For the Iowa, Fran McCaffery was a father. Guided in all steps, and won battles that seemed lost. The program slowly became a home for him. But with time, everything comes to an end, but this, for the Iowa Basketball players, is a bit too personal. In 15 years, he led the Hawkeyes to 7 NCAA tournament runs and a Big Ten title. With 297 wins, McCaffery will be leaving Iowa as the program’s most successful coach. A legacy ran long and is now on its way out. Painful. There’s a lot to appreciate about his tenure, yet here he is, without a job heading into next year. So is this the end of the line for Fran, or will he be back on the sidelines for another program next season? The man of the day, McCaffery himself, shared his thoughts on his future.

In the Betting Above the Rim podcast, McCaffery had a candid conversation with James Young about his 15 years as a coach with the Hawkeyes, sharing the story of his journey. He says, “I love the game. I love being in the gym. I love working with my guys and watching them succeed. … Those relationships endure over a lifetime.” He loved it here. He loved the boys he built, but the curtain is drawn. Is the 65-year-old boss hanging up his boots? He clears.

In the podcast, McCaffery made his stance clear on whether he plans to retire or continue his coaching career. He said,” I am blessed, I am staying in the fight and I am going to coaching somewhere next year.” This effectively puts to rest the rumors suggesting that the veteran coach would be hanging up his boots after this eventful chapter.

McCaffery, who will turn 66 in May, went 297-207 in 15 seasons at Iowa. But it was not just his days in Iowa that made him a legend. He took over before the 2010-11 season after a successful run at Siena, where he won three straight MAAC titles and reached the NCAA tournament each time. Before Iowa, McCaffery made history as the first coach to take three different teams — Lehigh, UNC-Greensboro, and Siena — from one-bid conferences to the big dance. For him, it is one challenge at a time, rebuilding the programs every time.

The work is not done for McCaffery, who will now head to the portal in hopes of coaching another program. What type of program would he like to coach next? Will we finally see him coach a blue blood program? Fran had an answer to that, too.

Fran McCaffery knows exactly the kind of program he wants to coach

Those who have the passion to groom choose the path that a few love to walk. In the same podcast, McCaffery confirms that he doesn’t want to manage a blue blood program, he wants to rebuild another program. “I want to build a program,” McCaffery told Young. “I want to be working for an administration that wants to do that. And maybe it’s naive. I don’t think it is.” Will he get one?

“I want to have relationships with my guys and I want to have an administration that works closely with me. We work together to build a program, to represent the institution the right way.” McCaffery confirms that he doesn’t want to be one of those coaches who bring in 7-8 players through the portal for instant success, only to repeat that cycle every year. Such is the case for every elite program in the country, be it Duke, Kentucky, Kansas, or any other elite program. But for him, this isn’t the philosophy he would choose to walk on.

Wherever McCaffery goes next — he’ll know that 4 of his Iowa players have already decided to enter the portal, and Four-star wing Joshua Lewis has decommitted from Iowa following the news of his firing. Now that McCaffery has publicly declared his intentions to coach next year, don’t rule out the chance of seeing a few players reunite with him wherever he decides to go. Stay tuned, you never know where he heads. But he surely has a plan!

Stay tuned for more such updates, and here’s WNBA prodigy Caitlin Bickle’s candid take on the intense Caitlin Clark vs Angel Reese rivalry and a lot more!