Iowa Hawkeyes Linked to Big Ten Coach as Fran McCaffery Replacement

The 2024-25 college basketball season has not been kind to Fran McCaffery and the Iowa Hawkeyes. Despite continuing to compete as hard as they can, Iowa simply cannot seem to catch a break.

After losing to Oregon in their most recent outing, the Hawkeyes fell to 14-12 on the season. They are now in danger of not qualifying for the Big Ten tournament if they don't win some games down the stretch.

With the struggles that Iowa is going through, there have been some rumblings that McCaffery may not be 100 percent safe. It's possible that the Hawkeyes could consider making a coaching change.

Granted, moving on from McCaffery would not be an easy decision to make. Bringing in a new head coach also isn't the most likely option for Iowa.

That being said, coaching changes happen and the idea cannot be completely brushed aside.

Keeping that in mind, an intriguing name has been suggested as a potential candidate for the Hawkeyes if they do opt to make a coaching change.

Riley Donald of Hawkeyes Wire has named Northwestern head coach Chris Collins as a name to watch.

"A name that could be a sleeper to make a move within the conference is Chris Collins, Northwestern's coach," Donald wrote. "The longest long shot of the bunch, Collins could be lured to Iowa if it could offer the proper contract and name, image and likeness licensing assurances."

Collins has been the Northwestern head coach since the 2013-14 season. In that time period, he has led the team to a 191-187 record. No one could have asked for more with what he has had to work with.

Bringing him in would give Collins a chance to coach with more resources. Iowa has a better roster at this point in time and the program also has more potential assets for Collins to utilize.

Again, this is a long shot and McCaffery will likely be back for the 2025-26 season. But, if the Hawkeyes do choose to shake things up, Collins could be a name to watch.

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