Jacobs Asks An Interesting Question

[RockyMTblue2]

Why did it take an open records request to get the basketball coaches' contracts out to the fans?

Jeff Jacobs: Why Would UConn Keep Silent On Contracts For Ollie, Auriemma?

I wondered. Did you? I don't buy Benedict's "I'm new around here" thing.

Jacobs writes a nice article. Hey, what else you got to do?

 

[bags27]

I guess I'm confused. I had thought that Geno's new contract was already a matter of public record and that we had discussed this more than a month ago.

I usually like Jacobs a lot and I really, really don't like the high salaries that college coaches get paid. But I don't like the tone of this article even more. It doesn't do the work of finding out exactly how these salaries really are funded. Just says: Taxpayers don't directly pay coaches' salaries. There is a web of program revenue, donors, student fees, etc. Yet the larger truth is the university itself doesn't exist without taxpayers and the coaches are state employees.

I'd like to know for sure if student fees pay coaches' salaries. And what is "etc"? I'd like to know how much beyond the revenue generated by the actual programs pay for coaches salaries. And I think that the taxpayer-state employee connection is somewhat disingenuous, because a whole lot of state employees connected with universities get additional revenue that doesn't get aired: speaker honoraria, book royalties, consulting fees, some patent work (though that tends to be at least split with the university), and especially revenue from medical services. Of course, coaches salaries significantly exceed most of these, but it's still the principle and coaches fall under that principle, and Jacobs is a bit sly with his intimations here.

He may have a honest story here, but it seems like sloppy reporting. C+/B- depending on the rewrite.

 

[RockyMTblue2]

I guess I'm confused. I had thought that Geno's new contract was already a matter of public record and that we had discussed this more than a month ago.

We did get it then as a result of a record's request. Why did we have to get it that way? is all he's asking. The U did not announce this for the 2 premier sports' coaches, begging the question why. The depth you are looking for I'm frankly not interested in. But I am with him in thinking it strange that we had to go looking for it.

 

[bags27]

We did get it then as a result of a record's request. Why did we have to get it that way? is all he's asking. The U did not announce this for the 2 premier sports' coaches, begging the question why. The depth you are looking for I'm frankly not interested in. But I am with him in thinking it strange that we had to go looking for it.

I understand that the casual reader may not be interested in those details. But the way I read the article, and YMMV, was that it was taking some shots at UConn. I'm entirely okay with that kind of journalism, but I feel that when the reporter does that, he owes the target full airing of facts, so that the reader can make it his own mind rather than just depend on the tone set by the reporter. It's on-line journalism: there's no word limit!

 

[UcMiami]

I am not sure how 'privacy' works with state employees, but I suspect that UConn does not publish any of their employees' salaries and the only information that comes out about them is as a result of public records requests. I don't know that they have a proactive responsibility to publish this information.

On coaches salaries, Bags27, I agree - they are obscene, but they are market based. Most top earners are getting paid obscene salaries across all businesses. Specific to college coaches, a sizeable percentage of their 'salary' is for duties outside of the actual coaching and running of the program - appearances at various university promotional events and fund raisers, doing the TV and radio shows, etc. The money is part of their 'salary' as it is guaranteed in the contract whether the events occur or not and may actually be paid by other entities into the university to be passed through to the coaches.

And in terms of the accounting - most universities subsidize the athletic departments, so how the coaching salaries are accounted really doesn't matter - it is still coming out of the athletic department, so whether they say it is gate revenue or subsidy is just an accounting nicety. And the value of successful athletic teams is hard to measure, but it does add to both prestige and general fundraising for the schools - UConn basketball, men's and women's has been a huge boon to the school as a whole, both in driving greater investment by the CT government and greatly expanding the donations both for athletics and the school as a whole.

 

[RockyMTblue2]

I don't know that they have a proactive responsibility to publish this information.

The article states it has been a long standing practice for the U to announce these things.

 

[DefenseBB]

The article states it has been a long standing practice for the U to announce these things.

Public universities, just like municipal and state workers, all who are paid with public monies, usually have their salaries disclosed before a request is made to avoid this exact "secrecy conspiracy" from spreading. My brother is a fireman and every year his salary was published by the town on a specific date to avoid the "outcry" of alleged malfeasance. I am going to cut some slack here as in this case, the state knows both the coaches make a lot visa vi other state workers, but fit in line vs. other basketball coaches.

 

[CTBballfan243]

Maybe because Geno and Kevin's contracts are non of our business. I never understood why people stick their noses in other peoples business. I see it every day where I work. I don't care, or want to know, what you make and I don't want you to know what I make. What someone else makes is non of your (our) business!!!! To me, UConn should only have to report the total $$$ spent on coaches salary for the entire athletic department. They should not have to give a break down on what each coach makes individually.

Sorry for the rant. Just one of those things that drives me crazy.

 

[Blueballer]

Maybe because Geno and Kevin's contracts are non of our business. I never understood why people stick their noses in other peoples business. I see it every day where I work. I don't care, or want to know, what you make and I don't want you to know what I make. What someone else makes is non of your (our) business!!!! To me, UConn should only have to report the total $$$ spent on coaches salary for the entire athletic department. They should not have to give a break down on what each coach makes individually.

Sorry for the rant. Just one of those things that drives me crazy.

Well they actually are of public interest (And other people's business) because Tax payers pay the salaries. But I'll be the last one to complain about what they make. Geno is worth every dime of what he makes. He brings it back in positive attention to the State and University.

 

[CocoHusky]

Maybe because Geno and Kevin's contracts are non of our business. I never understood why people stick their noses in other peoples business. I see it every day where I work. I don't care, or want to know, what you make and I don't want you to know what I make. What someone else makes is non of your (our) business!!!! To me, UConn should only have to report the total $$$ spent on coaches salary for the entire athletic department. They should not have to give a break down on what each coach makes individually.
Sorry for the rant. Just one of those things that drives me crazy.

Your rant sort off lacks understanding of how our democracy works though. Geno and Kevin are employees of the state of CT. Their salaries are a matter of public record by practice and law just like other state employees. There is also that other democratic institution called the press whose job it is to publish what they think readers might be interested in. If a CT resident is not interested in Geno and Kevin's salary then they should skip over that article in the paper or online. That way nobody is really sticking a nose in anyone else business. At one time (might still be the case) Geno and Kevin's predecessor were the highest paid CT state employees, I wonder if they still are.

 

[Pride fan]

Their salaries are every CT taxpayer's business, no different than other state budget items. Even if very high, I'd want to know that they are at least within some notion of "market" value. There's some number at which the tax-paying public might say enough is enough, even for Geno. Holding our elected and appointed officials fiscally accountable should be of interest to all. That can't be done if expenses are secret.

 

[CBear01]

Hmmm let's see. Ok since Auriemma won his second championship in 2000, the amount of applications to the university has quadrupled (all this is also public record). Add in Calhoun's multiple championships and Kevin's most recent we are up at over 30,000 more applications per year to the univerity than anytime previous.

So roughly 30,000 X 100 bucks a pop × 10 (a round about number for the last 10 seasons of huge numbers of applications) and you get an unfathomable number. Im sure you can't really do the math that way and there are plenty of factors....but are they worth their salary? In my opinion they are underpaid for the amount of exposure they bring the university.

And this is just applications folks...the amount of students accepted each year has been heavily on the rise, thousands more per class than before, and tuition keeps rising. And more housing is going up. And the out of state percentage is way higher today than pre-2000 (that's 40,000+ dollars a year tuition and board)

3+ million and 2+ million a year for those two and it's the best bucks this state has ever spent.

Maybe people should start complaining about the lack of money going into our state transportation system (highways) that are of the most deplorable in the country. I live in LA and the traffic here is a breath of fresh air against the nastiness of the crawl down 95 or the Merritt.

All in my good-natured opinion, of course =D

 

[BroadwayVa]

I guess I'm confused. I had thought that Geno's new contract was already a matter of public record and that we had discussed this more than a month ago.

I usually like Jacobs a lot and I really, really don't like the high salaries that college coaches get paid. But I don't like the tone of this article even more. It doesn't do the work of finding out exactly how these salaries really are funded. Just says: Taxpayers don't directly pay coaches' salaries. There is a web of program revenue, donors, student fees, etc. Yet the larger truth is the university itself doesn't exist without taxpayers and the coaches are state employees.

I'd like to know for sure if student fees pay coaches' salaries. And what is "etc"? I'd like to know how much beyond the revenue generated by the actual programs pay for coaches salaries. And I think that the taxpayer-state employee connection is somewhat disingenuous, because a whole lot of state employees connected with universities get additional revenue that doesn't get aired: speaker honoraria, book royalties, consulting fees, some patent work (though that tends to be at least split with the university), and especially revenue from medical services. Of course, coaches salaries significantly exceed most of these, but it's still the principle and coaches fall under that principle, and Jacobs is a bit sly with his intimations here.
Cml
He may have a honest story here, but it seems like sloppy reporting. C+/B- depending on the rewrite.

Your second paragraph I agree with totally. Ceoaches should not be State , Federal or local government employees --while coaching. Live and die via the contract. The stigma (my word) of pulling down more money that the top state people make is unfair and probably insulting to the average and upper managers of the governments they represent. Alsow--my peeve--why do sports people receive more than those that taught them?? (I know the standard answer--this however isn't a standard question.
If not from the public trough--these salaries could be kept private--however have you seen some of the salaries of standard employees in the New York City system??? Wow! And the retirement system--including overtime--a retirement system once bailed out by the Fed/taxpayers.

 

[tomcat]

Maybe because Geno and Kevin's contracts are non of our business. I never understood why people stick their noses in other peoples business. I see it every day where I work. I don't care, or want to know, what you make and I don't want you to know what I make. What someone else makes is non of your (our) business!!!! To me, UConn should only have to report the total $$$ spent on coaches salary for the entire athletic department. They should not have to give a break down on what each coach makes individually.

Sorry for the rant. Just one of those things that drives me crazy.

The way it works in most places, coaches' contracts and salaries are public information because they are public employees. I worked as a public employee in a state system (AZ, not CT), and my salary was public if anyone cared, which no one did. High profile people like coaches, college presidents and senior officials, etc. -- folks a lot farther up the food chain than I was -- should expect that kind of scrutiny. The enlightened ones welcome it as a sign that there is active media covering them, which is, believe it or not, a good thing. Good government happens in the sunshine, not the dark.

 

[KnightBridgeAZ]

Hmmm let's see. Ok since Auriemma won his second championship in 2000, the amount of applications to the university has quadrupled (all this is also public record). Add in Calhoun's multiple championships and Kevin's most recent we are up at over 30,000 more applications per year to the univerity than anytime previous.

So roughly 30,000 X 100 bucks a pop × 10 (a round about number for the last 10 seasons of huge numbers of applications) and you get an unfathomable number. Im sure you can't really do the math that way and there are plenty of factors....but are they worth their salary? In my opinion they are underpaid for the amount of exposure they bring the university.

And this is just applications folks...the amount of students accepted each year has been heavily on the rise, thousands more per class than before, and tuition keeps rising. And more housing is going up. And the out of state percentage is way higher today than pre-2000 (that's 40,000+ dollars a year tuition and board)

3+ million and 2+ million a year for those two and it's the best bucks this state has ever spent.

Maybe people should start complaining about the lack of money going into our state transportation system (highways) that are of the most deplorable in the country. I live in LA and the traffic here is a breath of fresh air against the nastiness of the crawl down 95 or the Merritt.

All in my good-natured opinion, of course =D

I have no problem with Geno's salary vis-a-vis other coaches, although I do think that - across the board - coach's salaries have grown to amounts that are difficult - but necessary for many schools to afford. However, your argument about applications (or more broadly, what companies carry as "goodwill") is very difficult to quantify as it relates to the schools sports and specific coaches / sports. I think there is universal agreement with the idea that there is a positive impact to the school from successful sports; I have, however, read a number of articles that downplay the actual amount of that impact.

 

[TitleTown]

I understand that the casual reader may not be interested in those details. But the way I read the article, and YMMV, was that it was taking some shots at UConn. I'm entirely okay with that kind of journalism, but I feel that when the reporter does that, he owes the target full airing of facts, so that the reader can make it his own mind rather than just depend on the tone set by the reporter. It's on-line journalism: there's no word limit!

Unfortunately, media bias is a quite common practice today.

 

[bags27]

Unfortunately, media bias is a quite common practice today.

Press bias started when the press was invented; the so-called graphic revolution of the mid-19th C, although the press was well underway in the UK a century before and even before in America of course (witness Ben Franklin). But it's by the mid-19th C, combined with transportation (canals, incipient railroads, and then the telegraph) that made newspaper distribution possible and coverage a saturation. And with that came the ability of the press to alarm and incite and fully sway public opinion. Witness the blatantly jingoistic Mexican-American War in mid-century and the Spanish-American War at the end of the century. They call is "yellow journalism" for a reason.

 

[Big Mick]

Hmmm let's see. Ok since Auriemma won his second championship in 2000, the amount of applications to the university has quadrupled (all this is also public record). Add in Calhoun's multiple championships and Kevin's most recent we are up at over 30,000 more applications per year to the univerity than anytime previous.

So roughly 30,000 X 100 bucks a pop × 10 (a round about number for the last 10 seasons of huge numbers of applications) and you get an unfathomable number. Im sure you can't really do the math that way and there are plenty of factors....but are they worth their salary? In my opinion they are underpaid for the amount of exposure they bring the university.

And this is just applications folks...the amount of students accepted each year has been heavily on the rise, thousands more per class than before, and tuition keeps rising. And more housing is going up. And the out of state percentage is way higher today than pre-2000 (that's 40,000+ dollars a year tuition and board)

3+ million and 2+ million a year for those two and it's the best bucks this state has ever spent.

Maybe people should start complaining about the lack of money going into our state transportation system (highways) that are of the most deplorable in the country. I live in LA and the traffic here is a breath of fresh air against the nastiness of the crawl down 95 or the Merritt.

All in my good-natured opinion, of course =D

Perfectly said.


A Question:
Why exactly isn't Geno making the same as, or more than, Kevin?
(He has been here 27 years longer, won 10 more Championships than Kevin and he is a brilliant spokesman for Uni. And, when his players go out into the world, they continue to stay connected and always give credit to Geno and CD for helping them be the mature adults they have become)

 

[Big Mick]

And BTW:

Jacobs is an eejit. He's had to change the Headline for that article twice already.

A word of advice to Jacobs: go and write more "sports" stories instead of the paltry one or two articles a week.

 

[DaddyChoc]

 

[UcMiami]

Perfectly said.


A Question:
Why exactly isn't Geno making the same as, or more than, Kevin?
(He has been here 27 years longer, won 10 more Championships than Kevin and he is a brilliant spokesman for Uni. And, when his players go out into the world, they continue to stay connected and always give credit to Geno and CD for helping them be the mature adults they have become)

Geno is making top of HIS market money, Kevin is making middle of HIS market money - it is what it is. The revenue generated by the less than stellar men's team is still much greater than the money being generated by the otherworldly women's team.
The comparison in an academic sense would be to compare what Herbst is making at UConn to what say the president at Quinnipiac is making. Same position, same kind of responsibilities, very different finances.

 

[UcMiami]

Was trying to edit the last post, but ran beyond the time limit:
Bags27 - here are the import numbers and the total salary number for coaching is quite reasonable - still higher than most professors outside of medicine, engineering, and science where 'research money' can mushroom their take home pay.
On Edit - today's newslinks included a HC article on the salary break down for both coaches which is really interesting:
Inside The Contracts: Breaking Down Deals For Geno And K.O.

The basic salary is identical at $400K, Ollie gets a yearly bonus payment of $200K but both have the same incentives for performance and Geno is consistently reaching his - one month salary for regular season crown and another for tournament crown, and addition one month salaries for reaching the NCAAs, and for sweet 16, elite 8, FF, and NC - so salary wise Geno is easily passing the bonus payment Ollie gets with his successes.
The difference in the total number comes with the fee number for annual speaking, consulting, and media payments and from Ollie's yearly bonus.

 

[Big Mick]

.....

The basic salary is identical at $400K, Ollie gets a yearly bonus payment of $200K but both have the same incentives for performance and Geno is consistently reaching his - one month salary for regular season crown and another for tournament crown, and addition one month salaries for reaching the NCAAs, and for sweet 16, elite 8, FF, and NC - so salary wise Geno is easily passing the bonus payment Ollie gets with his successes.
The difference in the total number comes with the fee number for annual speaking, consulting, and media payments and from Ollie's yearly bonus.

Two excellent and informative responses. Thanks!!!!