Reality check.
Howard Schnellenberger forever changed the game of college football, and he doesn't get his due credit. Before Schnellenberger (BS), the head coach was God of college football, and you could build a program pretty much anywhere. Even in the middle of the desert. Frank Kush would show up with a station wagon full of starving west Pennsylvania kids just trying to get away from bleak future in mining. Later in, he learned to steal kids out of LA and Dallas to supplement, along with making sure there was no stone unturned in places like Morenci and Ajo and Florence. A coach could do that back then because there were plenty of secrets to be kept, and could be kept.
After Schnellenberger (AS), we have an oligarchy of programs with the most money, centrally located near the best recruits, supported by recruiting staffs that are the envy of corporate headhunting culture. It's a science now. And there are no secrets that can be kept. If there's an athlete in some desolate Kansas town, he's in a database somewhere and he's going to be sent a letter from someone.
Miami was about to kill their football program when Schnellenberger stepped in. He noted that Alabama was winning national championships with Florida players, many of them right out of Miami's backyard. And Schnellenberger would know. He was Bear Bryant's offensive coordinator at Alabama in the early 60s and a big-time recruiter -- he recruited Joe Namath to Alabama. He also brought with him a pro-style passing game, honed as Bob Griese's offensive coordinator during Miami's undefeated season, but that's another story.
Schnellenberger's rapid turnaround because of keeping Miami recruits home in Miami forever changed college football culture. ESPN, a new thing, made sure of it. It's the kind of inside info they knew the fans wanted. Suddenly the average fan began to become aware of Dade County recruiting. Then they became aware of SoCal, east Texas, Ohio, etc. People everywhere started to learn about how Penn State thrived on recruiting New Jersey. Kids of Louisiana dockworkers were no longer looking for opportunity wherever they could get it -- every school in the country knew who they were and wanted them to come to their school.
This is a different game now than when I first started following. And ASU is much less of a sleeping giant. Why? Because:
- They don't have a built-in home-state recruiting advantage, partially because it's still not big enough, and partially because you have to large athletic programs feeding on it. Compare that to, say, LSU, where they're the alpha dog in a state with comparable (or often better) talent, and you get a different picture.
- That weather advantage I often hear about? It's an awesome sales pitch to a kid in Chicago, who would love nothing more than a free trip to Tempe while he makes his college plans for Notre Dame, where his family can still come see him play. It's actually a DISadvantage within the region ASU needs to make a pitch, like San Diego or LA County, where they see us as slightly crazy for wanting to live here.
- The name ASU built in the 70s and 80s is completely washed away. Think about this: The kids ASU is recruiting right now were born in 1994. They were 3 years old when Jake Plummer was leading ASU to the Rose Bowl. They have no idea who Danny White or Frank Kush is. There are likely only three things they know about ASU football right now: They have cool new uniforms, the girls are unbelievably hot, and Dennis Erickson just got fired.
ASU has to start over. Right now, it's name is on-par with mid-majors. It's a secondary or tertiary thought on the minds of the kids they need to steal from SoCal to get the program even close to where we want it to be. There are no built-in advantages to ASU other than MAYBE facilities, where it enjoys some status for the next few years.
Here's something else to think about: ASU is offering what has become the middling price for a head coach, about $2.5. That's pretty much mid-major money for a head coach. Sure, it's still probably in better half of all salaries, but not if you consider what it would take, say, Washington to replace their coach right now. If they wanted Sarkisian right now, they would have shelled out about $3.5 million. We are not even in the same area code as the Top 20 programs. That's the cost of doing business, and we're not capitalized well enough to expand into that kind of competition.
ASU has to go young, even if it means hiring a coordinator. That's what ASU can afford, and it's what it really needs, because this program is starting over. We can pretend it's still 1984 and ASU really is a sleeping giant. Or we can really look long and hard at reality and accept the failure started about 30 years ago, and we've merely been repeating that failed history over and over ever since.
It's time to do something new and bold.
17 comments:
Like hiring Dirk Koetter
You cannot simply never hire a young coach again just because Dirk Koetter did not work out. Plenty of young, relatively inexperienced coaches have had success in the Pac-12 recently.
You are 100% wrong about the salary situation. Here are the real statistics: http://www.usatoday.com/sports/college/football/story/2011-11-17/cover-college-football-coaches-salaries-rise/51242232/1
Age has nothing to do with it. Despite the scandals, Joe Pa (86), Pete Carroll (60), and Tressel (59). Part of the problem is an echo chamber of bloggers who repeat "facts" and opinion as truth. Your analysis is shallow. In the uproar about Jones, few realized that we gave up on his recruiter Klemm who would have given you the recruiting class you just outlined ASU needs. You forget tha Jone would ahve kept Mazzone and Broussard. A great recruiter and an offensive inovator who the players love. Three sought after recruits indicated that they would move with Jones to ASU in those hours where he looked like the new coach (two four star recruits and a three star). You were quick to say that Jone was DE all over again but what did you note that they had in common: age, offensive focus, and NFL coaching experience. Why are those things bad? I am not saying Jones was the best pick. But, he is certainly better than the wish list of coordinators I am seeing on blogs like this one. Do you really want a coordinator who has no record as a head coach and no indication that he can recruit running this team? Are you aware that DE had a top 20 recruiting class put together, yes the old man you love to malign? Are you aware that those kids are now wandering elsewhere? But, yet, the blogs love a D coordinator for an SEC team that is not very good. You say no one wanted Jones but who is seeking these coordinators? The coaches you so covet are not getting any more attention than Jones did, or they would be hired by these so called schools that are doing so much better than ASU the "mid-major". Did I miss A&M already hiring Sumlin? Did I miss when UNC became a football power house that could compete with LSU and not a basketball school that recruited some good players in violation of NCAA rules? Do your homework. Do not buy into the hype. Blogs and twitter may give you power, but it is misused when people spout off uninformed garbage. I bleed Maroon and Gold. But, I am tired of hearing so called experts say things that make little to no sense and having them repeated as fact. I am tired of people saying Sednek should not get an extension when he had three 20+ win seasons and should have gone to the NCAA tournament each of those years and not just one. If you really care about ASU (which I think you do) please, please, please do your homework. Do the research. Cite it even. Speak honestly about the team and the process. Don't just yell to hear yourself yelling.
I agree with the above comments. Too many uninformed, negative comments are being spread in the media by people who just want to be heard and do not really care about the school. I also agree that there is a problem at the top when information is release to the media, like June Jones is coming to ASU, and then because of backlash from the public, negotiations are stopped. This hire is not going to make all of the people happy, but it should be made by the people in charge of the athletic department at the university and only made public once it is official.
I'm 100 percent right about the salary situation, because salaries have escalated almost 100 percent at AQ schools.
For example, Sarkisian's base salary at UW will be $2.4 million next year. If UW had to hire him today, his value would be more like $3 million. If you hired a keeper coach before 2010, you're likely living on a bargain.
Going into this year, only 3 coaches in the SEC made less than $2 million, and only two made less than $1.75. Of the top 5 teams in that conference, all paid AT LEAST $2.7 million per, and only one of those coaches was hired in the past two years.
If ASU thinks $2.5 mil per is big money because they're comparing themselves to other Pac-12 schools, they're going to be in for a rude awakening when those longer-term coaches renegotiate or go elsewhere. $2.5 will be the bottom dollar rate in two years in the conference.
ASU thinks of itself as a "should be" Top 25 program. Well, it better find a way to fund itself to be one and pay salaries commiserate to that type of agenda.
As for Jones and Klemm, it's not enough. Klemm and Broussard are not enough. You have to have a staff full of recruiters to beat USC, Oregon and Washington at ASU. You need a staff like the one Snyder brought with him, with Rod Marinelli, Karl Dorrell, Dan Cozzetto. That whole staff, the original one, owned California. That's how you do it. And that's how they built that 96/97 team. The days of having one or two sniper recruiters are over.
There are currently 18 coaches who are being paid $2.5 million a year including pay from the school and from other sources. 12 of the 25 coaches of teams in the BCS top 25 make less than the $2.5 million per year. Two of the coaches in the top 25 that are above $2.5 million are Texas’s Brown and Auburn’s Chizik both had 7-5 records this year and are at 24 and 25.
Here are the announced salaries of AQ teams during this hiring cycle. Fedora at UNC will be paid more than $1.7 million annually. Rich Rod at U of A will receive $1.45 million in the first year (plus $300,000 from Nike and IMG). WSU will pay Leach $2 million a year in base salary, plus $250,000 per year in ancillary payments. Urban Meyer is the outlier at the moment receiving $4 Million per year to coach the Ohio State. Out of these hires we only have on coach being paid above the threshold that you have cited.
The money argument you are laying out is just not jiving.
As for Klemm and Broussard, they would (and may still) make a great recruiting team. There have been extensive profiles on Klemm as a powerhouse recruiter. I mention those names because they were guaranteed to be retained by Jones. It appears that Justin Wilcox was targeted by ASU as a DC to work with Jones. Now, Wilcox is a “lead candidate” for the head coaching position. Where we will agree is that coordinators and recruiters make a difference. But in the rush to malign the search process at ASU and the overtures at Jones people lost sight of the deeper parts of the process. Who would staff the team? I think that the administration at ASU is going to put together a whole package with a HC and coordinators. If you want to hire elite coordinators you need to pay them as well. Even the best paid coordinators get paid less than a head coach. Here is where the wise money is spent. If you spend more on coordinators you will get more return on your money. The goal with this hire, I believe, is to ensure a solid team. None of the coaches that are being bandied about are worth more than $2.5 million. Sure, if ASU was targeting Meyer, we would need to pay more. But we are not targeting anyone of that caliber. Fedora (see above) is being paid less. Sumlin has not landed another job. A&M put the brakes on their courtship with Sumlin as soon as he lost the C-USA title game.
I think the discussion about the ASU coaching search has been clouded by bloggers who are making assertions without providing facts. There are a number of knee jerk reactions. Rather than claiming something as true, provide the evidence of its truth. For example, if Jones is too old at 58 how is Bellotti not too old at 61? The BCS title game is pitting a Saban (62) against Les Miles (58). The age argument is just silly. Youth does not necessarily lead to better coaching or excitement. Do you seriously think that recruits are turned off by Saban and Miles because they are too old? NO.
I hate to single you out. There is plenty of criticism to be raised about the broad number of commentators on this coaching search. It could have been anyone. It is in part the result of speed of (mis)information spreading in the age of twitter and blogs. It is in part the demand of fans for information in this age (me included). I just want you, as a person who cares about the process and is a journalist to do better. Rise to the occasion. Do your homework. I want you to be better. You deserve it. We deserve.
There are currently 18 coaches who are being paid $2.5 million a year including pay from the school and from other sources. 12 of the 25 coaches of teams in the BCS top 25 make less than the $2.5 million per year. Two of the coaches in the top 25 that are above $2.5 million are Texas’s Brown and Auburn’s Chizik both had 7-5 records this year and are at 24 and 25.
Here are the announced salaries of AQ teams during this hiring cycle. Fedora at UNC will be paid more than $1.7 million annually. Rich Rod at U of A will receive $1.45 million in the first year (plus $300,000 from Nike and IMG). WSU will pay Leach $2 million a year in base salary, plus $250,000 per year in ancillary payments. Urban Meyer is the outlier at the moment receiving $4 Million per year to coach the Ohio State. Out of these hires we only have on coach being paid above the threshold that you have cited.
The money argument you are laying out is just not jiving.
As for Klemm and Broussard, they would (and may still) make a great recruiting team. There have been extensive profiles on Klemm as a powerhouse recruiter. I mention those names because they were guaranteed to be retained by Jones. It appears that Justin Wilcox was targeted by ASU as a DC to work with Jones. Now, Wilcox is a “lead candidate” for the head coaching position. Where we will agree is that coordinators and recruiters make a difference. But in the rush to malign the search process at ASU and the overtures at Jones people lost sight of the deeper parts of the process. Who would staff the team? I think that the administration at ASU is going to put together a whole package with a HC and coordinators. If you want to hire elite coordinators you need to pay them as well. Even the best paid coordinators get paid less than a head coach. Here is where the wise money is spent. If you spend more on coordinators you will get more return on your money. The goal with this hire, I believe, is to ensure a solid team. None of the coaches that are being bandied about are worth more than $2.5 million. Sure, if ASU was targeting Meyer, we would need to pay more. But we are not targeting anyone of that caliber. Fedora (see above) is being paid less. Sumlin has not landed another job. A&M put the brakes on their courtship with Sumlin as soon as he lost the C-USA title game.
I think the discussion about the ASU coaching search has been clouded by bloggers who are making assertions without providing facts. There are a number of knee jerk reactions. Rather than claiming something as true, provide the evidence of its truth. For example, if Jones is too old at 58 how is Bellotti not too old at 61? The BCS title game is pitting a Saban (62) against Les Miles (58). The age argument is just silly. Youth does not necessarily lead to better coaching or excitement. Do you seriously think that recruits are turned off by Saban and Miles because they are too old? NO.
I hate to single you out. There is plenty of criticism to be raised about the broad number of commentators on this coaching search. It is in part the result of speed of (mis)information spreading in the age of twitter and blogs. It is in part the demand of fans for information in this age (me included). I just want you, as a person who cares about the process and is a journalist to do better. Rise to the occasion. Do your homework. I want you to be better. You deserve it. We deserve.
Obviously this was written by someone young with very little life experience and no knowledge of college football administration or business experience.
If you needed brain surgery would you choose Doogie Howser as your surgeon or a guy that has been performing them for at least a decade?
First of all, salary is not a major issue. Making the wrong decision will cost tens of millions of dollars in buyouts, lost ticket revenue, concessions, donations and even bowl revenue. A good head coach will put butts in the seats and make money for the athletic department.
Second, just because a coordinator is young and ambitious does not correlate to success as a head coach. There is this thing we call "The Peter Principle" that comes into play. Head coaches in college football are not coaches, they are administrators or CEOs. They hire and fire personnel, evaluate them, make decions, oversee the entire program from budgets to recruiting, in charge of public relations dealing with the media, fans and alumni.
A coordinator doesn't have to do anything but draw up game plans, coach and do what the head coach instructs him to do. The simple truth is most coordinators do not have the skills, mindset, personality or ability to make the transition from coach to administrator. Hiring a coordinator is a risk even if you know what you're doing when it comes to evaluating talent and hiring the right person for the job (I'm not sure that applies in this case).
The safest bet is to hire someone that has done the job before with success. It's just that simple.
Actually speaking as a medical professional I would take the young hot shot brain surgeon without a doubt. He would have the better hands and be familiar with the most up to date procedures. Once again Mike your tunnel vision is flawed.
Though I tend to agree with the comments posted by "Anonymous" above that we would be better served with a HC who has the experience and proven skill to lead the Devils, make no mistake that Gaddabout is no spring chicken as some are implying. He's not a youngster who doesn't know how executive searches are conducted; he simply has a different point of view that also carries some very strong points about ASU's future.
Belittling someone as too young or inexperienced to post strong arguments could be one of the problems our AD office has in listening to its fans as well as conducting coach searches.
Isn't excluding a coach because he's too young just as bad as excluding someone because they're too old? And honestly to say that someone who dedicates their blog to all things Sun Devils doesn't care about the University is ridiculous. If anything, the fans care more about the University more than anyone, they're not receiving a paycheck to be there. Anyone who still follows this team season after season of painful, gut wrenching mediocrity has more love than those in the AD ivory tower. Instead of embracing the alums/players/fans and at pretending to hear what they have to say the AD decided to shut everyone out and put out a condescending "we're smarter than you and can figure this out on our own" statement. And then they wonder why people don't show up to games.
What about Love's "experience" before she came to ASU? I don't believe Love was an AD before she was hired for her current position. Saying that you need someone with head coaching experience means that you are an in the box thinker that has no vision. There are two things that our program is missing. Leadership and vision.
And those that don't believe there will be inflation in coaches salaries (not just head coaching salaries) are just plain ignorant. $2.5 million in the next few years will be outside of the top paid 30 coaches. Coaches like Saban, Miles, etc. start seeing that coaches like Sumlin are getting 3 million, they are going to ask for raises.
Both Sumlin and Mora are reported to have slaries below the $2.5 million that is quoted. Sumlin at $2 million at the much beloved SEC and Mora at $2.4 million (yes, that is close but the implication is that at minimum ASU would need to spend $2.5 million). Please, take a look at the actual facts before making comments about salaries. The numbers are out there for public insitutions. So, if you are going to claim that the slaries are in fact increasing PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE cite something, provide some analysis; because just saying it is so does not make it so.
Regarding salaries, I think some of you are missing my point. If ASU's head coach made $2.5 mil in 2011, that would make him the 18th highest-paid coach in the country. But that's not including salaries at Pac-12 private schools that don't report (USC, Stanford), which are estimated to range between $3mil and $4 mil per. Shaw has denied he makes $4 mil, FWIW. But you're not negotiating right now on 2011 dollars. You're negotiating based on projected increases.
Sarkisian is due to make $2.85 mil next year, and when they extend his contract through 2015, he will pull at least $3 mil in 2013. Bret Bielema makes $2.5 mil right now, but Wisconsin will renegotiate his contract (signed through 2016) because his value is much higher now. Mike Gundy is renogitating and his starting number is $3 mil. Spurrier's contract due to escalate to $3 mil.
Sure, you can get a hometown discount. Sumlin took less at A&M because that's the job he wanted. Petersen takes much less at Boise ($1.5 mil) because that's the job he wants. Frank Beamer takes a little less ($2.3mil) because he's fully committed to the school (and vice versa). Bill Snyder takes much less at K-State ($1.975mil) because it's a hometown discount. Do you see a hometown discount in ASU's future? Maybe they can pull a K-State and bring back Kush. Kush isn't that much older. ;)
Nope. $2.5 mil is now Baylor money, which is what Art Briles just got, and if he keeps Baylor in the Top 25another year or two, that won't even be close to enough to keep him around. The Top 25 target is now $3 mil and moving upwards very quickly.
You make some decent points. I am not sure your full theory will holdout with an in depth analysis of all of the coaches, but I think this gives some validity to your theory.
I also think we are probably on the same page. The coaching search is really hurting. I do not think the length of finding this coach in most years would be so bad, but this year things are different. The time lines seem to be hurried. In particular with U of A and WSU making decisive decisions early. Even if those choices involved two coaches that no other team felt comfortable reaching out to (whether those reasons are legitimate or not). I think we are entering a stage that is leading to some unease. Maybe Paola Boivin is right and we are all overreacting and judgment should be reserved until a final decision is made. But, it feel pretty gut wrenching from a fan perspective to see ASU struggling to get something together. From my perspective this is why the Jones flub is so painful. Even though it was an unpopular move it would have brought in a solid set of coordinators reports indicated Broussard, Klemm, Mazzone, and Wilcox. The team would have been fantastic. It may now play out that those coaches will be lured to UCLA (although Mazzone has indicated he would remain). Mora was an even less desirable candidate than Jones but if he is able to assemble even part of that team UCLA will be a tremendous force. They will certainly greatly elevate their ability to recruit. In this light, I wish we would have gone through with hiring Jones.
So, what do we do now? Well, let me begin by saying that previous to this football hiring situation I actually think that Lisa Love did a good job in the other sports. Baseball had a misstep with violations but the problem was fired immediately and replaced with a potentially better coach (certainly less volatile). Sednek had three 20+ win seasons and deserved a new contract despite the setbacks last year and so far this year. We have won national titles in track and softball. Wrestling and golf are back on the upswing with coaches who have ties to ASU. But, the football coaching situation is verging on a disaster. I want Love to step up and at least secure the assistants by giving them offers. Yes, a HC is supposed to make these decisions, but it is very clear that this process has bee guided in part on retaining Mazzone and Broussard. ASU should extend their contracts and raise their salaries. ASU should also reach out to Klemm, Wilcox, Tosh Lupoi, Dan Cozzetto, etc. If she wants to think outside the box and make a splash. Bring these guys in. Put the money there. Frankly, assemble that team and then get them to suggest a head coach. Having coordinators like those lined up will be so much more important than who the HC is at this point. Assembling a team of guys like that, all of whom have expressed some desire to coach at ASU, would be huge. Total game changer.
Dream a little dream.
Alright, it is official. This search is killing me. I need to quit following this thing. It eats up too much of my time and makes me upset. It's like crack. Addictive. Unhealthy. Unfulfilling. Nerve-wracking. Does anyone know a support group? Gaddmat, want to grab a drink and forget any of this happened?
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