How would I feel if Fran left?

L

longtimer

Well-Known Member
OK His tenure at Iowa is the definition of Mediocre. Certainly some good things, but no championships Hasn't won more than a game in the tournament, some pretty bad years as recent as 2 years ago. In 9 years he has taken us to a level beyond Lick but there are probably some Jr High coaches that could have done that. Add to his record some behavior issues which reflect poorly on the University and can't help his recruiting efforts and the word that keeps coming up is mediocre.
Would I be excited to see him leave? not excited but my sleep wouldn't be impacted. Excited to see him stay? again not excited but not totally depressed either. Do I think he might leave? No At his age with his record Im not sure why any major program would consider him?
So what is my biggest fear? Barta making another hire! Now that's depressing and might impact my sleep
 
The timing of him possibly leaving could be telling. With his kids and all that its early enough it wouldnt be the biggest deal ever.

Another thing I think is maybe he feels hes plateaued at Iowa. 9 yrs and this is as good as it gets. If your going to leave on your own (most likely get a raise) even if the job you're going to is a sideways move then this may be as good of timing as there is.

That's not even factoring in to what extent the whole he and Dolph and Barta triangle was all about. If there is more to that then we know... Barta the genius he is eluded as much but then caught himself when asked to elaborate on it at the time. So who knows if there was any one thing but it's not tough to add up some things thatd make sense for Fran to have a wandering eye.
Those planes dont just take off without communication prior. They came to Iowa city to sit down with someone be it Fran or someone representing him. Pretty simple
 
I would feel the same way I did when Davis left. "Meh". Both are solid coaches who didn't prioritize half-court defense as much as the teams do that are routinely in the Sweet 16. Both had Iowa respectable but couldn't capitalize when they had the talent assembled.

I feel bad for Fran because Iowa doesn't prioritize basketball anywhere close to the level that the football team is but the smartest thing for an athletic department to do is give the football team every resource it needs to be successful and every other program gets the leftovers. So I can't fault Barta and company for putting as much money in the football program as they do.
 
I wouldn't care so much about Fran - so long, don't let the door hit ya. He did a nice job, but nothing extraordinary. Not enough to be too sentimental. Iowa can be attractive to the right guy, but that unknown is what scares me more & that it would blow this team up and to be honest, I was excited for the next few years with what we have.
 
I would feel like Fran went through a lot over the past few years only to leave before it could pay off in the end for him.

Jok's senior year was a letdown, last year was a disaster, then this year was a comeback year of sorts...next year Iowa will have Bohannon/Cook?/Kriener/Moss all seniors, Pemsl/Garza Juniors, Wieskamp/Nunge/Connor Sophomores, Patrick/Fredrick/Touissant Freshman. Fran has all the pieces in place to be a top 4 Big Ten team. Why would he leave now for Arkansas? It just doesn't make sense at all
 
mopkins said:
I would feel like Fran went through a lot over the past few years only to leave before it could pay off in the end for him.

Jok's senior year was a letdown, last year was a disaster, then this year was a comeback year of sorts...next year Iowa will have Bohannon/Cook?/Kriener/Moss all seniors, Pemsl/Garza Juniors, Wieskamp/Nunge/Connor Sophomores, Patrick/Fredrick/Touissant Freshman. Fran has all the pieces in place to be a top 4 Big Ten team. Why would he leave now for Arkansas? It just doesn't make sense at all
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agree, on paper it doesn't make sense, but like Rob said, there has been a lot of drama during his tenure here at Iowa. Behind closed doors, attitudes could have changed. Ultimatums could have been made about his behavior and Fran didn't like it. It's hard to know. I also think on one hand, Iowa is a much better position to make a hire then it was 9 years ago. No question. On the other hand I think Fran leaving right now - with all that is place, coming off a good season and having a big contract in place, his kids here and he still leaves?....it wouldn't be the best look to potential coaches imo -
 
I think it’s a terrible timing considering our rival and one of the closest schools in proximity in the conference just hired Hoiberg. Like Deace said on today’s cast, someone is going down if Nebraska goes up. His leading candidates are Iowa, Minnesota and WI
 
mopkins said:
I would feel like Fran went through a lot over the past few years only to leave before it could pay off in the end for him.

Jok's senior year was a letdown, last year was a disaster, then this year was a comeback year of sorts...next year Iowa will have Bohannon/Cook?/Kriener/Moss all seniors, Pemsl/Garza Juniors, Wieskamp/Nunge/Connor Sophomores, Patrick/Fredrick/Touissant Freshman. Fran has all the pieces in place to be a top 4 Big Ten team. Why would he leave now for Arkansas? It just doesn't make sense at all
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To me Devin Marble's senior year was another letdown in that I really thought they had a chance to get the whole enchilada, as in winning the B1G title.
 
Hawkfnntn said:
The timing of him possibly leaving could be telling. With his kids and all that its early enough it wouldnt be the biggest deal ever.

Another thing I think is maybe he feels hes plateaued at Iowa. 9 yrs and this is as good as it gets. If your going to leave on your own (most likely get a raise) even if the job you're going to is a sideways move then this may be as good of timing as there is.

That's not even factoring in to what extent the whole he and Dolph and Barta triangle was all about. If there is more to that then we know... Barta the genius he is eluded as much but then caught himself when asked to elaborate on it at the time. So who knows if there was any one thing but it's not tough to add up some things thatd make sense for Fran to have a wandering eye.
Those planes dont just take off without communication prior. They came to Iowa city to sit down with someone be it Fran or someone representing him. Pretty simple
Click to expand...

Even before developments of the last 24 hours I wondered whether Fran was feeling that he did what he could in nine years and it was time for the next challenge.

He did bring Hawkeye hoops back from the disaster that was Todd Lickleiter. And I was optimistic when he managed to beat Roy Williams for Adam Woodbury. But that has been about the extent of Fran’s accomplishments.

Fran really hasn’t landed any blue-chippers, he has no obvious recruiting pipelines to athlete-rich areas, no one’s knocking down doors trying to hire his assistants. He wasn’t won any championships or progressed in most tournaments (other than the NIT) and his best finishes have been middle of the road in the B1G. In brutal honesty his performance is pedestrian.

For as much of an improvement as this year was over last, it really was mediocre. It should be the very least the Hawkeye fan base should expect.

I would not be sorry to see him go.
 
InGoodCo said:
I wouldn't care so much about Fran - so long, don't let the door hit ya. He did a nice job, but nothing extraordinary. Not enough to be too sentimental. Iowa can be attractive to the right guy, but that unknown is what scares me more & that it would blow this team up and to be honest, I was excited for the next few years with what we have.
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Pretty much this, for me. After 9 years, I feel Fran has already delivered all he can. I basically rate Fran a little ahead of Alford, and a little behind Davis. Indeed, that is kinda "meh". But at least still competitive. MAYBE better times are ahead? Who has their crystal ball handy? But based on the last 9 years, I'm not sure I see much better than we've already gotten.

I don't think it's automatic that next year will suck if we end up with a new coach, though. The 1986-87 team totally blossomed under Mr. Davis's coaching in his first year. Yes, they had TONS of talent, but point being the transition seemed to really help that particular group. So I'd say it all depends on the next hire. A good hire, and we'll be fine. A bad one, and we won't. It's really that simple IMO, but that is indeed the part that worries me. So I hear ya.
 
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