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Big Ten Basketball: Ranking all 14 head coaches for 2019-20 season

By Joey Loose

EAST LANSING, MI - FEBRUARY 20: Head coach Tom Izzo of the Michigan State Spartans looks on during a game against the Illinois Fighting Illini at Breslin Center on February 20, 2018 in East Lansing, Michigan. (Photo by Rey Del Rio/Getty Images)
EAST LANSING, MI - FEBRUARY 20: Head coach Tom Izzo of the Michigan State Spartans looks on during a game against the Illinois Fighting Illini at Breslin Center on February 20, 2018 in East Lansing, Michigan. (Photo by Rey Del Rio/Getty Images) /
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CHICAGO, ILLINOIS – MARCH 15: Head coach Fran McCaffery of the Iowa Hawkeyes looks on in the first half against the Michigan Wolverines during the quarterfinals of the Big Ten Basketball Tournament at the United Center on March 15, 2019 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images)
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS – MARCH 15: Head coach Fran McCaffery of the Iowa Hawkeyes looks on in the first half against the Michigan Wolverines during the quarterfinals of the Big Ten Basketball Tournament at the United Center on March 15, 2019 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images) /

7. Fran McCaffery (Iowa)

Nearly forty years have passed since the Hawkeyes have been in the Final Four, but McCaffery has done solid work to turn this program back into a conference contender. After struggling mightily under predecessor Todd Lickliter, Iowa has turned the tide in recent years. They haven’t made the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament, but that doesn’t mean McCaffery’s tenure has been a failure at all.

The early tides of McCaffery’s coaching career included a long stint as an assistant at Notre Dame sandwiched by head coaching stops at Lehigh and UNC Greensboro. He left Greensboro to take over at Siena in 2005. Inheriting a program in terrible shape, he completely transformed the Saints. Siena made the NCAA Tournament in each of McCaffery’s last three seasons, scoring NCAA Tournament upset wins in two of those seasons. After Lickliter was shown the door in 2010, Iowa tabbed McCaffery to join the Big Ten coaching ranks.

In his nine seasons at Iowa, McCaffery has done solid work with the Hawkeyes, especially considering what he inherited. By 2012, the Hawkeyes were in the NIT and made the NCAA Tournament by 2014. He’d led the program to three first-round victories but has yet to lead them to a Sweet Sixteen. Iowa won 23 games this past season after a down year in 2017 (14-19). McCaffery has brought talented names to Iowa and has this team looking to make more memories in the near future.

Much like Underwood at Stephen F. Austin, McCaffery achieved some incredible success at a struggling mid-major. Nobody expected him to instantly win big games at Iowa, though he’s done a solid enough job in his first nine seasons. He hasn’t won a Big Ten title, a difficult task in this league, though maybe that’s something that happens down the line. He may not be Lute Olson, but McCaffery possesses over 400 career wins and has stabilized this Iowa program.

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