Coaching Buyouts and Contract Extensions Thread

[bayareabadger]

Capping coach salaries is not legal. 

Should a modest number of schools hold their ground on salaries, they could make some progress, but that kind of non-collective action has proven very difficult. 

[bayareabadger]

I don't think it'll make any difference.

I think coaching salaries have ballooned because coaches know that in a competitive market they can get it, but the cost of the coach IMHO is not particularly relevant to the outcomes on the field.

Alabama is going to be Alabama regardless of Saban's salary. The same is true of OSU, Michigan, Notre Dame, Texas, USC, etc. When those programs have downturns, it's not because they get cheap in their coaching hires, it's because they hire bad [or poor fit] coaches--and pay them a ton.

One area that is ripe for abuse these days is the growth in non-coaching "football analyst" positions. It's a way for these top programs to pull guys who might need a job and could easily take a mid-level P5 or even a top G5 head coaching job and keep them off the field. While the size of coaching staffs are limited, there is no limit on these analyst positions, so it is in some way a repeat of football prior to scholarship limits--big programs can stockpile coaches merely to keep them away from other schools.

But the issue in CFB is parity, and that parity problem extends WAY beyond coaching salaries. I'd rank coaching salaries way down the list as to ways to improve CFB parity. Fundamentally the issue is that players are selected through a recruiting process rather than a "fair" process like a draft--fair meaning in the interests of parity, which wouldn't be fair to the players who are supposed to be student-athletes and should be able to select where they want to go to school.

But even if you rigorously limited the opulence of the facilities, the amount of support staff associated with a football program, and every other benefit a school uses to increase its desirability over another, it'll still never change the fact that Ohio State and Michigan have "helmet" and Purdue and Minnesota don't. So as long as it's all about recruiting, it'll never be "fair" as it relates to enhancing parity in the sport.

A small nit.

Those analysts are not well paid. Many of the big name ones are there because they’re riding out buyouts.

One issue is that some of those good assistant jobs are better paid than HCs, so some folks are more choosy (Dave Aranda).

[betarhoalphadelta]

A small nit.

Those analysts are not well paid. Many of the big name ones are there because they’re riding out buyouts.

One issue is that some of those good assistant jobs are better paid than HCs, so some folks are more choosy (Dave Aranda).

No argument there. Heck, if they can be getting paid by the school that fired them while getting also paid by a new school as long as it's not a "coaching" position, good on 'em for gaming the system.

Point being that these are coaches who COULD find other coaching jobs, but they sit on the deep bench at these big-name schools. Once their buyouts are over, it's possible they'll jump to a smaller school. It's also possible that the analyst position becomes an extended job interview to move up to a coordinator position at said big-name school, furthering their resume for a run at a future HC position at that same or another big-name school. 

Either way it's sucking up a portion of the talent pool for head coaching hires, keeping them away from the competition.

[847badgerfan]

Alabama went through a lot of suck before they got Saban. That was after Spurrier turned them down. They also looked at RichRod and Schiano, who also turned them down.

What if RichRod said yes?

[betarhoalphadelta]

Alabama went through a lot of suck before they got Saban. That was after Spurrier turned them down. They also looked at RichRod and Schiano, who also turned them down.

What if RichRod said yes?

Going back from 1999-2006 (the year before Saban), according to 247, Alabama had about 5 top 25 recruiting classes, and a two-year spell where they were ranked in the 40s. 1999 is as far back as 247 goes, so I don't know rankings prior to that.

So when they sucked, they STILL got "helmet" recruiting classes. 

That's why I'm saying a coaching staff salary cap won't really affect parity. Because recruits don't care how much a coach is paid. 

[CatsbyAZ]

Capping coach salaries is not legal.

Should a modest number of schools hold their ground on salaries, they could make some progress, but that kind of non-collective action has proven very difficult.

Trying to cap coaching salaries isn’t the right approach. Minimizing buyouts by not guaranteeing the salary in total is the responsible approach.

ADs won’t offer that kind of deal upfront  because they usually don’t have the leverage when first hiring. However, when an extension is on the table, this is the time, when they have more leverage, for an AD to withhold guaranteeing salary on the extended years.

[FearlessF]

Danny Langsdorf, Nebraska’s offensive coordinator under Mike Riley, is joining the Colorado staff as quarterbacks coach.

[FearlessF]

Former Husker quarterback Joe Ganz joins the Northern Iowa staff as wide receivers coach, and former Husker offensive coordinator Shawn Watson will coach the quarterbacks.

[847badgerfan]

Did anyone see the article in the Omaha paper about UNL's buyout payments for FB and BB coaches? Highest in the country - almost $30 Million.

Ouch. Could build a nice engineering building with that money.

[FearlessF]

and worth every penny

well, they should have waited a year or 3 before firing Pelini

would have saved them that cash AND the possibility of hiring Riley

[847badgerfan]

Worth every penny?

Jeez. Seems ridiculous to me.

Article also says that the buyouts for Frost and Fred comes in at over $50 Million right now. 

They better be damn good.

[bayareabadger]

and worth every penny

well, they should have waited a year or 3 before firing Pelini

would have saved them that cash AND the possibility of hiring Riley

Some day, I want an honest oral history of that hire. I think Riley is a good coach. But even the best Riley wasn't going to give Nebraska fans what they wanted. 

In the end they got a 6-7 team that was probably better than that. A 9-4 team that was worse than that and a 4-8 team that was much worse than that. 

Interestingly, the Huskers are kinda at the end of the coaching cliche run almost like Michigan. They when from good isn't good enough to start contrast hire to guy with program ties. Neb had the Riley oddity and now has the extremely highly thought of in small sample size program guy. After that, the next hire is gonna just be a wildcard.

I mean really, hire a coach to get ... the Paul Chryst passing game, but with a running game that had been getting less and less power-centric and not much in the way of defensive background? So weird. 

[FearlessF]

Some day, I want an honest oral history of that hire. I think Riley is a good coach. But even the best Riley wasn't going to give Nebraska fans what they wanted.

AD Shawn Eichorst couldn't handle Pelini, obviously.
Shawn went with the start contrast hire - nice guy
hasty stupid desperate decision and hire 

[CatsbyAZ]

Detailed article on Will Muschamp's buyout numbers: https://www.thestate.com/sports/college/university-of-south-carolina/usc-football/article247207839.html

For as much as I've railed on ADs preemptively granting extensions, such as Muschamp's, who was extended in 2018 to 2024, there's one mitigating cost detail about South Carolina's that I really like:

"At the end of last season, the number thrown around to buy out Will Muschamp’s contract was more than $18 million. Now it’s a bit more than $13.2 million. It sounds like an impossible figure for an athletic department that, at last official announcement, was trying to close a $44 million budget deficit.

But that $13.2 million isn’t a short-term number, and that makes it more palatable.

Instead of looking at the whole number, think of it as a salary. The buyout provision in the contract means Muschamp would make 75% of his current salary from USC, or $3.3 million a year. That’s not great, but easier to handle.

What’s more, whatever he makes at a new job will come out of South Carolina’s obligations. In the past, coaches have had undercut that by taking a minimal salary somewhere else, but USC’s contracts set the minimum offset (mitigation) at 75% of the previous holder of a coach’s new job.

At the moment, 75% of what Auburn’s current defensive coordinator makes is $1.875 million. For Georgia’s, it’s $937,500. For Texas A&M, it’s $1.575 million."