This popped up on my Twitter feed



Fran McCaffery is another one of these rage-a-holic coaches whom I cannot stand. I don't know a thing about him personally, obviously, and maybe he's a great guy off the court. But as one who has taught and coached a great deal, I find his behavior to be unnecessary at best -- people can learn and be motivated without being bullied, I swear! -- and abusive at worst. I will always root against Iowa as long as he is there, and not just because they are a B1G school I want to beat.
 




mopkins said:
Its hilarious that this is on an IU page since Bobby Knight was the biggest a-hole to all of his players and refs maybe in the history of college Bball.

How soon they forget?
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The poster left off this comment in response: i agree! fun fact: i ran into him at the atlanta airport 2 years ago or so, and he was very nice. chatted about BIG 10 basketball for 2-3 min, and he gave me an autograph. i was a little worried that he would rip off his windbreaker and get in my face when i told him I went to IU, but luckily that didn't happen haha
 


Fran has gotten a bad rap for a few incidents and how they play in the media. Mike Wilbon on ESPN acts like he peed in his cheerios.

Funny thing is after the ND game last year I had a badger friend giving me crap. When I told him how the end of the game played out he responded, "oh, I would have done the same thing."

Fran appears to be a great guy. If other fanbases don't like him, so be it, that probably just means he's doing something right.
 


NikeHawk21 said:
Fran has gotten a bad rap for a few incidents and how they play in the media. Mike Wilbon on ESPN acts like he peed in his cheerios.

Funny thing is after the ND game last year I had a badger friend giving me crap. When I told him how the end of the game played out he responded, "oh, I would have done the same thing."

Fran appears to be a great guy. If other fanbases don't like him, so be it, that probably just means he's doing something right.
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Other fan bases hate him - which is great IMO. For coaching as a bully, he hasn't lost a single player to transfer that was even remotely a regular contributor. Even the nicest guys in the sport can't say that.
 
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That's the pot calling the kettle red. Fran hasn't had a book written about his abusive behavior, hasn't choked a player out during a time out, and hasn't thrown a chair across Assemble Hall. Fran's problem is he cares too much about his players. Most of his ranting was early in his Iowa career when Iowa was getting no respect from the refs, He had to do something to get the respect back for Iowa basketball and I don't fault him a bit because I felt the same way.
 


InGoodCo said:
Other fan bases hate him - which is great IMO. For coaching as a bully, he hasn't lost a single player to transfer that was even remotely a regular contributor. Even the nicest guys in the sport can't say that.
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I don't think he has ever coached like a bully though. He's had some incidents during games or with refs and BIG conference had to say things to him, but he's never acted out of line with his players, IMO. Am I getting something wrong?

I like he gets under other people's skin. He's the guy you hate to play against but would take him on your team.
 


“The best thing and the most consistent thing is we’re going to continue to play fast. And what that does is it requires you to sub. If we play at a certain pace, you can’t play 38 minutes at that pace. Nobody can. The other thing is, I think, our defense was good at times; it wasn’t what it needed to be at times. That has to improve, and a lot of times one of the ways to make that improve is with fresh legs in the game. We have two 6-foot-11 guys coming in, so we’ve got a couple rim protectors there. That will help.” – McCaffery to Jeremiah Davis of The Gazette last April.

For all those people that complain about the huge number of players getting minutes and want the line-up shortened, this is why Fran prepares and plays so many. Remember, we complained when Lick was here playing the Princeton style and we all begged for a faster pace like the mid 80's. Now we have it. His goal is to play a lot of players and tire the other team out.
 


MelroseHawkins said:
I don't think he has ever coached like a bully though. He's had some incidents during games or with refs and BIG conference had to say things to him, but he's never acted out of line with his players, IMO. Am I getting something wrong?

I like he gets under other people's skin. He's the guy you hate to play against but would take him on your team.
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I challenge anyone to find a coach who sticks up for his players on the court as much as Fran. The only people he bullies are refs and I'm fine with that. It adds a dimension of excitement and is harmless to the sport.

Long live the Franamaniac

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