Iowa Extends Contract of Fran McCaffery

[InGoodCo]

Do you really think Fran would leave now if they did not do this extension at this time before the start of the tourney?

I can’t tell if this a real question lol. No Fran wouldn’t leave right now ha. I don’t even really know the idea of the question makes me wonder what level of person I’m talking to but I’ll go ahead and shoot. No, I’m not worried he would leave now. That’s too ridiculous to even consider. His chances of finishing it out S16 or above are pretty good. If he doesn’t, it’s not cause for firing. Fran was getting extension either way. So ya get it done now. Nothing in the future could change the fact that Iowa needed to up Fran. That’s what happens when coaches get down to only 3 years left on their contracts. But let’s say Iowa doesn’t give him the extension now and then he goes to the elite 8 and Notre Dame wants to talk to him. Then who holds the cards? Iowa is in an terrible negotiating position at that point. His agent could get a lot more money out of Iowa. Get it done now, Iowa wins regardless. Do you guys know how job negotiations work?

 

[HaydenHawk56]

I can’t tell if this a real question lol. No Fran wouldn’t leave right now ha. I don’t even really know the idea of the question makes me wonder what level of person I’m talking to but I’ll go ahead and shoot. No, I’m not worried would leave now. He’s gonna finish out the season. His chances of finishing it out S16 or above are pretty good. If he doesn’t, it’s not cause for firing. Fran was getting extension either way. That’s what happens when coaches get down to only 3 years left on their contracts. But let’s say Iowa doesn’t give him the extension and then he goes to the elite 8 and Notre Dame wants to talk to him. Then who holds the cards? Iowa is in and negotiating position at that point. Get it done now, at a prove you’re happy with, Iowa wins regardless. Do you guys know how job negotiations work?

Not sure about why the put down for asking the question.....and I don't mean he would bolt "now" persay....in fact I don't believe he would leave at all. Things are good here and his kids are going through the program.

I asked you the question because you said you were afraid for Iowa's program if they did not do this now. To me, that says you are afraid he would leave. So that is why I asked the question for clarification. It would seem you are worried about Notre Dame in the mix.

But, if you are not worried, the negotiation should have waited because we have nothing to worry about (as I would contend). And, if we would get that far to the Elite 8, we would up the green at that time anyway.

Premature contract. Putting the cart before the horse...whatever you want to call it. Fran is laughing to the bank right now....he does not even have to win the first game and he has 4 more years.

 

[InGoodCo]

Not sure about why the put down for asking the question.....and I don't mean he would bolt "now" persay....in fact I don't believe he would leave at all. Things are good here and his kids are going through the program.

So then the negotiation should have waited because we have nothing to worry about. And, if we would get that far to the Elite 8, we would up the green at that time anyway.

Premature contract.

Good god. I can’t man. We’re done. You’re the one who asked me the question, it was a ridiculous question on every account. Iowa was never going to be in a better negotiating spot with Fran, but could certainly have been in a worse one, and if you don’t get that, maybe you shouldn’t be posting with the adults

 

[HaydenHawk56]

Good god. I can’t man. We’re done. You’re the one who asked me the question, it was a ridiculous question on every account. Iowa was never going to be in a better negotiating spot with Fran, but could certainly have been in a worse one, and if you don’t get that, maybe you shouldn’t be posting with the adults

We can disagree, but come on, don't insult me please. You made it sound that you are worried if Barta did not make this deal now, that Fran would bolt. So, that is what I was asking for clarification on. If you really believed that. Not now of course, but at the conclusion of the year.

 

[Knight78]

There are so many on here with very short memories. Mr. Davis was a very good bench coach and a so-so recruiter. And he inherited a TON of NBA talent who played two seasons for him. HaydenHawk56 has stated he made an Elite 8 and two Sweet 16's - essentially he used Raveling's recruits to get to the first Sweet 16 and the Elite 8. (The saying was that if we could get George to stay on and just be the recruiter for Mr. Davis we really would have had something.)

We got complacent and got rid of Mr. Davis, mainly due to his inefficient handling of off the court issues and we wanted to "take the next step". We then got Alford. He wasn't a good fit at Iowa because there isn't a building in the state that's big enough to house his ego. And all he did was complain that he couldn't recruit because Iowa was a football school. And his handling of "he who shall not be named" was absolutely his ticket out of Iowa.

Next, we thought we had a up-and-comer with Lick. After all he was the Coach of the Year when we hired him. (Butler didn't lock him into a contract extension before the tournament and we struck when the iron was hot). Little did we know that the real brains behind Butler was his assistant, Brad Stevens. And we struggled through three seasons with him and his boring style of basketball. I still think if there wasn't a shot clock Lick would have held the ball the entire half and taken one shot - a three pointer shot by an undersized guard with two defenders on him.

Then we hired Fran. He inherited a dumpster fire with a roster of a couple of good players and the rest was mid-major talent. (One wonders what he would have done with a roster full of NBA talent when he first got here.) While Fran is a decent coach and a tireless recruiter, it took a while to attract Big Ten level talent due to what Lick had done to the program. But Fran recruits high character players who we are proud to call Hawkeyes and his players graduate.

And people here are again thinking we should "take the next step".

 

[HaydenHawk56]

I will tell you what ingoodCo and others.....Fran is not going anywhere and no one has a real shot at trying to attempt to pouch him from Iowa City unless he gets to the Elite 8 or better. Even then, Barta and Iowa would be able to put a contract extension (like they just did and I believe would be justifiable then) and that would be the end of that.

Fran's family is here, his kids are going through the program and times are good for him. Unless he had a strong itch to coach at a blue-chip school (Fran does not have the resume currently so moot point they are not going after him). He is not leaving for a lateral job either.

Bottom line, Barta opened up the treasure chest and gave Fran more money that he really has not earned yet, but very well could by end of this tournament. Why not just wait until then? Again, he is not leaving and we are at a low risk to lose him.

 

[HaydenHawk56]

There are so many on here with very short memories. Mr. Davis was a very good bench coach and a so-so recruiter. And he inherited a TON of NBA talent who played two seasons for him. HaydenHawk56 has stated he made an Elite 8 and two Sweet 16's - essentially he used Raveling's recruits to get to the first Sweet 16 and the Elite 8. (The saying was that if we could get George to stay on and just be the recruiter for Mr. Davis we really would have had something.)

We got complacent and got rid of Mr. Davis, mainly due to his inefficient handling of off the court issues and we wanted to "take the next step". We then got Alford. He wasn't a good fit at Iowa because there isn't a building in the state that's big enough to house his ego. And all he did was complain that he couldn't recruit because Iowa was a football school. And his handling of "he who shall not be named" was absolutely his ticket out of Iowa.

Next, we thought we had a up-and-comer with Lick. After all he was the Coach of the Year when we hired him. (Butler didn't lock him into a contract extension before the tournament and we struck when the iron was hot). Little did we know that the real brains behind Butler was his assistant, Brad Stevens. And we struggled through three seasons with him and his boring style of basketball. I still think if there wasn't a shot clock Lick would have held the ball the entire half and taken one shot - a three pointer shot by an undersized guard with two defenders on him.

Then we hired Fran. He inherited a dumpster fire with a roster of a couple of good players and the rest was mid-major talent. (One wonders what he would have done with a roster full of NBA talent when he first got here.) While Fran is a decent coach and a tireless recruiter, it took a while to attract Big Ten level talent due to what Lick had done to the program. But Fran recruits high character players who we are proud to call Hawkeyes and his players graduate.

And people here are again thinking we should "take the next step".

Davis had Boston College in the Elite 8. Davis knew what he was doing. Sure George's guys helped the cause when he got here, but Davis had/has the resume. He coached those studs to an Elite 8. He earned his strips.....just did not win the whole thing or Big Ten Titles.

I think you are right, Fran deserves credit for rebuilding the program. And I think he would deserve credit and more years IF he produces a top end run in this tournament. But, don't pay the guy for something he has not accomplished yet. He is a low flight risk LOL. And, even if he did bolt because he did not get a contract extension now (he is not bolting, his family is here, his kids are playing in the program, times are good for Fran).....this is just Barta bumbling through another ordeal.

We would be able to get another coach on Fran's level. As if Fran is the only guy who can run an uptempo system.

Sure, Barta will save some face if he makes a deep run, but it is still not a bright move to make at this time.

Again, so it would seem, if you are white, straight coach, who keeps his team's heads above water (competitive teams) he (Barta) will give you the keys to Scrooge McDuck's vault. You can have it made working for him. And, if you don't check the boxes, you also have a great chance at winning a lawsuit eventually. So, it is a win win.

I agree with incompany that a extension would be had....where I disagree is that it could have waited until this season is officially over. For example, if he does not get out of the first weekend, we could have structured a smaller extension (like 2 years) with increased monetary incentives for reaching certain levels.

Man, if I'm Fran, I'm thinking shit I can do no wrong with this guy. Thanks for the money pal!!!!

 

[WindsorHawk]

There are so many false assumptions in there I wouldn't know where to start.

Your posts in this thread are so ridiculous I’m not commenting on them individually. Just assume this applies to all of them.

 

[WindsorHawk]

The bashers in this thread...crazy talk. And I can’t figure out why everyone is talking NCAA flameout. It’s unthinkable to me that we aren’t playing the 2nd weekend...at least.

 

[lazyhawkfan]

If you know you are going to buy a specific house and all indicators point towards a market that is about to get really hot with a good potential to see the price increase, do you pay fair market value now or wait to make sure indicators come to fruition and risk paying much more, knowing you are going to buy the house either way? I have no problem with getting this deal done. They managed to delay it a year already and got to see that last year that was cut short was not an anomaly and this year the brand advanced further. It's deserved and the likelihood iowa advances to the s16 or e8 is much higher than a 1st or 2nd round exit imo. If the advance that far the costs would increase. If they don't advance to s16, it's likely the costs wouldn't even go down. It's a risk reward assessment and I think they made the right choice.

 

[InGoodCo]

To suggest Fran isn’t going anywhere is absolutely made up. You do not know that. One of his dream jobs could be opening as he’s about to embark on his highest seed in NCAA. He’s uprooted his family to take steps up in his career at will throughout life. To think he has some unbreakable tie to Iowa is false. To suggest other schools wouldn’t be interested is also false. Literally look around at other programs. Especially ones around Iowa. They are all on shakey ground at the moment. Creighton, NU, ISU, minne, k state etc. if your Iowa, you’re not worried about Fran going there, but stability helps in recruiting and most of those kids are on Iowa’s radar. I don’t think he wants to leave Iowa, but if your good employer you don’t push out good employees and then good employees stay working for you. This is how the world works

 

[Fryowa]

Two starters that many experts project to go to NBA,

Huge, huge stretch. Wieskamp isn't an NBA guy. He could play in Europe somewhere if that's what he wants, but the NBA isn't going to be his bag.

As far as Garza, I think the Illinois game was the best example oif why folks say (not just me) he'll struggle at that level. Cockburn is the type of player he'd see every night in the NBA. Bigger, stronger, and faster. Cockburn was boxing Garza out at will, and most of the time he was getting bounced completely out of position. There were people here and on twitter complaining about those box outs being fouls, but if you think they don't get called in NCAA, they definitely ain't getting called in the pro game.

I agree with your point that those two guys are elite level college basketball players, but I don't necessarily think they're going to thrive at the NBA level. It takes a size and physicality level that is just unreal.

 

[PCHawk]

The difference between Fran and Davis is one was slowly taking the program in the wrong direction and the other is slowly taking it in the right direction.

 

[PCHawk]

Nope. Doesn’t work that way. You’re saying with a lot of words that essentially his 24 pts a game would be replaced by other players. If that were the case we’d be in this #5-ish spot every year (assuming the same lineup minus Garza).

You talk about “math” not working, then let’s see you take Garza’s WS and WS/40 and make the “math” work out to the same Iowa wins...

It doesn’t, FYI. I’ll save you the trouble.

Even if you want to use the “efficiency” metric you’re talking about, replace Garza with someone else’s effective FG percentage and see if Iowa still scores enough to win the same number of ballgames. It’s pretty simple...you can’t replace his win shares unless you have someone as skillled coming up the pike...and we both know there’s no Garza waiting in the wings.

You completely underestimate the impact Luka has on this team and that’s not hyperbole. Even with Murray taking up some of the scoring slack, you’re going to get a rude awakening next year when that piece is missing.

Wrong. I said his shots would be replaced by others. The difference would be how many points are scored on those shots other players take vs how many points Garza scored on those shots. It will be a decent difference. Probably 4-6 points per game. Hopefully our defense improves enough to make up for some of that. Im definitely not minimizing how much he means when I say we would have only lost a couple more games. I only say that because of how the games played out. We had very few close wins this year.

But my main point with regards to you saying Fran got lucky with Garza was saying he didn't get lucky signing Garza, he got lucky with how good he got. If Garza was a little less efficient, he would score a few less points per game and get no national recognition. He would probably still be a first team conference guy and lead us to the same number of wins (maybe one less) but no one would say how mucky Fran got. That small increase in skill that led him to national player of the year is the only reason you are saying Fran was lucky. I just find it ridiculous to say we are NIT without Garza. Why take him off the team completely? If you want to play the what if game, he should at least be on the team still and just improve to the normal first teamer like all of Frans other lead guys.

 

[PCHawk]

If you know you are going to buy a specific house and all indicators point towards a market that is about to get really hot with a good potential to see the price increase, do you pay fair market value now or wait to make sure indicators come to fruition and risk paying much more, knowing you are going to buy the house either way? I have no problem with getting this deal done. They managed to delay it a year already and got to see that last year that was cut short was not an anomaly and this year the brand advanced further. It's deserved and the likelihood iowa advances to the s16 or e8 is much higher than a 1st or 2nd round exit imo. If the advance that far the costs would increase. If they don't advance to s16, it's likely the costs wouldn't even go down. It's a risk reward assessment and I think they made the right choice.

This is a good analogy. People are either thinking we should maybe not buy the house in a week or we could somehow get it cheaper. The former is ridiculous. The latter is possible I guess. But there are two reasons its a dumb argument. One is there is a lot bigger chance the contract would go up from here than down. The other reason is who the F cares if we paid a small amount too much because we aren't even the ones paying. Getting mad about Fran getting slightly too much on his contract is like going into the local Casey's and batching because they gave the cashier a 50 cent raise when he would have stayed for 25. You aren't paying the bill so why care?

 

[hawkdrummer1]

Then what the heck are you saying? Are you saying don't extend him at all if we lose early?

OK, we clearly see this differently, no reason we can't stay civil. Here's why I said your post was built on false assumptions. In short, there is no sense of urgency.

"... he was getting the extension either way. Iowa was literally in a better or at worst same position by doing it now rather than waiting until after the tournament."

How so? If IOWA doesn't go deep Barta has played his cards too soon (and possibly given Fran more than his performance warrants). Therefore it's possible to be in a better negotiating position if the team doesn't do well and Fran has another early out. (Which I hope to hell doesn't happen and don't expect).

To say IOWA would be in a worse position later likely assumes one or more of the following;

-Fran is interested in leaving IC. Highly unlikely, he has 2 boys in the program and is pretty entrenched. That can always change but there's zero indication that he's thinking that.
-Other schools are going to come knocking on the door offering big money. Again, no sign of that. If it did happen, you're assuming it would be a big enough program to drive up the price. Those are few and far between...and many probably not interested in Fran.
-If IOWA makes a big run, say a Final Four or even better, Fran would demand bigger money than he just got, so Barta just got a "good deal". Much as I'd love that to happen, it's against the odds. If it does, what's to keep Fran (or his agent) from coming back to Barta asking for more anyway. Nothing, it's been done before.

In addition, consider this. Terms of the extension haven't been released, but the current contract had a "departure penalty" of $2M to start out, reduced by $250,000 each year. If the extension terms are similar (we haven't seen them yet) that means if a blue blood really did come for Fran...the financial roadblock to stop it is small. (Hoiberg's contract, for example requires him to pay $10M+ if he leaves now). So unless there's a surprise in the new contract it doesn't guarantee Fran stays.

Fran has had a great year, he's deserving. You want incoming recruits to see their coach signed for the full four years so this is the year for an extension. But there's no sense of urgency so I (and apparently many others) think Barta should have waited. If the team crushes it in the tourney, it's a reward extension. If they stumble it's a vote of confidence in Fran.

But, now they have to perform well, or it will look bad. Gary may be good at fund raising and admin, but he's lousy at PR and timing.

 

[BigD]

Huge, huge stretch. Wieskamp isn't an NBA guy. He could play in Europe somewhere if that's what he wants, but the NBA isn't going to be his bag.

As far as Garza, I think the Illinois game was the best example oif why folks say (not just me) he'll struggle at that level. Cockburn is the type of player he'd see every night in the NBA. Bigger, stronger, and faster. Cockburn was boxing Garza out at will, and most of the time he was getting bounced completely out of position. There were people here and on twitter complaining about those box outs being fouls, but if you think they don't get called in NCAA, they definitely ain't getting called in the pro game.

I agree with your point that those two guys are elite level college basketball players, but I don't necessarily think they're going to thrive at the NBA level. It takes a size and physicality level that is just unreal.

*I just repeated what some had said and yes it could just be announcers hyping up the players to hype up the game.

*I agree about the Cockburn comparison, however I don’t see Colby shooting too many three pointers.

 

[HaydenHawk56]

OK, we clearly see this differently, no reason we can't stay civil. Here's why I said your post was built on false assumptions. In short, there is no sense of urgency.

"... he was getting the extension either way. Iowa was literally in a better or at worst same position by doing it now rather than waiting until after the tournament."

How so? If IOWA doesn't go deep Barta has played his cards too soon (and possibly given Fran more than his performance warrants). Therefore it's possible to be in a better negotiating position if the team doesn't do well and Fran has another early out. (Which I hope to hell doesn't happen and don't expect).

To say IOWA would be in a worse position later likely assumes one or more of the following;

-Fran is interested in leaving IC. Highly unlikely, he has 2 boys in the program and is pretty entrenched. That can always change but there's zero indication that he's thinking that.
-Other schools are going to come knocking on the door offering big money. Again, no sign of that. If it did happen, you're assuming it would be a big enough program to drive up the price. Those are few and far between...and many probably not interested in Fran.
-If IOWA makes a big run, say a Final Four or even better, Fran would demand bigger money than he just got, so Barta just got a "good deal". Much as I'd love that to happen, it's against the odds. If it does, what's to keep Fran (or his agent) from coming back to Barta asking for more anyway. Nothing, it's been done before.

In addition, consider this. Terms of the extension haven't been released, but the current contract had a "departure penalty" of $2M to start out, reduced by $250,000 each year. If the extension terms are similar (we haven't seen them yet) that means if a blue blood really did come for Fran...the financial roadblock to stop it is small. (Hoiberg's contract, for example requires him to pay $10M+ if he leaves now). So unless there's a surprise in the new contract it doesn't guarantee Fran stays.

Fran has had a great year, he's deserving. You want incoming recruits to see their coach signed for the full four years so this is the year for an extension. But there's no sense of urgency so I (and apparently many others) think Barta should have waited. If the team crushes it in the tourney, it's a reward extension. If they stumble it's a vote of confidence in Fran.

But, now they have to perform well, or it will look bad. Gary may be good at fund raising and admin, but he's lousy at PR and timing.

Well said. Agree 100%

 

[BigD]

OK, we clearly see this differently, no reason we can't stay civil. Here's why I said your post was built on false assumptions. In short, there is no sense of urgency.

"... he was getting the extension either way. Iowa was literally in a better or at worst same position by doing it now rather than waiting until after the tournament."

How so? If IOWA doesn't go deep Barta has played his cards too soon (and possibly given Fran more than his performance warrants). Therefore it's possible to be in a better negotiating position if the team doesn't do well and Fran has another early out. (Which I hope to hell doesn't happen and don't expect).

To say IOWA would be in a worse position later likely assumes one or more of the following;

-Fran is interested in leaving IC. Highly unlikely, he has 2 boys in the program and is pretty entrenched. That can always change but there's zero indication that he's thinking that.
-Other schools are going to come knocking on the door offering big money. Again, no sign of that. If it did happen, you're assuming it would be a big enough program to drive up the price. Those are few and far between...and many probably not interested in Fran.
-If IOWA makes a big run, say a Final Four or even better, Fran would demand bigger money than he just got, so Barta just got a "good deal". Much as I'd love that to happen, it's against the odds. If it does, what's to keep Fran (or his agent) from coming back to Barta asking for more anyway. Nothing, it's been done before.

In addition, consider this. Terms of the extension haven't been released, but the current contract had a "departure penalty" of $2M to start out, reduced by $250,000 each year. If the extension terms are similar (we haven't seen them yet) that means if a blue blood really did come for Fran...the financial roadblock to stop it is small. (Hoiberg's contract, for example requires him to pay $10M+ if he leaves now). So unless there's a surprise in the new contract it doesn't guarantee Fran stays.

Fran has had a great year, he's deserving. You want incoming recruits to see their coach signed for the full four years so this is the year for an extension. But there's no sense of urgency so I (and apparently many others) think Barta should have waited. If the team crushes it in the tourney, it's a reward extension. If they stumble it's a vote of confidence in Fran.

But, now they have to perform well, or it will look bad. Gary may be good at fund raising and admin, but he's lousy at PR and timing.

Excellent post.

A two year Extention makes more sense as it gives Fran five years total which should give recruits a feeling of security. Plus we don’t know what post Garza will look like in the coming years.

It’s great getting to the NCAA tourney but if you don’t make some noise once you get there then what does it prove? Fran has yet to prove anything as an Iowa coach in the NCAA tournament thus far. This has to be the year where we make some noise. They are favored to make it to the elite eight game. The second round could prove to be perilous, but I am hoping Garza size is just too much for whomever we play and that our sharp shooting snipers are killing it from the outside.

This Saturday then Monday schedule is weird. I feel for fans who have to work the second shift on Monday.

 

[HawksMN]

To infer other schools would want Fran is pretty ridiculous. Fran has a stigma about him that scares off other schools.