One theory for the replacement of red-faced Fran with mild-mannered Fran passed along to me by someone who is a long-time follower of Iowa hoops, is that during the off season, Beth made it clear that his reputation for on court antics and being commonly referred to as "Red Faced Fran" is at least in part responsible for the drop in attendance and the growing apathy in the fan base, and is simply detrimental to the image of Iowa athletics that she wants to see in her coaching staff. So, the argument is that she made it clear that his outbursts won't be tolerated much longer.
Not discounting the argument that he is looking forward to joining the family in Indianapolis sooner than later, as both rationales for his keeping his cool on the bench can be true.
Regarding Fran's leaving the squad that buried the Hosers in nearly until the final buzzer, there's likely another reason besides making a point with the bench. Woodson's team blew a 21-point lead in CHA last season, & the Hawks won 91-89. Fran already had one T, & in the 2nd half he crossed the mid-court line to discuss something with a ref. An Indiana asst became involved. The ref signaled a second T, but it was not executed. In the post-game interviews, Mike Woodson called the failure to follow through with the 2nd T "BS" (using those naughty words) & bellowed that "that guy" should have been thrown out the game. My guess is that was still in Fran's mind when the lead mounted to 30, but the players who had built it stayed in the game.
Sitting across from the benches, i watched carefully to see what sort of exchange there would be between the coaches as they left the court. Woodson moved as quickly as possible, and it appeared that there was a very quick handshake with no conversation and minimal eye contact as he kept right on going.
Waiting briefly near the doorway while bundling up, we overheard a small group of attendees wearing red sweatshirts grumbling about what a horrible performance Woodson's team put on, and how a coaching change needs to be made. (Smiling as we left, it was really nice to hear the other team being the one having that discussion!)
Let's hope the team D that was played against the Hosers is going to remain a feature of men's hoops!
