By Pat Harty

IOWA CITY, Iowa – A narrative has festered throughout this Iowa men’s basketball season that Fran McCaffery has lost his emotional fire and is sort of just going through the motions.

He supposedly isn’t fully invested anymore and he refuses to acknowledge the growing disconnect with fans.

Some fans have wondered why Fran McCaffery doesn’t get upset as much as he used to during games. They worry that he has become too passive apparently because he doesn’t have fits of rage.

And with Iowa having lost six of seven games before winning at Rutgers on Wednesday, these narratives have continued to gain momentum and traction.

There is speculation that Fran McCaffery will retire after this season, partly so he can watch his son, Jack McCaffery, play in college.

Jack McCaffery is a 6-foot-9 senior at Iowa City West, and a Butler recruit.

Fran McCaffery’s oldest child, Connor McCaffery, is also an assistant coach for Butler, while his second oldest son, Patrick McCaffery, is playing for Butler as a graduate student this season after having played for his father for five seasons at Iowa.

So, it’s easy to talk yourself into thinking that the timing and the circumstances are right for the 65-year-old Fran McCaffery to move on whether he wants to or not.

My position on Fran McCaffery’s status as the Iowa men’s basketball coach is that from a body of work standpoint, the good still outweighs the bad as he nears the end of his 15th season in Iowa City.

Iowa has played in four of the last five NCAA Tournaments and won the Big Ten Tournament in 2022.

Fran McCaffery’s problem is that Iowa hasn’t made it past the round of 32 in the NCAA Tournament with him as head coach and that has led to apathy because there is no way to sugar-coat the declining ticket sales.

But to say that Fran McCaffery is just going through the motions and doesn’t care about winning as much as he used to is just silly and unfair to Fran McCaffery.

His television interview on the court just moments after Iowa’s 84-73 victory at Rutgers, a game in which Iowa trailed by nine points at halftime, and was without two starters, should put to rest the silly belief that Fran McCaffery is just going through the motions.

His voice cracked with emotion and his eyes became teary as he talked about his team’s come-from-behind win, a side we don’t often see from Fran McCaffery.

“There’s times in your career when you’re really proud of your team,” Fran McCaffery said. “We have had injuries. We have had some setbacks, so do other teams, other teams have it. But it’s how you respond. How do you respond in practice? How do you respond in meetings? How do you try to carry out the game plan? Do you stay together? Do you stay focused?

“And at the end of the day, that’s all we can ever ask.”

The fact that a depleted Iowa squad was able win at Rutgers, which has two future NBA lottery picks on its roster, is proof that Fran McCaffery still has the respect and admiration, and the attention, of his players.

Some fans might have checked out, but the Iowa players certainly haven’t.

If the Iowa players thought that their head coach was just going through the motions and doesn’t care anymore, they wouldn’t have had what it took to win at Rutgers.

Because what it took was a group of young men staying connected, unified and focused on the task at hand.

And that wouldn’t have happened without Fran McCaffery having built the right culture.

Senor forward Payton Sandfort called the come-from-behind victory at Rutgers a culture win, and that seemed to be his his way of praising Fran McCaffery as the team’s leader.

Fran McCaffery certainly isn’t above criticism.

Iowa, which plays at Maryland on Sunday, didn’t make the NCAA Tournament last season and is in danger of not making it again this season.

Combine that with the sagging attendance, and yes, there are problems that have to be fixed.

But again, to suggest that Fran McCaffery has checked out just because his team has struggled, because he doesn’t have a son on the team anymore, and because he doesn’t have fits of rage anymore is a ridiculous.

Perhaps Fran McCaffery has mellowed somewhat as he moves closer to retirement.

He and his family have dealt with more than their share of adversity off the court, and that can cause a person to change.

Fans used to complain about Fran McCaffery embarrassing the program with his temper tantrums during games. He was supposedly setting the wrong example as a leader.

But now some fans are complaining about Fran McCaffery being too composed and they want him to get mad again.

In this case, Fran McCaffery can’t win because he has gone from being too volatile to now being too passive and understanding.

Recruits still seem to believe in Fran McCaffery’s message judging from Iowa’s 2025 recruiting class, which currently has two four-star recruits and one three-star recruit in the class.

With records of 14-10 overall and 5-8 in the Big Ten, Iowa still faces an steep uphill climb from a postseason standpoint with the NCAA Tournament a longshot at best.

Iowa has to avoid being one of the bottom three teams in the conference because that would mean failing to make the Big Ten Tournament, which would add fuel to the anti-Fran McCaffery fire.

The win at Rutgers was a step in the right direction, and the emotion that Fran McCaffery showed afterwards was proof that he still continues to pour his heart and soul into his job and that his players still are like family to him.

So, enough with this silly belief that Fran McCaffery doesn’t care anymore.

Fran McCaffery was emotional speaking with @TheAndyKatz following @IowaHoops’ win over Rutgers on the road. #B1GMBBall pic.twitter.com/3ErGiUD2sM

— Big Ten Men’s Basketball (@B1GMBBall) February 13, 2025