Fran McCaffery hopes son Patrick's leave can be a positive for others

Iowa head coach Fran McCaffery recently opened up on his son Patrick’s leave from the team for mental health reasons. The Hawkeyes coach hoped his son taking time for his health would be a positive for others dealing with the same struggle.

Patrick McCaffery revealed he dealt with anxiety issues and felt it was best for him to step away for the time being to focus on his well being. The anxiety issues affected his ability to prepare and play on the court and ultimately his physical health.

His father said his son being open and honest could potentially help other athletes dealing with the issue of revealing their own mental health problems.

“Well, I hope so,” Fran McCaffery said. “I’ve gotten so many messages from folks that said, okay, I’ve been dealing with this, people that I know, that I never knew were dealing with it; my son has been dealing with it — I have two daughters, both of whom are dealing with it. I think when you’re in that position, I think you feel very alone. You’re the only one going through it.

“But then when you find out that there’s so many people in every walk of life — Kevin Love has been very open about it, Lane Johnson from the Eagles. There’s so many high-profile professional athletes that have gone through this. I’m sure a lot of them have gone through it, and never said anything. We’re kind of programmed to be that way. We just keep battling and we don’t say anything, and we just compete.”

McCaffery went on to say that it’s something everyone should pay attention to and attack early in order to get people and other athletes the help they need.

“But it’s something that is real, and we are in a position, I think, as a program, as an institution, with the resources we have around here to help him,” the head coach said. “We have one of the best hospitals in the world, some of the best professionals available to him, and he’s taking advantage of that. We are. Very thankful for that, that we’re here. We said the same thing when he went through his cancer surgeries and treatment, that we were lucky to be here. We’ll get there.”

As Patrick McCaffery mentioned in his statement, he previously battled thyroid cancer while in junior high — recovering from his battle and the health issues it caused for him throughout. McCaffery stated specifically that his current battle with anxiety is not in direct relation to his health issues in the past.