Iowa Coach Fran McCaffery said he has 'no regrets' over chair incident (with videos, player reaction)

IOWA CITY - Iowa Coach Fran McCaffery said Thursday he has no regrets about his actions following a technical foul on Tuesday night at No. 6 Michigan State.

With the Hawkeyes trailing by 28 points, McCaffery was called for a technical foul with 10:55 left in the game. McCaffery then lit into his team and slammed a chair down on the court at the Breslin Center. The incident was caught on video, and since has gone viral with more than 52,000 views on YouTube.

"No, not at all," McCaffery said Thursday. "If anybody thinks I'm going to sit there with my hands crossed when we're down by 40, they got the wrong guy, OK? I was brought in here to change the culture. I'm going to coach with passion, and my players know that. They also know I'm going to fight for them."

Multiple shows on ESPN had opinion segments discussing McCaffery's actions, and national broadcaster Tony Kornheiser called McCaffery's incident "an embarrassment" to Iowa and the Big Ten.

"So as far as that's concerned, a lot of people like to infer what was going on or what was being said," McCaffery said. "Nobody knows what I was saying. Nobody knows what we were discussing during that timeout except for me and my players.

"I have no regrets, I have no apologies, none whatsoever. I'm going to continue to coach the same way, and we're going to keep working, improving, and battling, and fighting until we're up by 40."

Iowa lost the game 95-61. The Hawkeyes are 10-8 overall and 2-3 in Big Ten play.

McCaffery, who is in his second year at Iowa, said has not heard from the Big Ten or from University of Iowa officials about the incident.

"No, nor should I have," he said.

Iowa Athletics Director Gary Barta was unavailable for comment Thursday. The Big Ten has no official comment about McCaffery's actions. Big Ten Spokeswoman Valerie Todryk Krebs wrote in an email, "If there is any statement, it will be sent out at the appropriate time."

McCaffery, who has five technical fouls this year said he's not concerned that his approach could affect calls from officials. He said his message following the technical was directed more at his players, who were physically pushed around by Michigan State.

"In this case, I shouldn't say - what I should say is it was toward the players to take care of what was happening in the game.  Now you can infer whatever you want to infer from that, because when a game is physical like that, and it's being officiated that way, then we have to adjust. We didn't adjust."

McCaffery's players backed him on Thursday. Iowa senior captain Matt Gatens said McCaffery is "a competitive and passionate guy and sometimes that comes out." Gatens said he was aware of ESPN and other networks have replayed the incident.

"I've never seen something like that," Gatens said with a smile. "That was a pretty heavy chair, too, so it was kind of impressive, seeing him throwing it down with that force.

"We're used to it. We get some kind of rant about every day in practice or in the film. You get used to it. You just listen to what he's saying not how he's saying it. You know he cares for you and he wants the best for you and he's just trying to teach you."

Iowa point guard Devyn Marble said he's used to fiery, in-your-face coaches growing up in the Detroit area.

"I didn't think it was that bad," Marble said. "Plus I know Coach McCaffery. Nobody felt threatened or anything."