How much is too much? Buyouts taking center stage in college football

Gentry Estes | Courier Journal

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How much is too much to pay a college football coach not to coach?

As college football moves into the future, this is going to be a more pressing question for many public universities. It certainly has been already in 2018, on the heels of a 2017 season in which the contractual buyout bill for fired coaches reached a collective $70 million by the end of November.

The price tag could be much higher this time around.

As of Dec. 1, at least 22 NCAA Division I football head coaches will have a buyout of at least $14 million, according to USA TODAY’s annual survey of coaching contracts. That total includes Mark Stoops at Kentucky ($15.625 million) and Bobby Petrino at Louisville ($14.056 million).

While the Wildcats’ performance thus far in 2018 has Stoops on solid footing, the same can’t be said for Petrino, whose Cards enter a bye week 2-5 and 0-4 in the ACC.

Whether Louisville should make a change in its football program is another debate for a later day. But the question, for now at least, appears to be: Can Louisville even consider making a change?

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Petrino’s buyout is causing pause among decision-makers at a university hurting for funds. Tom Meeker, a member of the University of Louisville Athletic Association’s board of trustees, recently told the Courier Journal’s Tim Sullivan that the school “is not in a position” to buy out Petrino at such a rate.

Such honesty tends to be rare in major college athletics, because it exposes a harsh truth that even if Louisville wanted to make a football coaching change in 2018, the economics could prevent it from happening.

What could ensue then is a bleak and unenviable situation where both sides are stuck with one another -- the coach obviously not wishing to forego money he is owed while also unable to attain matching compensation at a program of similar stature; and the school painted into a corner by negotiations from brighter days.

This type of bind could damage recruiting, fan support and attendance (and therefore player morale). It also could make it difficult to lure or retain top assistants, given the tenuous footing.

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Louisville’s potential situation, however, is far from unique in the sport. If anything, it’s a relatively tame example among many, and they are growing more common as salaries (and buyouts) continue to increase for big-name coaches, either to lure them to a school or keep them there.

“it’s pretty tough to justify not paying players and not have them at least share in the revenue more when you’re paying these kind of buyouts,” said David Ridpath, a sports administrator professor at Ohio University and former collegiate athletics administrator. “For me, it’s ridiculous. I think schools, if they want players to honor their commitment, should honor the contract or sign coaches to shorter contracts or year-by-year contracts.”

Amid a 4-3 start , Auburn's Gus Malzahn is up to No. 3 on the rankings kept by coacheshotseat.com. The buyout from a new deal he received in the past year, however, is more than $32 million, fifth-most in college football, according to USA TODAY's rankings. This is generating much discussion.

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Closer to home, Indiana's Tom Allen would be owed a $2 million buyout, while Mike Sanford Jr., at Western Kentucky would be in the range of $1.2 million.

Texas A&M’s Jimbo Fisher received by far the largest buyout in college football, according to USA TODAY – more than $68 million as of Dec. 1 – before coaching his first game for the Aggies.

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His replacement at Florida State, former WKU coach Willie Taggart, has a buyout of more than $21 million, a fact that wasn’t lost on Seminoles fans during a poor start to Taggart’s first season in Tallahassee.

The case of Taggart or Scott Frost at struggling Nebraska (more than a $25 million buyout), neither of whom should be in danger of being fired in his first season, illustrates a reality of the sport’s modern age.

With these increased salaries have come greater expectations and pressure to win immediately. More tenuous job security, however, conflicts with the increased buyouts at public universities where the costs of tuition have already been climbing.

"The reason that we've gotten to this point is the lack of proven talent to be able to go into the major jobs and to be able to secure wins," Jed Hughes, the head of global sports practice for executive search firm Korn Ferry, told the Associated Press.

While public opinion can cause a coach to be fired, public demand is also behind the coach-friendly deals being struck to increase buyouts and keep coaches from jumping to other jobs when things are going well.

Such fluidity was evident at Auburn. Despite buyouts and hot-seat talk flaring up about Malzahn previously, Auburn reacted to interest in Malzahn by SEC West rival Arkansas after last season – during which the Tigers beat rival Alabama and won the SEC West – by agreeing to a seven-year deal with an exorbitant buyout.

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“One thing I think would be a great first step is that you don’t renegotiate the contract,” Ridpath said. “… You’ve already got the coach locked in for a certain amount of time, and if he leaves, I think schools need to realize that’s not the end of the world. I heard the same thing with Jim Tressel up at Ohio State when he resigned. That was going to be the end of the world. I don’t think people in Columbus even remember his name now. It’s not the end of the world.”

Ridpath said major programs like Ohio State or Auburn – and Louisville too – tend to have “a bottomless pit of boosters and rich people” to step up and pay for a move. His concern is more at the mid-major level or at institutions that are in debt and yet approaching a costly coaching change.

“At a public institution, that shouldn’t be allowed,” Ridpath said, “and this is where presidents and trustees can really step up and change it, but I think they have a lot of fear.”

Gentry Estes: 502-582-4205; gestes@courierjournal.com; Twitter: @Gentry_Estes. Support strong local journalism by subscribing today: www.courier-journal.com/gentrye