By Dallas Jones

IOWA CITY, Iowa – When losses pile up, there is always rumors to follow.

The future of Iowa men’s basketball coach Fran McCaffery is in question after this season, with his team currently in 15th place in the Big Ten standings.

There have been murmurs of possible retirement, a contract buyout or that Fran McCaffery might be forced to resign.

Fran McCaffery met with media on Tuesday and addressed multiple topics, including the home finale against Tom Izzo and first place Michigan State Thursday night at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

Fran McCaffery, who turns 66 in May, was also asked about his coaching future, and he made it abundantly clear where he stands on the topic.

“I’m fully committed to the program, to the players,” McCaffery told reporters. “I have no intention of moving on. I just came to work today, tried to figure out how we can beat Michigan State.”

Iowa is 6-12 in Big Ten play and 15-14 overall and in danger of not making the Big Ten Tournament, which only takes the top 15 teams in the 18-team conference.

Iowa will finish the regular season at Nebraska on Sunday.

Despite the rumors and speculation about his coaching future, Fran McCaffery has built one of his best recruiting classes in 2025, at least on paper, with two four-star prospects in the class.

Tom Izzo addressed Fran McCaffery’s situation on Tuesday while meeting with reporters. Izzo voiced his support for McCaffery and Izzo also said he doesn’t think McCaffery would leave under the current circumstances.

“I would be sad if he decided enough is enough like a lot of coaches are doing because he’s one of the good guys,” Izzo said. “Fran ain’t going out with a season that isn’t superb, in my humble opinion.

“Nor do I think he should.”

If Iowa were to lose its final two regular-season games, it would mark just the third time that Iowa would finish with a losing record under Fran McCaffery.

Fran McCaffery is in his 15th season as the Iowa head coach and he is the all-time winningest head coach in program history with 295 wins.

However, his Iowa teams haven’t advanced past the second round of the NCAA Tournament, nor have they won an NCAA Tournament game since 2021.

Fran addresses his future. pic.twitter.com/jgnTS0W3en

— Pat Harty (@PatHarty) March 4, 2025