Coaching Buyouts and Contract Extensions Thread

[MikeDeTiger]

Makes me wonder if we're in a bubble with these outsized contracts and the schools will eventually collectively wise up and realize they also have leverage to exert, or if the giant contracts are here to stay.  

[bayareabadger]

Makes me wonder if we're in a bubble with these outsized contracts and the schools will eventually collectively wise up and realize they also have leverage to exert, or if the giant contracts are here to stay. 

Whatever leverage they theoretically have, they’re shit at using. 

I’d guessed the player comp stuff could at least slow it, but too many buyers are ready to go too hard every year. 

[CatsbyAZ]

Whatever leverage they theoretically have, they’re shit at using.

Part of it is Athletic Directors rushing headlong into extensions as a way to pat themselves on the back and falsely prop their hires. IOW, there's not even an understanding of having any leverage to begin with.

Two years ago I posted an Outkick Article explaining this:

"Athletic directors, university presidents, and all the money men need to slow down on the raises and extensions after one great year. Too often, that one great season is never duplicated after the fat raise and extension hits the coach. And too often the powers that be at schools are so quick to reward because they want to reward themselves for supposedly making the right hire. They want to say, “Look, we’ve arrived.”

Look no further than A&M's and LSU's former AD Scotton Woodwalt as Exhibit A. Whenever Jimmy Sexton came knocking on Scotton Woodwalt's door with a bottle of Johnnie Walker Blue Label, within the hour the Blue Label bottle was empty and Scotton Woodwalt has guaranteed millions more to Sexton's client(s). And the next morning Scotton Woodwalt wakes up hungover and believing he has justified his hire(s) by showing off the chance to further bloat the salaries of his hires.



In another thread someone was commenting on Arkansas recently dropping their tennis programs, and speculating that this was related to budget cuts needed to divert funds to the Football and Basketball arms race. And that more Athletic Departments are asking the University for funds to keep everything moving. This might be the start to a ceiling on bloated coaching contracts if the Universities get bothered enough to begin questioning the backfiring business practices within their Athletic Departments.

[MikeDeTiger]

Look no further than A&M's and LSU's former AD Scotton Woodwalt as Exhibit A. Whenever Jimmy Sexton came knocking on Scotton Woodwalt's door with a bottle of Johnnie Walker Blue Label, within the hour the Blue Label bottle was empty and Scotton Woodwalt has guaranteed millions more to Sexton's client(s). And the next morning Scotton Woodwalt wakes up hungover and believing he has justified his hire(s) by showing off the chance to further bloat the salaries of his hires.

ISWYDT

He and CBK are obviously an example of an outsized contract, but I'm not sure it's an example of foolish, premature extensions.  iirc, BK's contract remained what it was when he was hired.  He never really did anything to warrant a rush for a raise and an extension.  But someone would have to verify that, because I don't know for sure.  He beat Alabama and won the SECw in his first year, so maybe that could've triggered something, but as I say, the original contract was so dumbly large that I don't think anybody even thought about upping it.  In his second year, he had a Heisman winner, but trust me, any good will for that was overshadowed by the worst defense in the country and easily the worst in school history of the modern era, which wasted a historic offense/QB.  I doubt any raises were issued for that.  The next 1.5 seasons were inept by school standards, and then he was done.  

Am I wrong about that?  All I remember hearing people talk about was the terms of BK's buyout, which I believe were the same as his original contract.  I don't recall him ever making more than the original (goofy) contract stipulated.  

[bayareabadger]

Part of it is Athletic Directors rushing headlong into extensions as a way to pat themselves on the back and falsely prop their hires. IOW, there's not even an understanding of having any leverage to begin with.

Two years ago I posted an Outkick Article explaining this:

"Athletic directors, university presidents, and all the money men need to slow down on the raises and extensions after one great year. Too often, that one great season is never duplicated after the fat raise and extension hits the coach. And too often the powers that be at schools are so quick to reward because they want to reward themselves for supposedly making the right hire. They want to say, “Look, we’ve arrived.”

Look no further than A&M's and LSU's former AD Scotton Woodwalt as Exhibit A. Whenever Jimmy Sexton came knocking on Scotton Woodwalt's door with a bottle of Johnnie Walker Blue Label, within the hour the Blue Label bottle was empty and Scotton Woodwalt has guaranteed millions more to Sexton's client(s). And the next morning Scotton Woodwalt wakes up hungover and believing he has justified his hire(s) by showing off the chance to further bloat the salaries of his hires.

That’s article is vague and vibes-y and sort of that of a simpleton.

Like, confirming your own hire is nice and all, but for the most part, the pay increases are tied to types of market forces. Many of those forces were engineered by a great agent, but the fact is, these schools drive up each others’ expectations, and thus demands.

The key for the school is they have to tell the successful coach the fans and donors feel good about that they don’t give a shit if the coach is unhappy, feels like he’s not being supported or leaves. And that’s a real hard sell for an AD.

[CatsbyAZ]

ISWYDT

Did a Scotton Woodwalt (or Pot Osward?) face morph and there was no point:

He and CBK are obviously an example of an outsized contract, but I'm not sure it's an example of foolish, premature extensions.

The article was knocking Scotton Woodwalt more over the extension he gave Orgeron, but in his defense Orgeron deserved some kind of extension. And the $17M buyout Oregon received is dwarfed by Woodwalt's other misfires, namely with bloated contracts to Jimbo Fisher and Brian Kelly:

"That was the case with Orgeron after winning the national championship at LSU in 2019. He was already in his dream job making $4 million a year, and no one was trying to hire him. Yet, LSU athletic director Scott Woodward gave him a six-year extension and a raise to $7 million a year."

"And less than two years later, Woodward fired Orgeron. Like Babers, he started free falling soon after the new contract ink dried. He dropped to 5-5 in 2020 and to 4-3 in 2021. Orgeron walked away with a $17 million buyout. Great fiscal job, Scott."

"It was also Woodward who hired Fisher away from Florida State after the 2017 season for $75 million over 10 years - the richest contract for a college football coach at the time in history. Had Woodward looked beyond the national championship in 2013 and the excellent years around it, he may have noticed something. Fisher was 5-6 in 2017. The program was descending. And Fisher didn't want to stay anyway. So, Woodward could've hired him for much cheaper. But Woodward wanted to show off."

[bayareabadger]

Did a Scotton Woodwalt (or Pot Osward?) face morph and there was no point:



The article was knocking Scotton Woodwalt more over the extension he gave Orgeron, but in his defense Orgeron deserved some kind of extension. And the $17M buyout Oregon received is dwarfed by Woodwalt's other misfires, namely with bloated contracts to Jimbo Fisher and Brian Kelly:

"That was the case with Orgeron after winning the national championship at LSU in 2019. He was already in his dream job making $4 million a year, and no one was trying to hire him. Yet, LSU athletic director Scott Woodward gave him a six-year extension and a raise to $7 million a year."

"And less than two years later, Woodward fired Orgeron. Like Babers, he started free falling soon after the new contract ink dried. He dropped to 5-5 in 2020 and to 4-3 in 2021. Orgeron walked away with a $17 million buyout. Great fiscal job, Scott."

"It was also Woodward who hired Fisher away from Florida State after the 2017 season for $75 million over 10 years - the richest contract for a college football coach at the time in history. Had Woodward looked beyond the national championship in 2013 and the excellent years around it, he may have noticed something. Fisher was 5-6 in 2017. The program was descending. And Fisher didn't want to stay anyway. So, Woodward could've hired him for much cheaper. But Woodward wanted to show off."

This is also a bit silly because chances are, at that school, those money decisions aren’t really in the hands of the AD.

Pretending it’s about preening ADs shortchanges the sort of rich tapestry that leads to this inflation.