Iowa Fires Fran McCaffery After 15 Seasons as Head Coach

McCaffery was ejected in his final game as the Hawkeyes lost to Illinois in the second round of the Big Ten Tournament.

Head coach Fran McCaffery of the Iowa Hawkeyes shakes hands with head coach Greg Gard of the Wisconsin Badgers after the Badgers defeated Iowa 116-85 at Kohl Center in Madison, Wis., on Jan. 3, 2025. John Fisher/Getty Images

After 15 years with Fran McCaffery as the leader and face of Iowa Hawkeyes men’s basketball, the program has decided to go in another direction. On Friday, one day after Iowa was knocked out of the Big Ten Tournament, the Hawkeyes fired McCaffery, who had been employed since the 2010-11 season.

The school’s athletic director, Beth Goetz, made the announcement, which was described as a “leadership change.”