Winning in the Ivy League is not easy. Steve Donahue was better at it than most, taking Cornell to the Sweet Sixteen in 2010 before his recent work at Penn, but even he couldn’t keep the train moving. The Quakers fired him a few weeks ago after finishing in 7th place in the conference in back-to-back years and have found quite the replacement.
Less than two weeks ago, the Big Ten Tournament came to an end and Iowa made a big decision, cutting ties with Fran McCaffery after fifteen years leading the program. The 65-year old wasn’t ready to hang it up and will instead take that open job at Penn, his fifth D1 head coaching position.
Originally a native of Philadelphia, McCaffery began his playing career at Wake Forest in 1977 before transferring to Penn for his final three seasons. He then joined the Quakers’ coaching staff after graduation before leaving in Lehigh in 1983. Two years later he got his first head coaching job with those Mountain Hawks, though other success would later follow.
After a long stint as a Notre Dame assistant, McCaffery would become head coach at UNC Greensboro and Siena, getting the Saints to multiple NCAA Tournament wins during a 5-year stretch. That followed with him taking the Iowa job in 2010 and it’s improper to call his time in Iowa City a disappointment by any means.
McCaffery recruited and coached incredible talent like Luka Garza, Keegan Murray, and Peter Jok, making seven trips to the NCAA Tournament and building sustained success for the Hawkeyes. In the end, he never had a deep postseason run and it was just time for a change.
42 years after leaving Penn, McCaffery returns to the Quakers as their next head coach. Much like Donahue, he’s someone with extensive head coaching experience and a connection to the university. What exactly will McCaffery be able to accomplish in the coming years at his alma mater? Can he elevate this program again and take a fifth different school to the Big Dance?