Big Changes are Coming

[UConnDan97]

How would it be a hometown discpunt when UCONN pays more for it's coaches than his present employer does? With his experience in the college game a salary of $1.7-$1.8 would be about what I would expect to see him paid as a HC.

This is a weird comment.

It's a hometown discount, because it's not often that people leave jobs for equal paying jobs. The thing that gives the UConn job extra value over the BC job, assuming equal pay, is that he would be coming home. I've already included a link in this very thread about the fact that he makes about the same amount at BC as Pasqualoni did for us. Therefore, a hometown discount. Not so sure why I set you off with my comment...

 

[huskymedic]

I'm sorry but IMO there is no way we pay a coach $2+MM. I don't see anyway the state politicos & taxpayers will let this happen.

With a tv contract of $2MM & w Geno already making $2+MM I don't see it happening.

I think we end up with a MAC head coach at around $1.2-$1.5MM which is not a bad thing if we get the right guy.

I know this is not a popular idea but as I said it is just my opinion

"Manuel said he will not be contacting active coaches at other programs about the job until after the season. He said the school will be fiscally responsible in hiring a new coach, but will not take a step back when it comes to being competitive in paying its coach. Pasqualoni was to make $1.6 million this year."

"I have talked to several of our donors. We have factored where we are financially where we are in this decision,” Manuel said. ”We are not going backwards. $5 million on next coach? No. Fiscally irresponsible with the money we have. But his buyout in no way shape or form impacts what we can play in the market place.”

It'll happen if that's what is required to make the right hire and will be a done deal before the taxpayers even know.

 

[FDNY99]

This is a weird comment.

It's a hometown discount, because it's not often that people leave jobs for equal paying jobs. The thing that gives the UConn job extra value over the BC job, assuming equal pay, is that he would be coming home. I've already included a link in this very thread about the fact that he makes about the same amount at BC as Pasqualoni did for us. Therefore, a hometown discount. Not so sure why I set you off with my comment...

You didn't set me off at all...if I came across as irritated I appologize. When I think of hometown discount I think of someone taking less money to stay somewhere or move to their hometown team. There is no way Addazio comes here without getting a raise....that is why I put the salary number I put.

 

[FDNY99]

I want to throw this out there about Addazio coming to coach here. He has to have a pretty hefty buyout right now since he is in his first year at BC...for us to hire him we have to pay that buyout. I don't think he is that good of a coach that we throw that kind of cash to BC when we can add that number to the Asst salary pool instead.

 

[ruskin]

I agree with you about the salary for next coach. Unfortunately with Geno we are in a VERY unique situation. From everything I have heard Warde is being given the green light to hire the best coach and staff he can. Paying the next coach $2.5-$3.0 million per year isn't out of the question. That kind of salary puts us in the top 1/3 of the B1G or ACC. That will show that we are serious about football.

whoever the next coach is should have some kind of bonus in his contract tied to CR. You could it make it as simple as "coach gets X percent of TV revenue the school earns from conference TV contract". Don't have to specify what conference. Tells the guy you win and get UConn into the right conference you will be handsomely rewarded.

 

[huskyrob1]

When PP/GDL were retained for 2013, I thought two things:

1. Warde felt that the team's best chance to get back to a bowl this year was by keeping the consistency within the program and allow PP a chance to coach "his guys";
2. If the team did not get to a bowl this season, Warde would have to buy his way out of another lost football season by upping the salary offers to his new coach.

One thing that is an absolute must is to pay whoever coaches our football team in 2014 more than our Women's BB coach. The perception in the P5 is that UCONN does not invest/care in football. It's hard to change that perception when our WBB coach makes the most money in the athletic department. WBB is only really followed closely here and in Tennessee and there is no way that the Vols fans would want their WBB coach to make more than the football coach. I'm all for Geno getting his money, but it can't be at the expense of a dwindling football program. WBB is not going to get us into a P5 conference ever. I hope this opinion doesn't label me as discriminatory, but facts are facts. We need to show a serious (and long overdue) commitment to football if we are ever going to escape AAC purgatory.

Was Kiffin paid more than Pat Summitt?

 

[FDNY99]

whoever the next coach is should have some kind of bonus in his contract tied to CR. You could it make it as simple as "coach gets X percent of TV revenue the school earns from conference TV contract". Don't have to specify what conference. Tells the guy you win and get UConn into the right conference you will be handsomely rewarded.

That is a GREAT idea!!

 

[jackl]

Doesn't label you discriminatory in my mind - just misguided in your business decisions. So you pay a premium for a high quality-good fit coach who you may be able to get for $1.4-$1.7 but you decide to pay him $2m+ for optics (Geno is slated to make 1.950m this coming year)? If the market value of the person you want is over $2.0m fine, ante up - but to say you will pay anyone you hire a number just to pass the WBB coach is nuts. I'd rather they put that money into the assistant coach pool.

That clearly makes sense. Raising the pot doesn't insure anything. Where do you go from there in the Land Of Steady Habits. He still could have a tough time recruiting here in the AAC for a year or two. Paying for good assistants/recruiters is a no brainer. These last 6 games are going to be tough to watch but you do it for the players like Deshon Foxx, Tim Boyle and Yawin Smallwood. Speculation about the new coaches and players and coaches leaving is BS as of right now. Time to let it play out on its own. I'm just a little tired of all the negativity that still exists here even after the Palace Coup took care of business. Go Huskies!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Dooley]

Doesn't label you discriminatory in my mind - just misguided in your business decisions. So you pay a premium for a high quality-good fit coach who you may be able to get for $1.4-$1.7 but you decide to pay him $2m+ for optics (Geno is slated to make 1.950m this coming year)? If the market value of the person you want is over $2.0m fine, ante up - but to say you will pay anyone you hire a number just to pass the WBB coach is nuts. I'd rather they put that money into the assistant coach pool.

Don't get me wrong, if we can get the right guy for PP money, I'm all for it. I just don't want to see us stuck in the same candidate pool as the last time, that's all.

 

[Dooley]

Was Kiffin paid more than Pat Summitt?

Yes. We are the only school that pays WBB at the top. With all due respect to WBB, that needs to change if we want to position for a P5 invite.

Kiffin 2009 - $2M/yr
http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/sports/college/football/sec/2008-12-01-tennessee-kiffin_N.htm

Summit 2008-2009 season - $1.4M/yr
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncw/news/story?id=3887808

 

[huskymedic]

Yes. We are the only school that pays WBB at the top. With all due respect to WBB, that needs to change if we want to position for for a P5 invite.

Wow - You agree with my statement above about not overpaying market value for a head coach, then post the same thing again? What we paying our football coach in comparison to our Hall of Fame WBB coach has absolutely nothing to do with "positioning for a P-5 invite".

Winning footballs games and having a successful athletic department that generates boodles of money does.

Oh BTW - Vivian Stringer @ Rutgers makes more than the Football Coach

 

[FDNY99]

Wow - You agree with my statement above about not overpaying market value for a head coach, then post the same thing again? What we paying our football coach in comparison to our Hall of Fame WBB coach has absolutely nothing to do with "positioning for a P-5 invite".

Winning footballs games and having a successful athletic department that generates boodles of money does.

Oh BTW - Vivian Stringer @ Rutgers makes more than the Football Coach

Medic...I think all of the high profile coaches at Rutgers make more than Flood. Unless he has got a raise recently he makes in the $900k range. Pernetti had a budget when he replaced Shady....

 

[huskymedic]

Medic...I think all of the high profile coaches at Rutgers make more than Flood. Unless he has got a raise recently he makes in the $900k range. Pernetti had a budget when he replaced Shady....

Agree - I actually think he's making $800k.

My point to Dooley was that Flood was making less than the less accomplished WBB Coach when Rutgers found the winning P5 lottery ticket under the Seaside Heights boardwalk. Who was making what had no impact.

 

[FDNY99]

Agree - I actually think he's making $800k.

My point to Dooley was that Flood was making less than the less accomplished WBB Coach when Rutgers found the winning P5 lottery ticket under the Seaside Heights boardwalk. Who was making what had no impact.

I know...and although they did hit the lotto the fact Pernetti had a budget (and it most likely prevented him from hiring his 1st choice of Christobal) was VERY telling about finances there.

 

[weyuo]

At this point I don't give a hoot who takes over this program but the biggest change I want to see is scholarship athletes not giving up on plays like I saw in the second half of the Cincy game Saturday and then being allowed to continue playing instead of growing roots on the bench. Pizz poor tackling, just plain giving up on it and letting Cincy players grab an extra 10-15 yards they had no business getting. That's more irritating to watch than the offensive line.

 

[Dooley]

Wow - You agree with my statement above about not overpaying market value for a head coach, then post the same thing again? What we paying our football coach in comparison to our Hall of Fame WBB coach has absolutely nothing to do with "positioning for a P-5 invite".

Winning footballs games and having a successful athletic department that generates boodles of money does.

Oh BTW - Vivian Stringer @ Rutgers makes more than the Football Coach

Let me be clearer, I'm all for paying $1.5M to the next coach if it's possible. I just don't think that that price point considerably improves our coaching candidate pool from a few years ago. A few years ago, we were located in a tough recruiting territory and have a football program with little/no tradition. This year, we still have those things against us but now add AAC affiliation (while our geographic rivals are all in the ACC or B1G) and three seasons of diminishing value...possibly a winless 2013 season. I hope I'm wrong, but I don't think $1.6M/yr will attract the best candidates. Maybe the development of Tim Boyle and some of other younger players will help change that.

As for the WBB vs FB coaching salary debate, we're stuck in the AAC, in part, because of the perception around the country that UCONN doesn't care about football. We pay our WBB coach $2M/yr...well above industry standard. Clearly we care about WBB, probably much more than anywhere else in the country (tied with Tennessee perhaps). We need to at least be willing to pay our football coach industry standard to show that we also care about football. Football industry standard happens to be around the Geno level, possibly slightly less. But for the reasons I stated in the paragraph above, I think we need to be prepared to pay more than industry standard and that puts us more than Geno.

 

[FfldCntyFan]

I heard face-to-face this week, from someone with even more clout than Herbst has with the purse strings, that the football situation will get resolved. I rate the source as having the highest degree of credibility.

I am fairly certain it means the BOT is fully aware of what it will take financially to attract the right coaching staff for the job. There are also things going on behind the scenes on all fronts to push forward on a Big 10 invite.

The cash won't be coming solely from sources the BOT has control over. From what I have heard quite a few doors have already been knocked on.

I don't think the HC salary will need to be bumped too much from what we were paying P. What we pay our assistants on the other hand will need to be addressed, I believe that this is a major reason for the door knocking.

 

[brasssbonanzaa]

Like I said in another post in this thread i know for a fact that Manuel hs NOT been given am edict to do this on the cheap...that means paying a salary anywhere from $1.6 mill up to $2.5 mill for the right guy. Herbst and BOT are all in on football...they know it is the only waybwe have any future shot in CR.

I suspect they realize that UConn remaining in the AAC will do massive damage to the university's reputation as a whole. Being associated academically with schools like UCF, ECU, Houston, Tulsa, etc. will only do serious harm to the image of the school over the long term. If I were them, I'd anticipate a drop in overall applications due to less notoriety, drop in donations from alums, and all of the resulting effects of that. The only way out is to not go for this on the cheap. The football program is Warde's opportunity to leave his mark on the university and overall collegiate athletic landscape and make a name for himself. Of course, the basketball programs were set up for him, and whether he liked it or not, he wasn't the one selecting the new men's BB coach. The FB program has the opportunity to be a 100% clean slate for him come December, one in dire need of repair.

 

[RegisteredUconn]

We need to at least be willing to pay our football coach industry standard to show that we also care about football.

Liked and agree with your post Dooley. I only pulled out this quote so I could co-opt it for my own purposes. The truth is I'm not interested in "industry standard." I'm interested in setting the bar. I'm interested in finding the guy who's interested in setting the bar. Part of our problem is we've already caught lighting in a bottle twice. Two times we paid "industry standard" (hell, I don't know, maybe we paid Jim and Geno below standard in the early years) and gotten Hall of Fame quality. Now there are those who seem to me to argue we should be looking for a third bite of that apple. Sorry, I've played cards, the lottery, the horses, and the casinos. I'm not that lucky. We need a surer thing. We need to pay the money that attracts not a guy who's in the Hall of Fame but the guy with Hall of Fame qualities.

I want the guy who has the intelligence, knowledge, passion, energy, ability to teach, ability to trust and be trusted, desire, determination, focus, ability to learn, ability to turn failure into success the build on that success, integrity, pride and the ability to instill it, fortitude, vision, leadership, maturity, flexibility, courage, and communications skills of a Hall of Famer. Anybody know how much that costs?

 

[Chin Diesel]

The cash won't be coming solely from sources the BOT has control over. From what I have heard quite a few doors have already been knocked on.

I don't think the HC salary will need to be bumped too much from what we were paying P. What we pay our assistants on the other hand will need to be addressed, I believe that this is a major reason for the door knocking.

The pool of money allotted for assistants is equally as important as the HC money. In order to get the HC UConn wants they're gonna have to be able to afford his desired staff.
If I were interviewing for the HC position that's one of my first questions. How much money do I have to bring in my guys?

 

[huskyrob1]

Let me be clearer, I'm all for paying $1.5M to the next coach if it's possible. I just don't think that that price point considerably improves our coaching candidate pool from a few years ago. A few years ago, we were located in a tough recruiting territory and have a football program with little/no tradition. This year, we still have those things against us but now add AAC affiliation (while our geographic rivals are all in the ACC or B1G) and three seasons of diminishing value...possibly a winless 2013 season. I hope I'm wrong, but I don't think $1.6M/yr will attract the best candidates. Maybe the development of Tim Boyle and some of other younger players will help change that.

As for the WBB vs FB coaching salary debate, we're stuck in the AAC, in part, because of the perception around the country that UCONN doesn't care about football. We pay our WBB coach $2M/yr...well above industry standard. Clearly we care about WBB, probably much more than anywhere else in the country (tied with Tennessee perhaps). We need to at least be willing to pay our football coach industry standard to show that we also care about football. Football industry standard happens to be around the Geno level, possibly slightly less. But for the reasons I stated in the paragraph above, I think we need to be prepared to pay more than industry standard and that puts us more than Geno.

Although I agree with your basic premise that we need to pay a coach a decent salary compared to other schools to show that we are serious about football, most of what you refer to to support your argument is BS. Geno is an institution, both him and Jim Calhoun put UCONN on the map and paved the way for the schools move to big time D1 football. The guy has 8 national championships and counting and may go down in history as the greatest ball coach ever. I hear what you are saying but Auriemma is untouchable and worth every penny. Basketball is major bucks, men's or women's, when you have successful programs and a legend for a coach, at any school. Look at Louisville, heading to the ACC, the highest paid state employee in Kentucky is Rick Pitino, and he makes quite a bit more than Charlie Strong ever will, but it doesn't mean that they don't care about football, clearly that's not the case.

 

[SonsOfNutmeg]

It's time to cut cord on everything Edsall and pasqualoni coaching wise. Time to write a new chapter for this program. Time to step up to the plate! Bringing in a guy like moorhead or Todd Orlando as HC isn't the answer to our problems.

Totally 100% agree! We need to forge a new trail at UConn... Time to move on, stop getting Northeast/New England, or former regime re-treads and start fresh. I'm very confident Warde will do this. Look at his decision to make TJ IHC over Hank Hughes. Old vs. New.

 

[Dooley]

Although I agree with your basic premise that we need to pay a coach a decent salary compared to other schools to show that we are serious about football, most of what you refer to to support your argument is BS. Geno is an institution, both him and Jim Calhoun put UCONN on the map and paved the way for the schools move to big time D1 football. The guy has 8 national championships and counting and may go down in history as the greatest ball coach ever. I hear what you are saying but Auriemma is untouchable and worth every penny. Basketball is major bucks, men's or women's, when you have successful programs and a legend for a coach, at any school. Look at Louisville, heading to the ACC, the highest paid state employee in Kentucky is Rick Pitino, and he makes quite a bit more than Charlie Strong ever will, but it doesn't mean that they don't care about football, clearly that's not the case.

I'm not arguing the merits of Geno or WBB. I'm lobbying for UCONN to make a football statement. We are staring at the real possibility of a winless season straight in the face. Limiting our coach candidate pool because we can't pay him more than Geno would be a serious mistake.

 

[ZooCougar]

P was a bargain basement hire from the standpoint that he was willing to keep many of the current staffers and keep costs down. He also didn't have much time to build a staff because Edsall left so late in the silly season.

We don't really have the same impediments working against us this time. Time should be an ally and a the word on the street is more money should be available.

Paying our football coach more than the WBB coach just to make a statement could be like throwing money away. If you are going to pay him that, then he better be worth it.

 

[huskymedic]

I'm not arguing the merits of Geno or WBB. I'm lobbying for UCONN to make a football statement. We are staring at the real possibility of a winless season straight in the face. Limiting our coach candidate pool because we can't pay him more than Geno would be a serious mistake.

Nobody (including WM/SH) has said we can't or won't - the continuing argument is that you just don't start at Geno's salary as the baseline/starting point if you don't need to - just to make a "statement" to show we are serious about football. Just as many CFB industry insiders will laugh @ UConn for doing that.