Think First Before Criticizing McCaffery
- Thread starter SheagleHawk
- Start date
twinhawkfans
Well-Known Member
Nice write up.......and dead on IMO.
clicheusername3
Banned
The old "It's better than Lick" argument. Way to set the bar high.
ibahawkeye
Well-Known Member
Can't we find some middle ground between the all time low of a program and don't criticize coach??
Fran certainly gets the benefit of having comparing the results of Lickliter but he also had the uphill battle to climb that is bringing a dead program back to life.
Me personally, I'm happy with the job Fran is doing and I wouldn't trade him for another coach at this point (and I mean a coach that would actually consider this Iowa job) but I'm also not ready to marry him and be locked in forever.
I still have major concerns with this Hawkeye roster and I think losing Devyn will hurt more than some believe. I think Dickerson hit the nail on the head. Willie Atwood means so much to this program right now I think it's scary. I'm really counting on Dickerson to be able to have an impact right away becuase if we are relying on Mike G, Josh Ogelsby, Peter Jok, Aaron White, Uthoff and Woody to win big 10 games... I think we are in trouble. I like some of the pieces but too many flaws overall.
I look at a guy like Tim Miles at Nebraska. Similar situation in a program with terrible tradition and he took them back to a round in which all 64 teams actually play and did it in half the time.... 2 years is all it took.
So please put me in the middle ground of I don't want to get rid of Fran but I'm also not going to crown him for taking us to a play in game.
Just so I get this straight:
It's perfectly reasonable to criticize Kirk Ferentz who has won 2 conference championships and a BCS game and has had his team ranked in the final top 10 more times than Hayden Fry.
But Franny Mac, whose biggest accomplishment as the Iowa head coach is making the play-in game, shouldn't be criticized?
His recruiting is pretty lackluster but he has proven to be able to get something out of the kids he brings in. His biggest problem is that his teams continue to lose close games. The sample size is getting large enough that it's starting to look like a coaching issue and not just a run of bad luck.
It's perfectly reasonable to criticize Kirk Ferentz who has won 2 conference championships and a BCS game and has had his team ranked in the final top 10 more times than Hayden Fry.
But Franny Mac, whose biggest accomplishment as the Iowa head coach is making the play-in game, shouldn't be criticized?
His recruiting is pretty lackluster but he has proven to be able to get something out of the kids he brings in. His biggest problem is that his teams continue to lose close games. The sample size is getting large enough that it's starting to look like a coaching issue and not just a run of bad luck.
1hawkeye1
Well-Known Member
'Likey"
imported_ankle23
Well-Known Member
a season ago, ferentz could do no right, fran could do no wrong. why can't ferentz be more like fran, or how the sentiment went. i will never understand the disdain so many feel towards ferentz. i guess that is just present day 'fan'.
okeefe4prez
Well-Known Member
Jettison "play-in game" from your vocabulary. We made the tourney. Period. End of story.
sportstalent
Well-Known Member
Wow the one troll posting on there, Erin, needs to get a clue. Anyway, my criticism of Fran is similar to my criticism of John Belien when he brought in his first class and the situations were pretty similar really. Fran, just like JB, stayed far too loyal to those first guys he brought in.
People can call Marble what they like, but I have to be honest, I would never saw him as a 1st team all-BIG after his freshman season. Basabe was inconsistent throughout his career and McCabe, well I will just say he was a Hawk through and through and leave it at that.
The problem is Marble was one guy...Iowa needs two or three players like that. This program was in a crap hole when Fran got to Iowa and quite frankly, nobody wanted to come to Iowa. Fran recruits the highest ranked players trying to get them to IC, he got Woodbury and almost got Ulis, but that is still not enough.
Fran is working on upgrading the overall athleticism of this team, he has Uhl, Dickerson coming in and then that other piece, hopefully, Ellingson can be a consistent outside threat along with Oglesby. Iowa has a severe lack of athleticism, shooting and still made the NCAA tournament, but hey Fran, he isn't getting it done in some people's eyes.
Iowa was a horrendous situation, one I have called toxic on many occasions and I will stand by that it was the worst Power Six conference job at the time Fran took over. It has been a total reclamation project since he got to Iowa and doing what he has done with the overall lack of talent that the Iowa roster has had in his time, is something as a fan, to be proud of. Now, if Iowa can't make strides in the next three or four years with Fran in recruiting and playing further into the NCAA tournament, or missing it a couple of years, there may be a cause for concern, but at this point unless he starts showing up drunk at games, he has a few more years.
People can call Marble what they like, but I have to be honest, I would never saw him as a 1st team all-BIG after his freshman season. Basabe was inconsistent throughout his career and McCabe, well I will just say he was a Hawk through and through and leave it at that.
The problem is Marble was one guy...Iowa needs two or three players like that. This program was in a crap hole when Fran got to Iowa and quite frankly, nobody wanted to come to Iowa. Fran recruits the highest ranked players trying to get them to IC, he got Woodbury and almost got Ulis, but that is still not enough.
Fran is working on upgrading the overall athleticism of this team, he has Uhl, Dickerson coming in and then that other piece, hopefully, Ellingson can be a consistent outside threat along with Oglesby. Iowa has a severe lack of athleticism, shooting and still made the NCAA tournament, but hey Fran, he isn't getting it done in some people's eyes.
Iowa was a horrendous situation, one I have called toxic on many occasions and I will stand by that it was the worst Power Six conference job at the time Fran took over. It has been a total reclamation project since he got to Iowa and doing what he has done with the overall lack of talent that the Iowa roster has had in his time, is something as a fan, to be proud of. Now, if Iowa can't make strides in the next three or four years with Fran in recruiting and playing further into the NCAA tournament, or missing it a couple of years, there may be a cause for concern, but at this point unless he starts showing up drunk at games, he has a few more years.
H
HawkBBFan
Guest
Biggest issue I have, was Iowa was a better team LAST year on the floor than they were this year....and the fact FRAN has YET to learn how to win the close games against the good teams...
SheagleHawk
Well-Known Member
Completely agree. I think some people are pulling their heads out of the sand and realizing we still very much need an upgrade in talent. I see some pieces coming together in Uhl, Dickerson, Hutton, and hopefully Atwood. These are the players Iowa needs to land on a yearly basis to stay a foot with the Wisconsins, MSU's and Michigans. If not, we'll be relegated to the middle of the conference for some time.
sportstalent
Well-Known Member
So just a couple years ago Iowa had a winning record in close games and now this season they don't. Yeah, Fran must have forgotten how to coach. I guess I fail to see the logic here. Iowa was not a better team last year, but people really believe they are given how this season finished, don't buy it at all.
The one thing that let me down this season was defense, Iowa had been a very good defensive team until this season and what changed, not sure, but it was disappointing.
1977Hawkeye
Well-Known Member
This is exactly where I'm at.
I agree with Harty's article in the sense that Fran has pulled the program from out of the gutter and made it respectable again, so I think we need to stand by him until we have reason not to. At the same time, I also don't think "because we stunk under Lick" means that he is above criticism, either. In four years, an NCAA play in game is where we're at - and as a fan, I'm not satisfied with that. That doesn't mean I think Fran can't or won't do better in the coming years, but to me, the rebuild is not complete. Not by half.
sportstalent
Well-Known Member
Exactly, Fran just can't keep relying on "finding" diamonds and making them shine. If Iowa cannot land Atwood, it is not the end of the world, but he would be a nice addition.
At some point in the BIG, you have to be able to recruit fringe Top 150 kids along with a 4* every couple of seasons, but along the way develop some unheralded guys and a top recruit disappoints, it is all well and good. The bottom line is this roster still isn't talented enough and that is really what it boils down too, but again, I like how Fran has handled the roster and developed players at the same time.
1977Hawkeye
Well-Known Member
You must be thinking of two years ago, where Iowa won @Wisky & Minnesota, and home wins against Michigan and IU. LAST YEAR, the 2012-13 season, Iowa was equally as horrendous in close games as it was this year. So the last two years in a row, we've seen this.
I'm not sure what to make of it, whether it's the players, coaches, or both, but there is definitely a pattern.
sportstalent
Well-Known Member
Yeah a couple of years ago, I think I mentioned that...would coincide when Matt "Lightning Rod" Gatens was a Senior. Maybe it is something of a coincidence, maybe.
