Resident Hawkeye here, checking in. (Actually, I'm a Hawkeye by virtue of employment; I am an alum of Purdue University - Bachelor's degree, and Indiana University - MD degree.)
Since I'm a Hoosier transplant, I have been aware of Steve Alford a bit longer than most here, starting waaaaaaay back when he was Indiana Mr. Basketball, then, of course, playing for Bobby Knight in IU's last championship game. Indeed, there was a time where Steve Alford was revered throughout the land in Indiana. He even has a motel named after him in his hometown of New Castle:
http://www.ez-look.com/stevealfordinn/
When he was hired at Iowa, his coaching career seemed to be promising. He had been very successful at little Division III Manchester College, then taking Southwest Missouri State to the NCAA Sweet Sixteen. In fact, it was considered quite a coup by then AD Bob Bowlsby that Steve came to Iowa, instead of heading back to Indiana, to his roots and the storied basketball state and the legendary program at his alma mater.
However, I think most feel that Steve was a bit of a disappointment here. Yes, he did win 2 Big 10 titles and had 6 straight winning seasons, but this past season, although we all knew it was to be a "rebuilding" year, was a major disappointment, culminating with the lack of any post season play (not even the lowly NIT!). The other major black cloud over Steve's time here in the Hawkeye state was the entire Pierre Pierce scandal. There are many here, myself included, that feel that Steve did not come down hard enough on Pierce when the FIRST allegation surfaced, and even when the second, more serious charges came up, Steve still initially refused to take action, and only after Pierce was arrested was he dismissed from the team.
So, all in all, I think the general feeling is that Steve did not live up to expectations with the program and made some poor decisions regarding his players. Eight years is quite a while in college coaching these days. Maybe this is a good time for him to move on, and for a change in the Hawkeye men's basketball program.
By the way, the radio stations this morning came THIS CLOSE to saying that "in all likelihood", he would be going to New Mexico - the announcer caught himself just in time and didn't complete his sentence.