Ross Dellenger's latest article here got me thinking:
How does the revenue-sharing model affect the decisions of schools to fire their coaches?
In the last three hiring cycles, schools have paid a cool $300 million for head coaches to sit on the couch.
As one of the most anticipated college football seasons creeps around the corner, so too does a most unusual coaching hiring cycle. We are a couple months or, perhaps, a few weeks away from the last “silly season,” as it’s known, before college athletics moves into a revenue-sharing model with athletes.
The question looms: Will revenue sharing impact firing decisions and future coaching contracts?
In the last three hiring cycles, colleges agreed to pay out nearly $300 million to fired head coaches, setting a record last year with $132 million in buyout cash — more than half of that going to one man, Jimbo Fisher ($76 million).
Just think: In the new model, that $300 million tab could fund as many as 20 college football rosters for at least a year each.
If the House antitrust settlement is finalized, schools will be permitted next fall to distribute as much as $22 million to athletes in a quasi-salary cap that will escalate each year. That’s an additional expense on athletic departments already financially stressed from overspending on such things as facilities and coaching contracts.
Already, there are signs of cutbacks. For instance, at Texas A&M, some athletic personnel contracts now feature a clause requiring a reworking of the deal if/when revenue sharing begins.
According to several coaching agents and administrators, they do expect schools to agree to fewer long-term, guaranteed contracts, such as Fisher’s deal or ones signed by Brian Kelly at LSU and Lincoln Riley at USC — deals that extend 10 years and feature whopping buyouts.
As for the silly season, maybe administrators will give a longer leash to their guy.
“Will people pay buyouts and then pay buyouts of other coaches when they know there is a $15-20 million rev-share coming?” asked one agent. “Will people do that outside of the Big Ten and SEC?”
How does the revenue-sharing model affect the decisions of schools to fire their coaches?
In the last three hiring cycles, schools have paid a cool $300 million for head coaches to sit on the couch.
As one of the most anticipated college football seasons creeps around the corner, so too does a most unusual coaching hiring cycle. We are a couple months or, perhaps, a few weeks away from the last “silly season,” as it’s known, before college athletics moves into a revenue-sharing model with athletes.
The question looms: Will revenue sharing impact firing decisions and future coaching contracts?
In the last three hiring cycles, colleges agreed to pay out nearly $300 million to fired head coaches, setting a record last year with $132 million in buyout cash — more than half of that going to one man, Jimbo Fisher ($76 million).
Just think: In the new model, that $300 million tab could fund as many as 20 college football rosters for at least a year each.
If the House antitrust settlement is finalized, schools will be permitted next fall to distribute as much as $22 million to athletes in a quasi-salary cap that will escalate each year. That’s an additional expense on athletic departments already financially stressed from overspending on such things as facilities and coaching contracts.
Already, there are signs of cutbacks. For instance, at Texas A&M, some athletic personnel contracts now feature a clause requiring a reworking of the deal if/when revenue sharing begins.
According to several coaching agents and administrators, they do expect schools to agree to fewer long-term, guaranteed contracts, such as Fisher’s deal or ones signed by Brian Kelly at LSU and Lincoln Riley at USC — deals that extend 10 years and feature whopping buyouts.
As for the silly season, maybe administrators will give a longer leash to their guy.
“Will people pay buyouts and then pay buyouts of other coaches when they know there is a $15-20 million rev-share coming?” asked one agent. “Will people do that outside of the Big Ten and SEC?”
