Post/Article by Eric Jesse
2/28/2019
Corn Fed Sports and Entertainment
It's been a very odd season for the Iowa Hawkeyes men's basketball team. Iowa Head Coach Fran McCaffery has been getting destroyed by fans nationwide this season. He also takes a lot of guff for some of his coaching moves or lack of coaching moves made during games. This style has led to the Hawkeyes starting 21-7 overall and 10-7 in the Big Ten Conference. Which all Hawkeye fans would have been ecstatic with if they were told they would have started the season like this, especially coming off a 14-19 season. McCaffery, for some reason, takes a lot of the blame for Iowa play-by-play announcer, Gary Dolphin, getting suspended for the rest of the season. Which still to me is mind-boggling. This leads us to McCaffery's latest episode that happened February 26, at Ohio State. After the game, McCaffery went after the officials in tunnel calling them a few choice words that he definitely should have not said. McCaffery's latest episode earned him a two-game suspension. I saw a report today that McCaffery reached out to another suspended Hawkeye in Gary Dolphin to see if he wanted to watch the next two contests together, which is hilarious and awesome. It's no secret Fran McCaffery is a passionate guy. Sometimes he lets his passion get the best of him. That is expected to happen in sports especially at the collegiate level. College coaches, not just McCaffery, let their emotions get the best of them and in turn do things that they regret. McCaffery actually has tamed it down a little since his 2014 ejection at Wisconsin, which a lot of Hawk fans remember. McCaffery is a known players-coach. Just from hearing his players rave and talk about him they absolutely love him. There has not been one bad thing said about him from a current or former player in his career. His coaching career started way back in 1985 at Lehigh University. Most of his former Hawkeye players have made public comments Watching McCaffery coach and speak makes one realize that he would absolutely go to war and do anything for his current players and former players. I for one would have absolutely loved to have played for a coach like him. Is he afraid to get after his players and yell at them? Absolutely not. This helps bring the best out of everyone and just hearing his players talk about him makes you want to run through a wall for the guy. I am a little biased because I absolutely love Fran McCaffery and he has helped turn the tide on the Iowa Basketball program. Does he have his flaws as a coach? He surely does, but what coach doesn't have their flaws? Without him, it is scary to think where the program might be. Since he took over at Iowa his record has been 172-125 for a .575-win percentage. His first few years were a little rough trying to rebuild the program, as well as last year but that is how sports work sometimes. Other Big Ten coaches and coaches across the country have also done nothing but talk positively about McCaffery. He is beloved across the college ranks (besides by some officials).
2/28/2019
Corn Fed Sports and Entertainment
It's been a very odd season for the Iowa Hawkeyes men's basketball team. Iowa Head Coach Fran McCaffery has been getting destroyed by fans nationwide this season. He also takes a lot of guff for some of his coaching moves or lack of coaching moves made during games. This style has led to the Hawkeyes starting 21-7 overall and 10-7 in the Big Ten Conference. Which all Hawkeye fans would have been ecstatic with if they were told they would have started the season like this, especially coming off a 14-19 season. McCaffery, for some reason, takes a lot of the blame for Iowa play-by-play announcer, Gary Dolphin, getting suspended for the rest of the season. Which still to me is mind-boggling. This leads us to McCaffery's latest episode that happened February 26, at Ohio State. After the game, McCaffery went after the officials in tunnel calling them a few choice words that he definitely should have not said. McCaffery's latest episode earned him a two-game suspension. I saw a report today that McCaffery reached out to another suspended Hawkeye in Gary Dolphin to see if he wanted to watch the next two contests together, which is hilarious and awesome. It's no secret Fran McCaffery is a passionate guy. Sometimes he lets his passion get the best of him. That is expected to happen in sports especially at the collegiate level. College coaches, not just McCaffery, let their emotions get the best of them and in turn do things that they regret. McCaffery actually has tamed it down a little since his 2014 ejection at Wisconsin, which a lot of Hawk fans remember. McCaffery is a known players-coach. Just from hearing his players rave and talk about him they absolutely love him. There has not been one bad thing said about him from a current or former player in his career. His coaching career started way back in 1985 at Lehigh University. Most of his former Hawkeye players have made public comments Watching McCaffery coach and speak makes one realize that he would absolutely go to war and do anything for his current players and former players. I for one would have absolutely loved to have played for a coach like him. Is he afraid to get after his players and yell at them? Absolutely not. This helps bring the best out of everyone and just hearing his players talk about him makes you want to run through a wall for the guy. I am a little biased because I absolutely love Fran McCaffery and he has helped turn the tide on the Iowa Basketball program. Does he have his flaws as a coach? He surely does, but what coach doesn't have their flaws? Without him, it is scary to think where the program might be. Since he took over at Iowa his record has been 172-125 for a .575-win percentage. His first few years were a little rough trying to rebuild the program, as well as last year but that is how sports work sometimes. Other Big Ten coaches and coaches across the country have also done nothing but talk positively about McCaffery. He is beloved across the college ranks (besides by some officials).
Now getting to some of the stuff I have seen and read on twitter about him. I have seen tweets saying how McCaffery is embarrassing the University of Iowa. To me, I would ask these people have you ever watched a collegiate sporting event before? Coaches swear and get after officials all the time. Did McCaffery cross the line this time? Absolutely. He even admitted it directly after the game during his press conference. He deserved the suspension and he would admit it as well. Let's not act like McCaffery is the only one that has done something like this before. It literally happens almost every night in sports, with maybe a few fewer choice words for the officials. Fans have also been attacking the man's character which is one of the most ridiculous things I have seen. Fans have seen him break down talking about his love for his players. He is also a notable donating to cancer awareness and done many things for the terrible disease. I am not going to lie Iowa fans have been fairly annoying to me this past week because of the whole Gary Dolphin (that's a whole different subject) and Fran McCaffery situations. There was a pool that I saw on twitter that asked: "Who would you rather keep out of the three"? featuring Dolphin, McCaffery, and University of Iowa Athletic Director Gary Barta. Dolphin won by a ridiculous amount and McCaffery was barely ahead of Barta. To those fans, I ask do you not remember the program before McCaffery took over? McCaffery is easily the best coach since Dr. Tom Davis and some would maybe argue since Lute Olson. I guess it is time for me to limit Twitter activity during these times. I don't think the University of Iowa could do any better for their Head Men's basketball coach. Lastly, I will leave you with a question. Would you rather have a coach on the sideline that is mild-mannered, occasionally clapping, and just calling out plays on the sideline? Or would you rather have a coach that clearly loves his players, would do anything for them, looks like he would do anything to secure a win for the team, and literally wears his heart on his sleeve. There is no doubt in my mind it goes with the passionate one and for coach Fran McCaffery. The man loves the university and his players. Go Hawks and excited to see you on the sideline soon, Coach.
References
Iowa Hawkeyes Basketball. (n.d.). Retrieved February 28, 2019, from https://www.coachesdatabase.com/iowa-hawkeyes-basketball/
University of Iowa Hawkeyes. (n.d.). Retrieved February 28, 2019, from https://hawkeyesports.com/coaches.aspx?rc=1710
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- post by Eric
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