1. Francis John McCaffery was born on May 23,1959 and is an American college basketball coach who is the current men's basketball head coach at the University of Pennsylvania.
29 Facts About Fran McCaffery
1. 2.
Fran McCaffery previously served as head coach of Lehigh University, UNC Greensboro, Siena, and Iowa, taking all four programs to the NCAA tournament at least once.
3.
Fran McCaffery began his college coaching career with a stint at Penn as an assistant coach.
4.
Fran McCaffery was the youngest head coach in Division I when he was promoted to head coach in 1985.
5.
Fran McCaffery led the Spartans to the Southern Conference Championship and the NCAA Tournament in 2001.
6.
Fran McCaffery was introduced as the head coach of the Iowa Hawkeyes on March 29,2010, where he reached the final of the 2013 National Invitation Tournament and reached the NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament in seven of his 15 seasons.
7.
On March 26,2025, Fran McCaffery was named head coach of the Penn Quakers, his alma mater.
8.
Fran McCaffery began his tenure at Lehigh University as an assistant coach for two seasons before being promoted at age 26 on September 14,1985, to succeed Tom Schneider who had resigned to return to Penn in a similar capacity six days prior on September 8.
9.
Fran McCaffery left Lehigh to join Digger Phelps' staff at the University of Notre Dame on August 1,1988.
10.
Fran McCaffery coached three consecutive rookies of the year in their respective leagues.
11.
Fran McCaffery guided Siena to victories in 25 of their final 30 games.
12.
Fran McCaffery led the Saints to the most single season wins in their Division I history and earned the 2009 MAAC coach of the year.
13.
Fran McCaffery was honored by the national coaches' association as an all-district coach.
14.
Fran McCaffery was hired by the University of Iowa on March 28,2010, to replace Todd Lickliter.
15.
Fran McCaffery was introduced during a press conference and a public ceremony in Carver-Hawkeye Arena on March 29,2010.
16.
Fran McCaffery lost his first game as head coach at Iowa on November 16,2010, when the Hawkeyes lost to South Dakota State.
17.
Also during the offseason, Fran McCaffery signed a 7-year contract extension, worth $1.66 million per season.
18.
On Selection Sunday, Fran McCaffery's team was put as the 11th seed having to play a play-in game versus Tennessee.
19.
Fran McCaffery's son was diagnosed with a thyroid tumor in his neck, which eventually became cancer towards the end of the regular season.
20.
Fran McCaffery flew home from the play-in game for his son's surgery then flew back to Dayton, Ohio to coach his team to a heartbreaking loss.
21.
Fran McCaffery had the difficult task of replacing National Player of the Year and Iowa legend Luka Garza, and the emergence of star Keegan Murray helped do just that.
22.
Iowa would then win 6 of its next 7 games, capped off by a win on the road over Minnesota where Fran McCaffery passed Tom Davis for the most wins in school history.
23.
On March 25,2025, the student newspaper of the University of Pennsylvania, The Daily Pennsylvanian, reported that a deal was imminent for Fran McCaffery to become the Quakers' 23rd men's head basketball coach.
24.
Fran McCaffery is actively involved with Coaches vs Cancer in the Capital Region.
25.
Fran McCaffery's wife, Margaret, was a standout women's basketball player from Saint Paul, Minnesota.
26.
Fran McCaffery was considered to be a top 250 recruit in the country.
27.
Fran McCaffery is currently an assistant men's basketball coach at Butler University, and is likely best known for his ongoing relationship with Caitlin Clark.
28.
In 2018, Patrick Fran McCaffery joined his brother Connor by committing to Iowa.
29.
Fran McCaffery was considered a top 125 recruit for the class of 2019.