By Pat Harty

IOWA CITY, Iowa – Fran McCaffery has ended speculation that he might be considering retiring anytime soon from coaching.

Iowa’s 64-year-old head men’s basketball coach held a zoom conference with the media on Monday in which he was asked how veteran coaches like himself and Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo stay on top and manage everything in their jobs.

Iowa faces Michigan State on Tuesday at the Breslin Center in East Lansing, Michigan.

“We don’t know anything else,” said McCaffery, who is in his 14^th season as the Iowa head coach and his 28^th season overall as a college head coach.  “We got into coaching right out of college and grinded our way up in the coaching profession.”

Izzo was promoted to Michigan State’s head coach in 1995 and he is now the longest tenured head coach in the Big Ten.

He has led Michigan State to eight Final Fours in the NCAA Tournament, which includes the NCAA Championship in 2000 and a runner-Up finish in 2009.

His teams have won 10 Big Ten regular-season titles and six Big Ten Tournament titles in his 28 years at Michigan State.

Izzo also has the most wins in school history and has appeared in 25 consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances, the longest streak of tournament appearances all-time in men’s college basketball.

His current team has won three straight games to improve to 17-9 overall and 9-6 in Big Ten play.

The Spartans started the season with four wins in their first nine games, and since losing back-to-back Big Ten games to Wisconsin and at Nebraska, the Spartans have won 13 of their last 17 contests.

Michigan State has won eight of its last 10 games heading into Tuesday game against Iowa.

“Tom loves it,” Fran McCaffery said of coaching. “He’s really good at it. He has nothing more to prove. He’s already in the Hall of Fame. But he’s not slowing down and he’s not retiring anytime soon. And neither am I.”

And while Fran McCaffery’s accomplishments don’t compare to what Izzo has accomplished in his legendary career, Iowa has made four straight NCAA Tournament appearances and has finished in the upper division of the Big Ten in each of the past four seasons.

The Hawkeyes (15-11, 7-8 Big Ten) still have a chance to finish in the upper division this season, but it won’t be easy with just five games left in the regular season, and with four of the games against Quad 1 opponents, including two against second-place Illinois.

Fran McCaffery has been around the game of basketball for most of his life, first as a player growing up in Philadelphia where he earned the nickname “White Magic” for his creativity as a passing point guard, and then as a coach since 1983.

He has had the luxury of coaching two of his sons at Iowa, including current senior forward Patrick McCaffery. And he might have an opportunity to coach his youngest son should high school junior forward Jack McCaffery choose to attend Iowa.

“Being around young people on a daily basis keeps you young,” Fran McCaffery said in the Cedar Rapids Gazette. “And I don’t look at my job any differently today than I did in 1983. I know that sounds weird, but it’s the truth.”

The biggest knock on Fran McCaffery, besides that he sometimes loses his temper in the heat of the moment, is that he has failed to lead Iowa beyond the second-round of the NCAA Tournament.

Iowa hasn’t advanced to the Sweet 16 since 1999 when Tom Davis was in his final season as head coach.

The Hawkeye did win the 2021 Big Ten Tournament under Fran McCaffery, and have had a consensus All-America selection in each of the past four seasons as Luka Garza was honored twice, while twin brothers Keegan Murray and Kris Murray were recognized once.

The Iowa program is in much better shape now compared to when Fran McCaffery was hired to replace Todd Lickliter in 2010.

There is so much that goes into being a Division I head coach, but Fran McCaffery still seems excited about the daily grind of coaching.

The pay certainly helps as he makes $3.2 million annually, but Fran McCaffery’s love for coaching goes beyond making money.

“We come in and we try to figure out how to get better, how are we going to get each individua better, how are we going to try to get the team better?” Fran McCaffery said. “How are we going to prepare for our next opponent? What are we doing in recruiting? How are our guys doing academically? Is there anybody that’s struggling? Is there anybody that needs help? Is there anything going on in their lives that might need to be addressed.  And then you just continue to go to work.”

Iowa (15-11, 7-8) vs. Michigan State (17-9, 9-6)

When: Tuesday, 6 p.m.

Where: East Lansing, Michigan, the  Breslin Center (15,000)

Stream: Peacock

Radio: Hawkeye Radio Network

All-time series:  Tuesday’s game is the 137th meeting in the series that began in 1937 in East Lansing. Michigan State leads, 77-59. The Hawkeyes have won four of the last five meetings, including a 112-106 overtime victory on Feb. 25, 2023, in Iowa City.

Iowa rallied from 11 points down with 55 seconds remaining in regulation to force overtime before prevailing 112-106. The Hawkeyes were the fourth team to ever win when down 11+ with less than a minute left.

The Hawkeyes’ last win in East Lansing came in 2021, winning 88-58. Iowa fell 63-61 at Breslin last season