Welcome to the Friday Feedback, working without a contract since 2007! Are you worried?
Look, I’ll admit it’s extraordinarily unusual to work 20 months without a contract, except that Dana Holgorsen wasn’t working without a contract. That terms and conditions sheet is a contract and covers what needs to be covered. There was also no need or desire to make something formal during last season.
So figure the process really begins in January.
Well, Dana and 10 touchdowns changed the thinking, which was already changing because of that whole Big 12 thing. There was bound to be some time involved. There was also a pecking order to be established and, quite frankly, locking up a football coach who wasn’t going anywhere, and wasn’t going to go public with frustrations that didn’t exist, wasn’t a priority.
Not above the baseball program. Not above the rest of the athletic department as it readied for the Big 12.
There was a goal line, though, and we were either past it or nearing it, depending on if the target as the start of camp or the start of the season — and I’d heard both. Doesn’t matter. It’s done. It doesn’t wipe away worries for the next six seasons, but it sure helps.
Especially Dana. Consider this: He can leave at any time for any job. There is no non-compete clause that you could previously find in other coaching contracts at WVU. He can go to a Big 12 job and use what he knows about the players and coaches at WVU to beat the Mountaineers several years in a row. It would cost him $2 million.
WVU could fire him at any point for unsatisfactory performance. It would owe Dana his total compensation (base plus supplemental pay) for the remaining years on his contract — ie, he has a third straight losing season in 2014, WVU fires him, WVU pays him $8.5 million ($2.7 million for 2015 and $2.9 million for 2016 and 2017).
Should WVU fire him at the latest point inside the contract, it would still owe him $900,000 more than he would ever have to pay WVU.
Not unusual, but notable.
The retention incentives are something else, too. The annual ones are fine, and very common, but the extra $50,000 in March 2013 and $300,000 in March 2o14 are new to me. There are explanations, and we’ll hit them later, but it’s still big for Dana. His “salary” will be $3.05 million if he coaches WVU in 2014.
Two more things: Isn’t Dana worth a whole lot more after a BCS game/win? And not just worth more to WVU, but to someone who might seek to hire him, right? Shouldn’t the buyout go up a little after a BCS game/win? It’s not entirely foreign. Coaches have escalators for a BCS win because, ahem, they’re worth more with that under their belts.
Lastly, Dana has separate bonuses for bowl appearances and wins and BCS appearances and wins. This will all probably change soon. There’s no language about the playoff. There’s no language about the Champions Bowl arrangement with the SEC.
A playoff appearance has to have a huge payday. So, too, must a Champions Bowl bid. It’s not a BCS game, but it sure isn’t a regular bowl either. If I’m coaching a team in that game, and I know the game is going to be worth $60 million or so — $30 million or so to each conference — I want some more money for it.
Onto the Feedback. Comments appear as posted. In other words, forever and ever, amen.
Mack said:
Reminds me of 2008. They started the year around #8 and were unranked by week 3 or 4. Amazing.
Haven’t been in the top 10 since, but there are parallels. Legendary quarterback returns. Young defense. Some new coaches and the unknown that comes with that. Uncertainty at running back. If there’s a hurricane floating around the northeast in a few weeks — never mind. Move along, nothing to see here.
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