Let me preface this with I have been an Iowa fan for a long time 60s however I have not always been a fan of the coaches at Iowa. Dick Shultz was a nice guy but a lousy coach, Alford was a potentially great coach but couldn't overcome the fact he was a Jerk. Lick (what can I say)
Not sure where McCaffrey fits on the spectrum but its not near the top. I have never been a fan. Why?
He is a bad recruiter. I think the last few days really bears that out. If you look at his years at Iowa you could arguably say he won one big recruiting battle. Tyler Cook. And as we in hindsight evaluate that while Tyler was talented and athletic and a good kid maybe other schools recognized he would never shoot the ball well? There are others like Weiskamp who is and will be a good player but Iowa recruited him not McCaffrey. I see on the board all these 4 and 5 star players we are recruiting ex Foster but we aren't going to get any of those. Why would they come to Iowa to play for McCaffrey? In the end we go out and recruit Tousant (sp) who Fran describes as a hard nosed player! We have some "good" hard nosed players but not the kind of players that get you to a higher level (sweet 16) Fran can't recruit
As a coach I think he probably was a decent mid major coach but his time at Iowa hasn't won him any coach of the year consideration. I know we are not a great athletic team but our defense is a pretty good example of Fran's coaching. I think even UNI with their talent level plays better defense
Finally Fran is not a great representative at times of the University I graduated from, but at least he hasn't broken a chair in a while
So where is Iowa basketball under Fran McCaffrey? I think we will periodically battle for first division finishes and a trip to the Tournament with a possible win in the tournament like this last year. But that is most likely the pinnacle of a McCaffrey coached Iowa team. Maybe that's good enough? Sure hope not
Not sure where McCaffrey fits on the spectrum but its not near the top. I have never been a fan. Why?
He is a bad recruiter. I think the last few days really bears that out. If you look at his years at Iowa you could arguably say he won one big recruiting battle. Tyler Cook. And as we in hindsight evaluate that while Tyler was talented and athletic and a good kid maybe other schools recognized he would never shoot the ball well? There are others like Weiskamp who is and will be a good player but Iowa recruited him not McCaffrey. I see on the board all these 4 and 5 star players we are recruiting ex Foster but we aren't going to get any of those. Why would they come to Iowa to play for McCaffrey? In the end we go out and recruit Tousant (sp) who Fran describes as a hard nosed player! We have some "good" hard nosed players but not the kind of players that get you to a higher level (sweet 16) Fran can't recruit
As a coach I think he probably was a decent mid major coach but his time at Iowa hasn't won him any coach of the year consideration. I know we are not a great athletic team but our defense is a pretty good example of Fran's coaching. I think even UNI with their talent level plays better defense
Finally Fran is not a great representative at times of the University I graduated from, but at least he hasn't broken a chair in a while
So where is Iowa basketball under Fran McCaffrey? I think we will periodically battle for first division finishes and a trip to the Tournament with a possible win in the tournament like this last year. But that is most likely the pinnacle of a McCaffrey coached Iowa team. Maybe that's good enough? Sure hope not