Fran was first hired. When Fran first got here they barely had enough scholarship players to field a team. IMO, the goals/expectations should have been to get back to the NCAA tournament and competing in the top half of the Big Ten. After 6 years that has been accomplished, now at some point you can re-evaluate those goals/expectations and that generally comes with a contract renegotiation which has happened. Is the bar being raised on the goals/expectations? I am sure they are, they will want to continue building the program.

The problem I have with your comment is your goals/expectations are set way to high and if you are "ashamed" of being a Hawkeye fan because of this then you should become a fan of one of those 2 other schools. Six years ago winning a B1G championship was unrealistic, so were Sweet 16 appearances. An AD would have to be stupid to base expectations around beating 1 team or setting in season expectations as you suggest. Yes, what happened when fans like you wanted Tom Davis fired should serve as a learning lesson for you but, unfortunately, it sounds like you are too stubborn to accept those lessons. Firing Fran after what he has accomplished here would be a death sentence to the basketball program.
 
You made two false assumptions; 1) I want Fran fired, no I do not at this time. The thread is; Does Fran Consider Pitt. I do think it would be good for the program if he did leave. Take his recruits and find a better game day coach....See Raveling to Mr. Davis. Fran brought the program back, no doubt. 2.) The second assumption that you made is that I wanted Mr. Davis gone, no I did not. He was a great coach, not a good recruiter.

I am as Black and Gold as they get, that two programs in this state have better basketball programs, underfunded relative to Iowa, should make all Hawk fans ashamed. We can do better and it starts with coaching.
 
Hawk90 said:
If I remember right, Lute was tired of living in a glass bowl, with all of the hero worshippers and gawkers the guy couldn't go out to eat without being bothered. It wasn't a problem in Tuscon.
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The only way Fran takes the Pitt job if he just wants to get out of Dodge like Lute. Though, the Pitt job is far more attractive than the Arizona job was when Lute left. A few years earlier, Lute & Bobbi had an opportunity to return to Southern California, but Lute turned down the USC offer. However, Lute did use the leverage of the USC offer to get Bump to commit to replacing the Fieldhouse. Carver really is the hole that Lute dug. He had complete control over the design. Lute traveled all over the country visiting arenas & talking to the architects/engineers of the arenas. Sadly, one of the facilities that impressed Lute the most was Arizona's.

Lute & Bobbi couldn't go out to dinner. When they entered the restaurant, everybody would give them a standing ovation. The Olson family did not have any privacy.

Anybody ever been in the old place when the team would come onto the court? The place would go nuts shouting Lute, Lute, Lute... Everybody was clapping and stomping their feet on the wooden bleachers & the sheet metal in the upper decks. It was awesome & deafening! A truly great experience.
 
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Hawk90, so substitute "fired" for "gone" and my points remain the same. Now that I think about it Tom was never fired, he just didn't get his contract renewed. You want Fran "gone", is that a safe assumption?
 
ibahawkeye said:
Wash... We beat them in the challenge this year, did we not?

They have best record in tourney but they've also had some favorable match ups with their best win being over a 7 seed.... I think that's what I heard on the radio.

Dont let one week of bball lead to a conclusion.
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It's not a landslide but it's not a wash either. Duke and UNC are 2 of the top 3 programs in the country. I'll give you that MSU is a top 4 or 5 team but that doesn't compare to trying to get past coach K or Roy W in the ACC. Louisville and Virginia are both top 10-12 programs right now as well and Miami's not bad either. Indiana is good this year but haven't been that great up til this year. Wisconsin has been up there but with Bo gone, how long will that last?

Going to the ACC wouldn't be the foremost factor in Fran's mind in a hypothetical move but it isn't totally negligible either. Fran and Iowa have finished 3rd the last two years. It's hard to imagine him getting Pitt up that high in the ACC.
 
ssckelley said:
Hawk90, so substitute "fired" for "gone" and my points remain the same. Now that I think about it Tom was never fired, he just didn't get his contract renewed. You want Fran "gone", is that a safe assumption?
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Yes that is a safe assumption. He has had top recruits. A. Woodbury was #39 ESPN, #50 Rivals did he improve offensively over 4 years? Gessell and Uthoff were both highly recruited. Fran had the talent, but he made game day decisions that were incredibly stupid by anyone's standards. Why did he continue to sit players when they had a hot hand? Why do you sit your best defensive player for 10 minutes in a tourney game, how do you blow a 20 point lead and lose to an instate rival and on and on and on. Look he brought us out of the hole, good for him. I will say it again, I do not think he should be fired at this time. I do not think that he is good game day coach. I think the sign of a good coach is the team improves as the year goes on. Look at the improvement Mr. Davis made with some of his big men, some of those guys could not walk and chew gum as Freshmen.

As I've said in other posts, making the tourney is not a big deal anymore. 50% of B1G made it, it is about seeding and how you play in the tourney. I think Fran has had 6 years and we have seen his top end. We have peaked with Fran, I would love to be wrong.
 
Hawk90 said:
Yes that is a safe assumption. He has had top recruits. A. Woodbury was #39 ESPN, #50 Rivals did he improve offensively over 4 years? Gessell and Uthoff were both highly recruited. Fran had the talent, but he made game day decisions that were incredibly stupid by anyone's standards.
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This part is incorrect, getting 1 top 100 recruit does not mean he has had "top recruits". IIRC Iowa State has had 3 top 100 recruits during that same time period. Gesell was highly rated when he chose Iowa over Nebraska, Uthoff was a 3 star when he committed to Wisconsin, and everybody else for the most part Fran was beating mid majors for recruits.

I'll agree that he has made some questionable game decisions but he must be doing something right to take a team that is not blessed with a bunch of top recruits and compete for B1G title and 2nd round of the NCAA tournament. Go look at the recruiting classes Indiana & MSU gets, yet Fran had Iowa right there in contention and beat MSU twice this year.

I also want to see Iowa take that next step but I think Fran has earned the right to have that chance.
 
No actually, I don't. WF, GT, VA Tech are all terrible. Rutgers was the only terrible Big Ten team this as evidenced by the Big Ten wining the ACC/BigTen challenge.
 
Maybe today Hawks are but UNI and ISU didn't have two terrible hires in a row before finding a real coach. Historically,it's not even close. Just relax.
 
jfwolfe said:
And how do you know this? Just curious.
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How do I know Jamie Dixon is regarded higher than Fran McCaffery? Dixon has a winning NCAA Tournament record and is younger than Fran, Fran has had two collapses in 3 years and is 4-8 in the NCAA Tournament, Fran did get his first major job until he was 50, etc.
 
jfwolfe said:
No actually, I don't. WF, GT, VA Tech are all terrible. Rutgers was the only terrible Big Ten team this as evidenced by the Big Ten wining the ACC/BigTen challenge.
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Minnesota was awful as well. IL, PSU and Neb weren't great either. Let's not get all high and mighty about the B10/ACC Challenge series. B10 overall record in that is 83-100 while the series is at 5-10-2.
 
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