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Fran McCaffery failed to lead the Hawkeyes out of the first weekend of the NCAA tournament over his 15 seasons with the program. (Michael Allio/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
The Fran McCaffery era in Iowa City is over.
The Hawkeyes are reportedly firing their longtime coach, according to ESPN's Pete Thamel, ending his 15-year run with the program after one of his worst seasons to date.
McCaffery was hired ahead of the 2010-11 campaign after an impressive run at Siena, where he won three straight MAAC titles to reach the NCAA tournament. While McCaffery led the Hawkeyes to the NCAA tournament seven times, including once after they won the Big Ten tournament, they never made it past the first weekend. They were a No. 2 seed in 2021, the highest the team earned under McCaffery’s watch, but they were knocked out in the second round in a 15-point rout by Oregon.
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This past season was particularly rough for the Hawkeyes, who almost missed out on the Big Ten tournament completely. They posted just a 16-15 record, and won only six games since the start of the new year. Iowa closed out the regular season by losing five of its last seven games, too, which dropped it nearly to the bottom of the Big Ten standings. If it weren't for a win over Nebraska in their regular season finale, the Hawkeyes wouldn't have made it into the Big Ten tournament at all.
While the Hawkeyes upset Ohio State to get out of the first round of the Big Ten tournament, Illinois rolled to a 106-94 win in their second-round game. McCaffery was actually ejected from that game for screaming at the officials in the second half, which marked a bit of a perfect ending for the coach.
McCaffery finished with a 297-206 overall record over his 15 seasons with the Hawkeyes, which marked his first head coaching job at a Power 5 school. He previously had short stints leading Lehigh and UNC Greensboro. The coach was particularly known for his frequent sideline outbursts, which prompted the "Francon Alert System" and even led to a wild referee staredown in 2023.
McCaffery’s current contract with Iowa runs through the 2027-28 campaign. His deal includes a $4.2 million buyout, though the Hawkeyes can spread that out over the next three years to make that cost less than $1.5 million per season.
The Hawkeyes have a decent recruiting class set to come in next fall, including a pair of four-star Rivals.com recruits in Badara Diakite and Joshua Lewis. It’s unclear if they will opt to stick around under new leadership, whoever the Hawkeyes end up hiring.
Regardless, the Hawkeyes are moving on from a coach who failed to take them on a deep tournament run despite several promising opportunities over the years. Fair or not, that will be a benchmark for the new head coach to hit almost immediately.
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