If you want to get rid of Ollie

[jibsey]

Football coaches Graham and Sumlin are owed 12 and 10 million on their buyouts. I realize those schools get a lot more conference money.

 

[noeynox]

Can you really blame Warde or Benedict for this situation? I would have locked Ollie up too. I think a lot of us thought we had our HC for the next 20 years barring him leaving for the NBA.

Yes. You are right, but they gave up ALL leverage with that language. All of it.

 

[noeynox]

Football coaches Graham and Sumlin are owed 12 and 10 million on their buyouts. I realize those schools get a lot more conference money.

Herein lies the problem. You can't agree to those types of buyouts if you can't afford it. If the guy leaves for greener pastures so be it. Don't box yourself in with these buyouts. Hell offer more money and a lower buyout. Makes more sense to make them sung for their supper.

 

[whaler11]

The buyout won't be an issue if that's where the administration decides to go with it. This state and university have far too much invested in this program to let one or two million dollars be the reason we continue to tank brand value. The passionate fan base Jim Calhoun developed over his nearly 3 decade tenure is simply too large and too powerful in a relatively wealthy state with no real other sport to truly call its own to simply let something so special just wither away over what really amounts to a very small sum relative to the hugely bloated coaching buyouts in college sports these days.

tl;dr if a change is decided to be made, the buyout will literally be a non-issue.

If the buyout is 10 million they literally can’t make a change.

If it’s 1 they can.

 

[Penfield]

Yes. You are right, but they gave up ALL leverage with that language. All of it.

I am not an expert, but I would think the importance of the buyout was to also protect the university in the case of Ollie leaving for a new job (which seemed necessary at the time). If Warde and whoever else really drew up a one sided contract that only protected Ollie than I guess they got duped.

 

[Penfield]

Maybe JC can help with the buyout then.

not a dime.

 

[noeynox]

I am not an expert, but I would think the importance of the buyout was to also protect the university in the case of Ollie leaving for a new job (which seemed necessary at the time). If Warde and whoever else really drew up a one sided contract that only protected Ollie than I guess they got duped.

Like I said if a guy wants to leave, live with that. We just can't afford that type of buyouts given our conference money.

 

[Penfield]

The latest extension was signed with Warde on his way out the door, after two uninspiring seasons . . .

2014-15 was bad, but he had the excuse of rebuilding from a championship.

2015-16 wasn't great, but the end of the season made it seem like things had turned a corner.

 

[Excalibur]

I am not an expert, but I would think the importance of the buyout was to also protect the university in the case of Ollie leaving for a new job (which seemed necessary at the time). If Warde and whoever else really drew up a one sided contract that only protected Ollie than I guess they got duped.

Pretty sure Ollie's buyout is a separate clause.

 

[BUConn10]

And yet, where is this passionate, influential fan base on game days? Our fan base that Calhoun built is aging out just like he did.

I understand your frustration, you are right in that the fan turnout has not been up to par but I really do believe that passionate fan base DOES in fact exist, and in strong numbers.

I think a part of the problem is simply northeastern attitudes. We are the most densely populated region of the country, our surrounding sports teams typically have unparalleled success and cost of living is high so people, especially families (UConn is 100% a family friendly program and institution) means poor results tend to get people partitioning their income and time in different ways. This isn't the south where it's literally just farmland and a few family owned businesses in between, making the local college team literally the only thing keeping the community together day-to-day, there is a MAJOR cultural difference, and the fan turnouts will show that.

We also can't discount the opinions of the fan base. People often times here say things like "what is said on the Boneyard has no bearing on the program" which is obviously true in a literal sense, but how can the feelings of the program's most dedicated fans (who take the time to post on a fan forum) not in a way represent a general feeling of the overall fan base? These opinions and feelings trickle down, people talk around beers when at the bar watching the highlights of yet another head scratching defeat. And to my main point, when the fan base is unhappy they will let it be known, and administration will be forced to make changes, whether right or wrong, it's simply business, we live in a culture where capitalism permeates every aspect of our lives (I know I know commie!) but at the end of the day money talks, and for UConn bball that's basically just ticket sales (and no real TV deal money) at the moment in this collegiate athletics oligarchy.

 

[Penfield]

Like I said if a guy wants to leave, live with that. We just can't afford that type of buyouts given our conference money.

Right well that seems pretty obvious now.

 

[Dove]

Ollie is completely UNDOING what Calhoun accomplished.

It ain't easy being "the next guy" following a legend. And Ollie just isn't big time. He looks like MAAC level.

 

[Penfield]

Pretty sure Ollie's buyout is a separate clause.

well then I guess they done screwed up

 

[BUConn10]

If the buyout is 10 million they literally can’t make a change.

If it’s 1 they can.

But the posted text definitely makes it seem like it's much closer to $1M than it is $10M.

THAT BEING SAID, even IF, it was $10M that is a drop in the bucket, you pay it and don't wince. The brand value of what we have here is in the hundreds of millions of dollars with social value far beyond that to our state and residents. No administrator worth their weight would deny that, if anything $$$ is the one thing they do know and understand moreso than basketball.

 

[whaler11]

But the posted text definitely makes it seem like it's much closer to $1M than it is $10M.

THAT BEING SAID, even IF, it was $10M that is a drop in the bucket, you pay it and don't wince. The brand value of what we have here is in the hundreds of millions of dollars with social value far beyond that to our state and residents. No administrator worth their weight would deny that, if anything $$$ is the one thing they do know and understand moreso than basketball.

They don’t have 10 million dollars.

They don’t have a printing press.

The only way to get ten million dollars is to drop sports.

 

[BUConn10]

Inflated coaching buyouts are a result of the media fueled, constant coaching arms race frenzy that we see every offseason, and now often for big hitter schools really at any point in the season when performance dips below expectation. It's largely a football problem but basketball is certainly not immune to it. Also consider the leverage Ollie had with NBA rumors and unprecedented success so early into his tenure and the buyout really isn't excessive relative to the landscape at all, it's actually quite standard.

 

[noeynox]

I understand your frustration, you are right in that the fan turnout has not been up to par but I really do believe that passionate fan base DOES in fact exist, and in strong numbers.

I think a part of the problem is simply northeastern attitudes. We are the most densely populated region of the country, our surrounding sports teams typically have unparalleled success and cost of living is high so people, especially families (UConn is 100% a family friendly program and institution) means poor results tend to get people partitioning their income and time in different ways. This isn't the south where it's literally just farmland and a few family owned businesses in between, making the local college team literally the only thing keeping the community together day-to-day, there is a MAJOR cultural difference, and the fan turnouts will show that.

We also can't discount the opinions of the fan base. People often times here say things like "what is said on the Boneyard has no bearing on the program" which is obviously true in a literal sense, but how can the feelings of the program's most dedicated fans (who take the time to post on a fan forum) not in a way represent a general feeling of the overall fan base? These opinions and feelings trickle down, people talk around beers when at the bar watching the highlights of yet another head scratching defeat. And to my main point, when the fan base is unhappy they will let it be known, and administration will be forced to make changes, whether right or wrong, it's simply business, we live in a culture where capitalism permeates every aspect of our lives (I know I know commie!) but at the end of the day money talks, and for UConn bball that's basically just ticket sales at the moment in this collegiate athletics oligarchy.

I want to believe this, but apathy has set in big time. I've been at the Rent since the Indiana opener and before that at Municipal for a couple of games. I was one of the younger guys then, there hasn't been a next wave to replace those older faces. The conference has expedited that exodus in fan excitement and has coincided with terrible products in the field and court. Call it the perfect storm if you will.

 

[BUConn10]

They don’t have 10 million dollars.

They don’t have a printing press.

The only way to get ten million dollars is to drop sports.

Wrong. Things are tight right now but this is an over-reaction in my opinion.

 

[superjohn]

or hope for cause

Have they been documenting all his behavior? Could get ugly.

 

[BUConn10]

I want to believe this, but apathy has set in big time. I've been at the Rent since the Indiana opener and before that at Municipal for a couple of games. I was one of the younger guys then, there hasn't been a next wave to replace those older faces. The conference has expedited that exodus in fan excitement and has coincided with terrible products in the field and court. Call it the perfect storm if you will.

The problem with the scenario you posited is that you are referencing The Rent and the toxic football program.

College football is fundamentally 100% not culturally relevant in the northeast. Yes we had some gritty old timer fans with beards and the "tailgating look" at the Rent in the past but they are outliers. College football isn't relevant to the northeasterners psyche because high school football is also secondary in most communities. Compare this with the south and Midwest where both are community cornerstones and you realize why we are not only in a cultural CFB wasteland but also in the heart of CFB recruiting wasteland. We will NEVER be big time in football, it's simply not going to happen. You need to take college football out of your lens of UConn Men's basketball's future trajectory and fan satisfaction. We can press forward and improve with OR without college football, but you can't use one to compare the health of the other in my opinion for the reasons stated.

 

[BUConn10]

Have they been documenting all his behavior? Could get ugly.

? .

*cryptic Rodney-esque msg*

 

[gampelcrazies]

They don’t have 10 million dollars.

They don’t have a printing press.

The only way to get ten million dollars is to drop sports.

They have a lot more money then you think.

 

[Penfield]

They have a lot more money then you think.

Is Mike Melio going to pony up?

 

[whaler11]

They have a lot more money then you think.

Yet they sold a home game to Fenway to come up with Diaco money.

They tax the students almost $30MM a year.

But yeah they are flush with cash.

 

[gampelcrazies]

Yet they sold a home game to Fenway to come up with Diaco money.

They tax the students almost $30MM a year.

But yeah they are flush with cash.

Don't get me wrong they aren't flush with cash like some P5 schools but if they want to make this move they can