Coaching Buyouts and Contract Extensions Thread

[FearlessF]

Iowa announced Friday that it reached a contract extension with football coach Kirk Ferentz, locking him down through the 2029 season. Per Iowa’s release, Ferentz’s total annual compensation is be $7 million annually. It includes a $500,00 base, $5.5 million in other forms of supplemental compensation and an extra $1 million longevity bonus.

“This contract extension would not be possible without substantial private support,” Iowa athletics director Gary Barta. “The pandemic has presented Iowa Athletics with significant financial challenges. We are grateful to the many donors and fans who have contributed directly toward the success of Hawkeye football.”

[FearlessF]

sign the extension - dissolve the committee



A year and a half ago, the University of Iowa athletics formed an alumni advisory committee in the wake of a wave of players calling out the football program for fostering a culture of bullying and racism. Iowa football coach Kirk Ferentz made the sudden decision this week to dissolve that program with the hopes of reforming it in the future, according to a report from The Gazette.

The Gazette obtained text messages and emails from Ferentz and the committee chronicling the sequence of events that led to the committee’s disbandment.

“I have come to a decision that this is an appropriate time to dissolve our committee as it stands currently,” Ferentz wrote in a Tuesday email to the alumni committee. “As we start a new calendar year and prepare to move forward with our preparation for the 2022 season, I am giving thought to how we restructure the committee/board in a way that best serves our program moving forward.”


Per The Gazette, Ferentz had a “contentious” meeting with the committee Oct. 18 and, on Jan. 2, committee chair David Porter sent a string of text messages to the committee that Iowa should consider bringing in a new athletic director, football coach and staff.

Porter, a former offensive lineman for the Hawkeyes, cited Ferentz’s supposed blind loyalty to his staff — in particular his son, offensive coordinator Brian Ferentz — as his primary concern with Ferentz as head coach.


https://247sports.com/college/nebraska/Article/Iowa-football-coach-Kirk-Ferentz-disbands-alumni-diversity-advisory-committee-per-report-180761805/?fbclid=IwAR36RVnj3CBUQi8Tphfc4FeuNtgnyfuGofaz3803L9dUf9ZjCuwBc9W4_Hw

[CatsbyAZ]

From Outkick:

"Edwards has agreed to take only 50% of the buyout money owed to him, according to The State Press. That means ASU will pay him roughly $4.4 million through 2024.”

“Why did Herm Edwards leave millions of dollars on the table? It’s not clear, and there’s no question it’s a strange move…Buyout money is pretty much always guaranteed…One possible explanation is ASU held possible violations over his head as leverage to void any guaranteed money.”




https://twitter.com/Outkick/status/1583192077831118851

[CatsbyAZ]

Another offseason, another trigger happy AD overdoing an underserved coaching extension.

“The Seminoles announced late Wednesday afternoon that Norvell has agreed to an extension through the 2029 season…Norvell’s annual average salary is now $8.05 million per year. That’s nearly double the $4.5 million he made this past season.”

“Norvell is 18-16 at FSU, and while being two games above .500 isn’t super impressive, the Seminoles are trending up under him. The team went 10-3 in 2022.”

Yes, the team went 10-3, but does a ten win season warrant nearly DOUBLING Norvell’s salary and locking him in through the rest of the DECADE?!?! None of those ten wins were against ranked opponents (though LSU would later be ranked). And FSU lost to all of its ranked opponents - #22 Wake Forest, #14 NC State, and #4 Clemson. It sounds more like Norvell is getting FSU to achieve the baseline of what they already should be achieving; nothing more, nothing less.


https://twitter.com/Outkick/status/1623668036493512706u

[847badgerfan]

I was scratching my head when I saw that one.

[FearlessF]

a move to keep Coach Neon out when he leaves boulder

[bayareabadger]

From Outkick:

"Edwards has agreed to take only 50% of the buyout money owed to him, according to The State Press. That means ASU will pay him roughly $4.4 million through 2024.”

“Why did Herm Edwards leave millions of dollars on the table? It’s not clear, and there’s no question it’s a strange move…Buyout money is pretty much always guaranteed…One possible explanation is ASU held possible violations over his head as leverage to void any guaranteed money.”




https://twitter.com/Outkick/status/1583192077831118851

The guy who wrote that is a bit of a paste eater mediot, but that topic is actually sort of interesting. 

I can't find a PDF of his contract, but the factors usually involve:
-Is there contract mitigation? - This is where your new salary comes off your buyout. So if ESPN pays him within $2.2 million of what he would've made, he comes out ahead
-Is there a duty to look for similar work? - Sometimes mitigation comes with stipulations of looking for a new job and taking one if offered. He doesn't seem to want to be a DC somewhere.
-The tax factor - On a buyout, you pay the full tax burden in Year 1. So if you don't have some reserves, that bill can be hefty for two years of capped income
-The fact that ASU could threaten litigation for the for cause thing, but not want to pay, and just say, "It's a pain for us and a pain for you, let's split the difference."

It's also laughable the ASU AD gave him a 100 percent buyout. No one gets that. 

[bayareabadger]

I was scratching my head when I saw that one.

Contracts are a form of image management these days. Harder to recruit when you get the rep for being cheap. (The professionals really do have this dumb sport by the balls and always have)

[OrangeAfroMan]

Another offseason, another trigger happy AD overdoing an underserved coaching extension.

“The Seminoles announced late Wednesday afternoon that Norvell has agreed to an extension through the 2029 season…Norvell’s annual average salary is now $8.05 million per year. That’s nearly double the $4.5 million he made this past season.”

“Norvell is 18-16 at FSU, and while being two games above .500 isn’t super impressive, the Seminoles are trending up under him. The team went 10-3 in 2022.”

Yes, the team went 10-3, but does a ten win season warrant nearly DOUBLING Norvell’s salary and locking him in through the rest of the DECADE?!?! None of those ten wins were against ranked opponents (though LSU would later be ranked). And FSU lost to all of its ranked opponents - #22 Wake Forest, #14 NC State, and #4 Clemson. It sounds more like Norvell is getting FSU to achieve the baseline of what they already should be achieving; nothing more, nothing less.


https://twitter.com/Outkick/status/1623668036493512706u

This trend is real and bizarre.  It's as if ADs can't look at depth charts and tell when a team has peaked or not.  It's as if they're required to buy the full-bore optimism they have to put out there as a front to the public, but doing it privately with tons of money on the line.
FSU may be good next year, but they'll come back down to earth once their Houdini QB leaves.
.
Just another exhibit of people being in high-tier, decision-making positions not needing to be even somewhat bright.  Intelligence doesn't seem to be a prerequisite for many job positions where it would come in handy.

[CatsbyAZ]

This trend is real and bizarre.  It's as if ADs can't look at depth charts and tell when a team has peaked or not.  It's as if they're required to buy the full-bore optimism they have to put out there as a front to the public, but doing it privately with tons of money on the line.
FSU may be good next year, but they'll come back down to earth once their Houdini QB leaves.
.
Just another exhibit of people being in high-tier, decision-making positions not needing to be even somewhat bright.  Intelligence doesn't seem to be a prerequisite for many job positions where it would come in handy.

There's more than a few effective ways I can try to make an analogy about this but look at how many movie sequels there are for exhausted film franchises like Fast and the Furious and Transformers. As soon as those franchises an scored an initial hit a bloated Hollywood studio immediately greenlit big budgets to churn out more for the sake of "franchise potential." Norvell scored a "hit" last season, and similarly, the FSU AD wastes no time greenlighting a string of risky sequels.

And meanwhile the FSU AD obliviously pats themselves on the back as though their very reckless extension reinforces and justifies their coaching hire. Compare that with the situation in Pittsburgh. Pat Narduzzi has gone 20-7 in the past two seasons, finishing in the Top 25 both times - this after 6 seasons of mostly 7 or 8 win seasons outside the Top 25. And despite that breakthrough Narduzzi is still listed at around $4M (with bonus options potentially breaking $5M). Last March Narduzzi's contract was extended through 2030, but given the stability and gradual improvement his tenure has provided Pitt, it's certainly more warranted than Norvell's more reactively expensive contract.

[bayareabadger]

This trend is real and bizarre.  It's as if ADs can't look at depth charts and tell when a team has peaked or not.  It's as if they're required to buy the full-bore optimism they have to put out there as a front to the public, but doing it privately with tons of money on the line.
FSU may be good next year, but they'll come back down to earth once their Houdini QB leaves.
.
Just another exhibit of people being in high-tier, decision-making positions not needing to be even somewhat bright.  Intelligence doesn't seem to be a prerequisite for many job positions where it would come in handy.

What does a peaked depth chart look like?

In the end, you have coaches pushing for whatever security measure they can get, in a field where the point is often to fire a guy. And for whatever reason, athletic departments reward the first spark of success.

And the downside is that if FSU isn’t willing to do something like this, someone else would probably take him off their hands.

[bayareabadger]

And meanwhile the FSU AD obliviously pats themselves on the back as though their very reckless extension reinforces and justifies their coaching hire. Compare that with the situation in Pittsburgh. Pat Narduzzi has gone 20-7 in the past two seasons, finishing in the Top 25 both times - this after 6 seasons of mostly 7 or 8 win seasons outside the Top 25. And despite that breakthrough Narduzzi is still listed at around $4M (with bonus options potentially breaking $5M). Last March Narduzzi's contract was extended through 2030, but given the stability and gradual improvement his tenure has provided Pitt, it's certainly more warranted than Norvell's more reactively expensive contract.

So this explanation gives Pitt a little too much credit.

In Pat's first three years, he went 8-5, 8-5, 5-7. That last year, he made $1.8 million. For that, he got a 7-year deal (so likely a big buyout), and a 66 percent raise. The deal also included some rather nice escalator raises. So for 21-17, he got this:

2018: $3 mil
2019: $3.2 mil
2020: $4 mil
2021: $4.8 mil

Then 2021 happened and he got a raise, up to a reported $5.8 million. If the escalator is similar to the last deal, he'll be at at least $6.5 when Norvell is at $8. 

So he took over a mid-level program. Was a little better than the mid-level it had been. Then got 7 years. He followed that up with three more years of being mid-level, had a breakthrough season with a cool offense, got a raise and seven more years, and promptly ditched that offensive identity to become ground and pound. Now credit where it's due, they did manage to grind out 9-4, but there's not much evidence to say "ah-hah, this is a wise long-term investment."

[CatsbyAZ]

What does a peaked depth chart look like?

And for whatever reason, athletic departments reward the first spark of success.
 

Peaked depth chart? I like the phrase!

As of this week, toss in UCLA as a football program who just handed their coach an extension on the heels of a peaked depth chart.

From UCLA’s official press release: “Chip Kelly has signed a contract extension to remain head football coach at UCLA through 2027…” (Kelly was previously on contract through 2025.) This isn't a terrible extension, only adding two years to Kelly's contract to get ahead of graduating the current signing class.

But look at what UCLA’s press release uses as justifications for extending Chip Kelly:

“The ground attack was especially potent, as running back Zach Charbonnet led the charge behind an offensive-line unit regarded as one of the nation's best…Charbonnet averaged a conference-best 135.9 rushing yards and an FBS-leading 168.0 all-purpose yards.”

“Under Kelly's tutelage, signal caller Dorian Thompson-Robinson etched his name in the UCLA record book. Across Thompson-Robinson's school-record 48 starts at quarterback, he set new career standards for completions (860), touchdown passes (88), total touchdowns (116) passing yards (10,710), quarterback rushing yards (1,826), and total offense (12,536 yards).”

“For his work in the classroom, wide receiver Jake Bobo earned a First Team spot on the 2022 CSC Academic All-America Team.”

Since Bobo was also the team’s leading receiving, that’s the vast majority of UCLA’s production lost with DTR and Charbonnet moving on as well. A peaked depth chart indeed. Not to mention numerous experienced starters lost from last year, though this can be offset with Kelly bringing in a high amount of transfers, something he’s a big fan of doing.

UCLA isn’t expected to be as good next year, especially on offense, but there you have it – an AD more than happy to grant an extension in the face of mucho program uncertainty intensified by UCLA’s move to the Big Ten.


https://twitter.com/UCLAFootball/status/1631716252753305612

[FearlessF]

The Athletic recently highlighted some of the most impressive college football coaching contracts and the perks that come with them. While Sanders can’t rep UA gear or cover up a Nike swoosh, Colorado makes up for this stipulation in the perks they provide to the head coach.

The Buffaloes grant Sanders two courtesy SUVs or a $1,200  per month supplemental salary. Sanders has one of the most valuable car perks for college coaches around the nation. Only three other new head coaches are also allowed two vehicles in their contracts: Arizona State’s Kenny Dillingham, Wisconsin’s Luke Fickell, and UNLV’s Barry Odom. 

Another interesting element of Sanders’ specific contract with Colorado is that Sanders keeps the rights to all his “trademarks, logos, copyrights, and catchphrases” while working as the head coach at Colorado. This is a unique element. Most head football coaches simply do not have the same level of intellectual property that Coach Prime possesses. All in all, Sanders has a five-year deal with Colorado worth $5.5 million in 2023.

Head football coach Matt Rhule receives unexpectedly great perks at Nebraska


https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/other/nebraska-proves-to-be-an-unexpectedly-ideal-coaching-destination-according-to-college-football-perks-analysis/ar-AA190rUm?ocid=entnewsntp&pc=U531&cvid=566f8c0e443c4322a1fabece3f763667&ei=81