I’m done with Fran

The extension Barta gave Fran in late 2017 doubled Fran's buyout which makes him one of the most expensive coaches to fire in the country. Unless the program craters he's pretty well entrenched as the coach. Which is too bad because I think Drake's Darian DeVries is going to be getting alot of looks from other programs and while he would be a good fit at Iowa and has some credibility in recruiting from his days at Creighton, I think he will be signed elsewhere by the time Iowa is ready to make a change.
 
skinnykilmer17 said:
??? I can't imagine gate revenue/season ticket revenue is good. Was Mich St a sellout? Any other games this year?
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It seems obvious that season ticket and gate revenue is down. However, there may be enough corporate sponsorship to allow for an overall gain in revenue. If so, Barta may care much less about the dip in attendance.
 
MelroseHawkins said:
It was funny when the refs didn't honor that and T him up.
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What was also funny is that, the whole time, you could see Barta sitting behind Fran watching Fran's meltdown. You could almost see him running through his mind something like "Oh crap, he's gonna get run, embarrass the program and I'm gonna have to deal with this again."

From Barta, I'm sure that would have been just some corporate statement though.
 
I think it's too easy to get caught up in the tough losses, poor performance, and frustrating coaching. I think there are still good things about the way Fran runs this program.

But I will agree 100% that the antics and the whole "please T me up!!!" routine is outrageous, counterproductive, and petulant. It doesn't reflect well on the program and it does NOT do the team good. Ideally, if a coach were to turn around a struggling program and develop a long career, he'd act like this in his first few seasons. Fight his tail off to gain respect and put the program's name out there. Then, as the program develops and improves, the need for these antics lessens and the coach evolves into a more strategic tactician style. This evolution has not happened, for the program, nor for Fran.

Think about it, how many fans (and members of this message board) wish that Ferentz showed more fire and emotion? I think the takeaway message is that, like most areas of life, it's best to find the happy-medium.
 
SteveGarvey1 said:
What was also funny is that, the whole time, you could see Barta sitting behind Fran watching Fran's meltdown. You could almost see him running through his mind something like "Oh crap, he's gonna get run, embarrass the program and I'm gonna have to deal with this again."

From Barta, I'm sure that would have been just some corporate statement though.
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I missed that. I will have to start looking for Barta. That could add an interesting dimension to game-watching.
 
hawkeye12345 said:
Just to be clear, it’s not just about losing this game. It’s more about the overall ability to prepare a team to play AND make adjustments during a game when your initial plan goes poorly.

Dropping in 5 players who wouldn’t start on any B1G team as a form of negative motivation is just childish. Then he tries, i mean really tries, to get T’d up in another midget minded effort to create motivation.

If this were her first time he’s pulled this type of tactic it might be overlooked but this is a consistent pattern.
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Going by that quote alone shows you know nothing about coaching. I've done that before. I know many coaches who do that. If a player who should be playing and KNOWS he should be playing but isn't playing because of his lack of effort and the coach communicates to that player that he's not playing because of his lack of effort, that player should be motivated to give more effort. And that is clearly what Fran was trying to do. that "no name" lineup you complained about did exactly what we needed and made the starters play harder.

I am of the school of thought that the coach should NEVER have to motivate a player to play hard - that should come from within the player. Our issues with the poor defense are typically because of a lack of effort. Maybe not by all five at the same time, but definitely with individual players. Until that is cleared up, until no player can be allowed to coast on defense, we will have defensive "efforts" like this.
 
Calipari swooping in to steal Tyler Ulis at the last minute put this program back for a couple years. He was the type of PG we never landed. Fran worked his tail off, beat MSU and some other nice programs. Then a Kentucky recruit bails out and Cal offers Ulis as a fallback. The rest is average point guard history.
 
TulipCityHawk said:
Calipari swooping in to steal Tyler Ulis at the last minute put this program back for a couple years. He was the type of PG we never landed. Fran worked his tail off, beat MSU and some other nice programs. Then a Kentucky recruit bails out and Cal offers Ulis as a fallback. The rest is average point guard history.
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It's been thoroughly reported that MSU was ahead of Iowa before Calipari offered.
 
Most will agree with a true point guard this team is completely different. Coaches know it too. They haven't gotten it done on the recruiting side. No problem with criticism here as it is obvious to see.

The "bad" lineup in the second half was due to our starters not playing defense. They already gave up 50 plus in first half. What should a coach do in that situation? Not make a change? I've seen several hall of fame coaches do the same thing. Coach K, Izzo, etc. This isn't me saying Fran is hall of fame coach.

I agree with the scrapping the man to man defense. We aren't able to hang with most teams this way.

2 losses in a row and who they were to aren't a big surprise. Let the season play out. I don't expect us to beat Michigan either. This team lost 3 in a row. Then won 5 in a row. Don't count them out yet. With that said, I'm still holding my breathe like many of you.
 
Deace asks the right question in the most recent podcast when he asked why is Barta still the AD at Iowa? The other comment made is who wants Barta to chose the next coach? Barta is a facility promoter and that’s all you can say good about him. Both of the two major sports programs are in an mediocre pit. Basketball may achieve mediocrity this year but last year we did t even meet that standard. Deace is also right in that Fran’s best days as Iowa’s head coach may be behind him.
 
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hoxrock said:
The extension Barta gave Fran in late 2017 doubled Fran's buyout which makes him one of the most expensive coaches to fire in the country. Unless the program craters he's pretty well entrenched as the coach. Which is too bad because I think Drake's Darian DeVries is going to be getting alot of looks from other programs and while he would be a good fit at Iowa and has some credibility in recruiting from his days at Creighton, I think he will be signed elsewhere by the time Iowa is ready to make a change.
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This is correct. Given his buyout, there's no way he gets fired yet. Barta has not shown any ability to make a major call like that anyway. Not to mention, I don't want him to pick the next coach.
 
hawks23 said:
Most will agree with a true point guard this team is completely different. Coaches know it too. They haven't gotten it done on the recruiting side. No problem with criticism here as it is obvious to see.

The "bad" lineup in the second half was due to our starters not playing defense. They already gave up 50 plus in first half. What should a coach do in that situation? Not make a change? I've seen several hall of fame coaches do the same thing. Coach K, Izzo, etc. This isn't me saying Fran is hall of fame coach.

I agree with the scrapping the man to man defense. We aren't able to hang with most teams this way.

2 losses in a row and who they were to aren't a big surprise. Let the season play out. I don't expect us to beat Michigan either. This team lost 3 in a row. Then won 5 in a row. Don't count them out yet. With that said, I'm still holding my breathe like many of you.
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My only complaint with this mentality is that he shouldn't have let them back in. If he really wants to drive a point home, then completely base their playing time individually on their defensive effort. Guy misses an assignment, next man in until the guys behind him have failed to do the same. I think by benching all 5 and them bringing them all back later, it takes away from how poorly our defense has been on an individual basis.
 
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