Schwartz: Hawkeye coach Fran McCaffery Still a Mystery

[Jason Rann]

"He represents the university, his players, and fans with honor and respect." Really? Does that include when he throws things on the sidelines, has to be physically held back from attacking referees, screams in his player's faces in public? A balanced view of him -- which I think was the intent of the article -- probably would have been more accurate without this broad, very unbalanced assertion. I actually like the intent of the article, which is to say he defies easy characterization, which makes him, well...human. And I actually think he's done a noticeably better job of controlling his emotions during games this year than past years. Unfortunately, altho I thought he started out showing a lot of respect toward the media at the start of his tenure, that seems to have faded and he's become more controlling and less patient in that regard. My 3 words?
Offensive. (in basketball style)
Thin-skinned.

Over-exaggerate much? Good lord.

 

[GoHawks12345]

If, however, I explained that the Hawkeyes won just two NCAA Tournament games in McCaffery’s first eight seasons, the fan might ask whether McCaffery is on the hot seat.

She might also ask to be put back in the coma.

 

[1hawkeye1]

High-strung, supportive, honest

 

[PCHawk]

The title got me to read his article. I'm glad I did. If the teams would have finished strong those 2 years, he would be loved by almost everyone, even with last year. I dont know what happened those years. His son getting cancer? Couldn't handle the pressure of their ranking? Was never good enough to get the other team's best effort night in and night out? (that one is very possible) Whatever it was, as long as it wasnt something Fran could control, it's not something that is likely to happen again. If that's the case, he's going to do good things in the future. If whatever happened those years was something to do with him and his coaching style, he will never be much better than what he's been up until now. There is no way to know what caused those meltdowns, which is part of his mystery.

 

[JG10Hawk]

"Hyperbolic" for sure, the other two can be mix and match.

 

[TheIowaHawkGuy]

Still a mystery after nearly a decade. That is a troubling statement.

Fran not playing the transfer market to address needs is just a killer misstep on his part. Would’ve prevented last year from happening. Always going to be fear of a Fran collapse when things are going well. That’s the perception this program has created under Fran. That is no mystery.

 

[HaydenHawk56]

Uptight, competitive, limited

 

[smitharooney]

Another chokejob at home will be etched on his tombstone

 

[homes]

Schwartz has it all wrong. Dolphin didn’t compare Fernando to an ape. Schwartz compared Fernando to an ape and then projected his thought onto Dolphin. Who’s the racist here?

 

[ChosenChildren]

He's not a mystery this year. He's 21-6. That's all that matters in the Big Ten today.