Coaching Buyouts and Contract Extensions Thread

[OrangeAfroMan]

But yeah, hiring the Dook guy isn't going to impress anyone.

[FearlessF]

Tom Allen’s buyout makes Indiana’s coaching change a pricey move.

In the 2020 season shortened by COVID, Allen guided Indiana to a 6-2 record. He signed a new contract in March 2021 that included a fully guaranteed buyout of $20.8 million if fired before Dec. 1, 2023.

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I would have waited a few daze

that's a lot of money for a basketball school
easier for the Aggies to pay $70 million

[MarqHusker]

I'm just razzing utee not because he isn't following along (he obviously is) just that there's not a lot of evidence (especially lately) to suggest that there's any rational judgment being applied to college football coaching hires or much anything else in college football.

in a way, I liken the Jimbo deep-end buyout to an Albert Belle type deal in '97 when we went from the first $5 mil guy to the first $10 mil guy in under five years, Of course A-Rod hit $20m within four years.     Now we shrug at the Tom Allen buyouts (which is no less insane), and I don't see IU with any plans?   The 'extensions' are one of the most mind numbing practices i've ever seen.

I work for a PE owned firm.  The incentives that are used to keep me (and others) around/happy make a ton of sense, and they are largely mutually beneficial.   on the other hand, these deals to 'tie up'  a guy by effectively agreeing to pay him (once you fire him) not to coach or to coach somewhere else are simply remarkable.    The schools are scared of their own shadow (boosters) and have no discipline, strike that, they act with such recklessness.  

[FearlessF]

a few years ago we were appalled by the buyout for Kirk Ferentz

apparently it was enough to keep the coach and it probably worked out just fine 

maybe because the AD at the time couldn't come up with a better succession plan, but the money was obviously a factor

heck, the CU Buffs paid Prime more than they could afford.  Looked like a good deal for 3 games.

[ELA]

Tom Allen’s buyout makes Indiana’s coaching change a pricey move.

In the 2020 season shortened by COVID, Allen guided Indiana to a 6-2 record. He signed a new contract in March 2021 that included a fully guaranteed buyout of $20.8 million if fired before Dec. 1, 2023.

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I would have waited a few daze

that's a lot of money for a basketball school
easier for the Aggies to pay $70 million

I'd give him a shot in the divisionless Big Ten.  What does Indiana football think it is?  Hell, Mel Tucker would still be at MSU, even at 4-8, without the for cause out, and MSU football is WAY ahead of Indiana.  And in this era of college football, how useful is being 8-4?  Bowls are at best selected based on fan size, and at worst based on who hasn't been there in a minute.  You are either in the playoff or not, because the consolation prize is a meaningless game where every halfway decent player skips.  Why would you pay $20 million to at best get into one of those games?

[FearlessF]

yup, smart ADs would get a coach for a bargain that would put enough butts in the stadium seats to pay their salary

and not a penny more
cause the TV money is going to run the remainder of the athletic department

[ELA]

yup, smart ADs would get a coach for a bargain that would put enough butts in the stadium seats to pay their salary

and not a penny more
cause the TV money is going to run the remainder of the athletic department

And I'm not pretending MSU is more than it is.  John L Smith deserved to get fired, because based on what college football was in the mid 2000s, Michigan State should at least be making bowls. Today, who cares?  There is no difference between 9-3 and 3-9, other than playing in a randomly selected exhibition game, where every NFL prospect opts out.  If your ceiling is that, which is like 120 schools, why buy out a coach for not hitting your ceiling, when your ceiling is still irrelevant?

[utee94]

But yeah, hiring the Dook guy isn't going to impress anyone.

Ultimately I think he was a good hire, and the one they could have and should have negotiated with and had wrapped up before announcing the firing of Jimbo.  They weren't going to be able to grab any of the top names, not without putting in place an even MORE one-sided deal than Jimbo had, anyway.

He's not a splash hire that a lot of ags seemed to want, but I think he'll be a stabilizing influence and a calm steward, to transition them out of the madness that was Jimbo's reign.

[OrangeAfroMan]

Is hiring a "steward" a good thing?

He seems to know defense.  That's good.  

He just went .500 in the ACC and finished the year 2 games worse than his first year there.

[utee94]

Is hiring a "steward" a good thing?

He seems to know defense.  That's good. 

He just went .500 in the ACC and finished the year 2 games worse than his first year there.

I consider it better than hiring a hot mess, or a dumpster fire.

Is there some "home run" hire they could realistically get, that has been overlooked?

[Temp430]

Days days are numbered.  Several media outlets are rumored to be looking into who hired the PI firm.  I figure O$U will keep Day until after whatever “butt suck bowl game*” they’re gifted and then fire him if he doesn’t bail first.

*a phrase I read and borrowed from an anonymous buckeye fan during a schadenfreude scan of buckeye message boards.

[Cincydawg]

 There is no difference between 9-3 and 3-9, other than playing in a randomly selected exhibition game, where every NFL prospect opts out.  If your ceiling is that, which is like 120 schools, why buy out a coach for not hitting your ceiling, when your ceiling is still irrelevant?

I think 9-3 puts more fans in seats, and one's hopes for a major upset are higher.  You get ranked somewhere.  A coach can survive at 9-3 at most schools.

As for Day, I would NOT fire him without a pretty clear idea who I was going to hire.  He'd likely to be the winningest coach ever fired.

[Temp430]

As for Day, I would NOT fire him without a pretty clear idea who I was going to hire.  He'd likely to be the winningest coach ever fired.

 "Desperate times call for...."  Urban Meyer.

[Cincydawg]

One might think "Well, these ADs make rational decisions, they get paid a lot to do that." and then one looks at the decisions they do make ...

One might think leaders of large companies in the same vein, but in my experience, they often would be "influenced" by weird stuff and make poor decisions.

I suspect it's human nature in larger organizations of any kind.