Did we NEED to pay CS $5M/yr?

[aowells]

I support the hire and don't want to sound like a Red McCombs, but it feels like we took most of what it would have taken to poach a "big name" coach and spent it on CS. No knock on the man, he may be the perfect coach for Texas, but I'm not sure we needed to plunk down $25 million to get him here. Particularly as coming to Texas seems to be much more about proving himself where expectations are highest and not about making maximum bank in the last few years of his career.

Call me a cheapskate, but I feel like we probably overspent. I'd have much preferred to see a $3M or $4M deal, with big incentives - an extra $500k for every win over 8 and a $3M bonus for a championship. If you want to be politically correct, we could throw in an extra $250k for graduation rate too!

 

[DocHorn]

I support the hire and don't want to sound like a Red McCombs, but it feels like we took most of what it would have taken to poach a "big name" coach and spent it on CS. No knock on the man, he may be the perfect coach for Texas, but I'm not sure we needed to plunk down $25 million to get him here. Particularly as coming to Texas seems to be much more about proving himself where expectations are highest and not about making maximum bank in the last few years of his career.
Call me a cheapskate, but I feel like we probably overspent. I'd have much preferred to see a $3M or $4M deal, with big incentives - an extra $500k for every win over 8 and a $3M bonus for a championship. If you want to be politically correct, we could throw in an extra $250k for graduation rate too!

He was making 3.7 at Louisville + bonus to bring it to 4.2 million

Hard to offer him the job without a raise, and Louisville was willing to match our offer. If he is the right guy, it will be worth it, if he isn't he will be gone in a few yrs.

 

[pianoboe]

I think he was making over $4 mil at UL. He's not taking a pay cut to come to UT.

 

[JMagana]

You had to, especially with the expectations here, iT will be definitely something they will hold him to.

 

[mesoHorny]

the market for a coach at Texas has been set. you have to pay what the market demands.

 

[JKW-Hook 'em]

Not to mention the possibility of the Miami job coming available at the time of negotiations.

 

[Davharjac]

He was making 3.7 million at Louisville...soo

 

[Randolph Duke]

I support the hire and don't want to sound like a Red McCombs, but it feels like we took most of what it would have taken to poach a "big name" coach and spent it on CS. No knock on the man, he may be the perfect coach for Texas, but I'm not sure we needed to plunk down $25 million to get him here. Particularly as coming to Texas seems to be much more about proving himself where expectations are highest and not about making maximum bank in the last few years of his career.
Call me a cheapskate, but I feel like we probably overspent. I'd have much preferred to see a $3M or $4M deal, with big incentives - an extra $500k for every win over 8 and a $3M bonus for a championship. If you want to be politically correct, we could throw in an extra $250k for graduation rate too!

There is a reason we pay someone $1.5 million a year to make these decisions and we don't leave it up to amateurs.

Strong had a $4.75 mil buyout. That is a personal obligation of his and not of the university hiring him. Even if that was paid by boosters, Strong still has to declare it as income and he would be personally liable for taxes on that (which at 40% fed and 6% KY state would be just over $2.0 mil).

Strong was making $3.75 mil at Louisville. His take home on that (at combined 46%) would have been just over $2 mil. So, you want him to give up a year's take home pay to take a job with far greater demands for at best a $250,000 increase in pay (he would break even on that proposition in 2022) or, at worse, for a 20% pay cut.

 

[Darrell McPhaul]

BTW, Louisville tried to match our offer.

 

[Epictetus]

The $5 million puts a value on (a) the job, and ( B) on the coach you hire.

If you shouldn't pay a certain coach $5 million, it may mean you should have hired another who is a $5 million coach.

I feel top jobs now are $5+ million jobs as a benchmark, and if you don't pay a coach that much then you got a coach not worth the position.

I feel Coach Strong deserved to be treated like a $5 million dollar coach. I feel that's the class of this University. We have $5 million dollar coaches. That's who we are.

And we get coaches we feel are that value, and so we treat them that way and expect the value back to be mutual.

So... now that I have a view of Charlie Brown, I feel he deserves to be welcomed as a $5 million coach. And I think that also is a way of getting that value of productivity out of him.

I feel there is a lot more in what a coach is paid that goes into total public perception and his performance, than a leadership role of a corporation.

I think in the end Mack was overpaid, but maybe paid for the early years and all years added up, for what he built overall.

I think we'll see $5 million worth of success and change and uptick in the program.

 

[aowells]

There is a reason we pay someone $1.5 million a year to make these decisions and we don't leave it up to amateurs.
Strong had a $4.75 mil buyout. That is a personal obligation of his and not of the university hiring him. Even if that was paid by boosters, Strong still has to declare it as income and he would be personally liable for taxes on that (which at 40% fed and 6% KY state would be just over $2.0 mil).

Strong was making $3.75 mil at Louisville. His take home on that (at combined 46%) would have been just over $2 mil. So, you want him to give up a year's take home pay to take a job with far greater demands for at best a $250,000 increase in pay (he would break even on that proposition in 2022) or, at worse, for a 20% pay cut.

We may need a separate thread on the $1.5M for SP...

Throwing money around hasn't been a huge benefit to the program in recent years. I don't think the Texas entitlement culture is restricted to the field and we're now arguing that anyone who coaches Texas needs a top salary before they've ever coached a down - just because we're texas. I think players should compete for positions and coaches should compete for their pay.

A year ago (before his raise) CS was making $2.3M. If he's truly eager for the Texas job you pay him a modest base (is $3-4M modest?) and give him the opportunity to earn a lot more through incentives. I've got no issue paying the man $12M/year or more if he wins, just make him earn it on the field like everyone else.

You might not get a Nick Saban to agree to that, but I think Charlie would and I'd respect him all the more for it.

The real problem is that Texas likes everyone to know that money grows on trees on the 40 acres, so we'd rather offer a big number to validate the selection, rather than structure performance incentives and come off looking cheap.

 

[Topstarr]

I support the hire and don't want to sound like a Red McCombs, but it feels like we took most of what it would have taken to poach a "big name" coach and spent it on CS. No knock on the man, he may be the perfect coach for Texas, but I'm not sure we needed to plunk down $25 million to get him here. Particularly as coming to Texas seems to be much more about proving himself where expectations are highest and not about making maximum bank in the last few years of his career.
Call me a cheapskate, but I feel like we probably overspent. I'd have much preferred to see a $3M or $4M deal, with big incentives - an extra $500k for every win over 8 and a $3M bonus for a championship. If you want to be politically correct, we could throw in an extra $250k for graduation rate too!

The educated guess would be.........YES and Coach Charlie Strong will earn ever bit of that monieeee. Coach Strong will be working very hard with long hours and he is worth ever penny.

 

[hookem123]

Mack Brown was making 5.5 million, I suppose Strong is seen a 500,000 lesser coach.

 

[SlickStreet]

I'm the last person to be accused of being a sunshine pumper, but it sure would be nice now if we could start getting past the "what ifs" and "did we do this wrong?" posts. I have a relative who is just livid, totally up in arms over the whole process. Yeah, I get the annoyances that are there. But I also get that it seems like we got a really good coach who could do great things here. We're hitting so many negative angles that it's not exactly the best start.

As someone who's had to root against us short term this year in the hopes that Brown would finally be out, I'm more than ready to move ahead now and totally get behind the direction of the program. I view all these second-guessing questions and posts as hindrances to that. Sorry, just the way I see it

 

[86MEHorn]

A year ago (before his raise) CS was making $2.3M. If he's truly eager for the Texas job you pay him a modest base (is $3-4M modest?) and give him the opportunity to earn a lot more through incentives. I've got no issue paying the man $12M/year or more if he wins, just make him earn it on the field like everyone else.

Although we offer a top 5 coaching position, a lateral or less financial move is a non-starter. Too much upheaval and family disruption for this to work. He has now moved into the fish bowl.

 

[aowells]

Mack Brown was making 5.5 million, I suppose Strong is seen a 500,000 lesser coach.

I bet Mack started at less then 10% of that though. His $5.5 was too much in recent years, but he earned a few raises along the way.

 

[TEX EX]

What does it matter if Patterson felt that is what was necessary to get him? We've got the money and I think he's worth it.

We had to offer more than Louisville.

We don't need to haggle and try to get someone on the cheap. It's great that we have the ability to pay the man and not worry about it breaking out Athletic budget.

 

[Randolph Duke]

We may need a separate thread on the $1.5M for SP...
Throwing money around hasn't been a huge benefit to the program in recent years. I don't think the Texas entitlement culture is restricted to the field and we're now arguing that anyone who coaches Texas needs a top salary before they've ever coached a down - just because we're texas. I think players should compete for positions and coaches should compete for their pay.

A year ago (before his raise) CS was making $2.3M. If he's truly eager for the Texas job you pay him a modest base (is $3-4M modest?) and give him the opportunity to earn a lot more through incentives. I've got no issue paying the man $12M/year or more if he wins, just make him earn it on the field like everyone else.

You might not get a Nick Saban to agree to that, but I think Charlie would and I'd respect him all the more for it.

The real problem is that Texas likes everyone to know that money grows on trees on the 40 acres, so we'd rather offer a big number to validate the selection, rather than structure performance incentives and come off looking cheap.

He has a $4.75 mil buyout. Louisville made it clear they were willing to match Texas' $5mil. So, he could stay, not have to pay the buyout ($4.75 mil AFTER TAX if he paid it himself, or $2.0 mil AFTER TAX if Texas paid it for him) and collect $5.0mil to run Louisville or he could pay the buyout, take on the added responsibilities of the Texas program and take a minimum $4.0 mil hit (Texas pays the buyout and he takes the lower $3mil salary at Texas) with the hope Texas would boost his pay after a year to match what he knew he would get at Lousiville.

Where do I begin to explain the thought process of deciding between the two options?

 

[Pancho Negro]

We may need a separate thread on the $1.5M for SP...
Throwing money around hasn't been a huge benefit to the program in recent years. I don't think the Texas entitlement culture is restricted to the field and we're now arguing that anyone who coaches Texas needs a top salary before they've ever coached a down - just because we're texas. I think players should compete for positions and coaches should compete for their pay.

A year ago (before his raise) CS was making $2.3M. If he's truly eager for the Texas job you pay him a modest base (is $3-4M modest?) and give him the opportunity to earn a lot more through incentives. I've got no issue paying the man $12M/year or more if he wins, just make him earn it on the field like everyone else.

You might not get a Nick Saban to agree to that, but I think Charlie would and I'd respect him all the more for it.

The real problem is that Texas likes everyone to know that money grows on trees on the 40 acres, so we'd rather offer a big number to validate the selection, rather than structure performance incentives and come off looking cheap.

1.) You really aren't logically thinking this through. We aren't offering a big number just to "validate the selection" rather we are offering what they are worth and what the program is worth. Do you really believe coaches would want to coach here knowing they would get a decrease in pay? That doesn't make any kinds of sense, and I don't care who the program is. Not only that, you act like UT is the only school to do this. Do you not know how contracts work? This is how it works in the real world too. We aren't wasting money. We aren't hurting for money. We aren't in a budget crunch, and yet even with the hiring of Strong we still saved millions. Did you not see some of the numbers that were being thrown around on this website just to land Saban?

2.) Your problem is that you're equating "throwing around money" to program success and not taking into account WHO was doing that. Dodds gave people raises just for showing up to work. Patterson is the opposite of this. Dodds "threw money around" for mediocre results because Dodds was driven by monetary success, not on the field results. The two aren't the same, but your arguments are (falsely) trying to make them the same.

3.) Why would you pay Strong 3-4 million when he makes more than that? You said before his raise...well the UT job wasn't open before Strong got his raise. So that argument doesn't hold water either.

You've got to look at what Strong is worth in comparison to other coaches, the program, the university, and how much we (UT) make. In addition, you have to look at the market and it's high.