KBA a Candidate for Baylor Job
According to Zach Shaw, and the 247 Baylor insider board, KBA is in the top 4 of candidates to replace Kim Mulkey, who left for LSU. The other supposed candidates are Baylor assistant Sytia Messer, Georgia HC Joni Taylor, and former Michigan and Baylor assistant and current SMU HC Toyelle Wilson.
Mulkey made $3million as HC at Baylor, so they have lots of money available to pay a decent buyout and give a good salary to a HC. KBA made ~$800k after bonuses this past season.
Wow, didn’t know her salary was so small (relatively speaking). Have to imagine she’d take the Baylor job, if offered, if Warde doesn’t pony up
Mulkey made about $3million. Auriemma makes about $2.4.
If Baylor realllly wants her, I can't imagine we'll keep her. I don't know how high Michigan is willing to go. Her base salary is $700k, can't imagine we'd go much higher than around a million. Covid year means less revenue and Juwan Howard is probably due a raise as well.
There is no way that Baylor athletics should be outbidding Michigan athletics for any coach. It's a matter of priorities. If we want to have a competitive women's basketball team, it sounds like good head coaches are now making $2M+ (which is peanuts compared to other revenue sports). If we don't, then we can return to irrelevance.
I'm not sure $2M is market. UConn has the preeminent program and pays 2.4. Have not seen the list but I doubt even more than a handful of others pay over 1.5.
April 28th, 2021 at 11:12 AM ^
To be fair, the cost of living in Waco TX is much higher than New England.
Joking aside, there is no way Michigan can afford to pay their WBB coach 3M a year, given than Juwan Howard makes a million dollars less than that. Obviously not saying that a man should be paid more than a woman for the "same" job, but a MBB coach at a university should probably be paid more than a WBB coach at the same university given that the revenue models are much different.
COL is actually lower in Waco than in New England. Storrs is slightly higher than Waco
That's a lot of cash. Anyone else think the market for this stuff is off the charts nuts? No fault of the coaches. It is what it is I suppose. Just read an article about that soccer super league proposal before I jumped on here. The Real Madrid President was claiming everyone in Soccer will go broke if they don't get onboard - I find that amazing (also not true) when their expenditure lines have skyrocketed. Not trying to be a killjoy, but how much money can organizations suck from the fans to keep these exorbitant salaries for themselves, and their coaches etc flowing? Anyway....don't mind me. Nothing to see here. I have a glass of Tullamore Dew in my hand. All is well...
Is WBB a revenue sport now at Michigan?
Michigan has never had a competitive WBB team if you mean contending for a title. This was their first time to ever make a sweet sixteen and they had their highest seed ever as a #6. KBA deserves a lot of credit, but throwing a ton of money at her won't transform the program.
No. Even Tennessee and UConn often end up in the red. It has far less to do with selling tickets and tv deals and far more to do with donations. The only team that is always in the green is Stanford.
That was my question. Why are we talking about WBB and revenue sport salaries in the same sentence?
I am guessing that the current WBB salary at Michigan is above average for P5 and that there are several P5 coaches getting paid less and equaling or bettering Michigan's results. I participated (as a lowly walk-on) in a non-revenue sport while at Michigan so I do value them, believe they benefit the university overall and believe they deserve support. However, it is hard for me to see a case for 2-3x the current salary for any non-revenue sport coach.
If other fans feel differently and want the AD to pay a non-revenue sport coach a 7 figure salary, then I would suggest they get out their proverbial checkbook and start an endowment to fund the position.
I honestly think this will be the future of non-revenue sports. If the players really do get a sizeable share of the big $$ from MBB and FB, non-revenue sports are going to face a harsh reality. Endowments for coaching positions and scholarships will need to pick up.
April 28th, 2021 at 12:36 PM ^
Because WBB is having an explosion of interest and TV revenue. Of course it's still not close to "profitable" but maybe you think in the next five years ESPN will be paying tons of money to broadcast WBB games and you'll want Michigan to be a top 5 program in that era. That said, also completely reasonable to believe it will always stay a cost-producing program and it's unaffordable to give KBA a huge raise.
Baylor might just care more
good head coaches? Dude GENO AURIEMMA IS THE GREATEST COACH OF ALL TIME IN WOMEN'S BBALL and he only makes 2.4 million. KBA is not worth that if we're going to be comparing resumes and "ponying" up.
April 28th, 2021 at 12:41 AM ^
Oil money spends.
With you. In the grand scheme of things, that extra $2M to get her in the ballpark with top coaches, is nothing. If you reached out to the alumni donor network, they'd find a way to pay for it. This is not a tough call.
The reality is that Mulkey @ Baylor and Auriemma @ UConn are probably the highest-paid (or among a small group) women's coaches.
Even at Tennessee, HC Kellie Harper makes $750k/year including all incentives.
Joni Taylor @ UGA will earn a max of $850k next season.
Teri Moren @ Indiana just signed a new contract that will average $862k/season through 2026-2027.
Brenda Frese @ Maryland is the 4th highest paid coach in women's basketball and earns $1.18M per year (COVID-related pay cut; used to be around $1.3M) and has a record of 431-115. She's been around the block and been very successful (1 championship, 2x AP COTY, 4x Big Ten COTY)
So KBA making around $700k isn't way below market or anything. If anything, I'd say she's either at or slightly above market. She makes less than coaches at programs which have seen more success.
Then again, if Baylor backs up the Brinks truck (which in women's bball is anything over $1M, it seems), you can't blame her for leaving for a program which has been extremely successful in recent years with a 50% pay increase.
Oh my, we truly can't have nice things.
The fact we are a bit worried about this is just testimony to the great job KBA has done putting Michigan on the WBB map.
That's a dream job. If she's offered, I'd tell her to take it with tears in my eyes, because I know she'd be leaving Ann Arbor. :(
Baylor women's basketball is similar to Baylor men's basketball. They've had great success under their last coach, and that coach had been there for 20 years, but there doesn't seem to be any structural reason why women's basketball would be so successful there as opposed to anywhere else. They're not like UConn or Tennessee, where there is a generations-long history of prioritizing the sport.
What I'm saying is that KBA could create at Michigan what Mulkey created at Baylor. Assuming the compensation is similar, Michigan is certainly the type of school that could support an excellent women's basketball team.
Ali, your point makes sense regarding Tennessee - they have a long tradition of success and support for women's basketball.
Not UConn. They had no success and little history prior to Auriemma (didn't even have a team until 1975). Dude's been there a LONG time, and built that program up just like Mulkey did at Baylor.
Summit built on a strong foundation. Auriemma and Mulkey both built from scratch.
The big difference with UConn is the fan support. They pack the place for the women just like the men. They may be newer to the block than Tennessee but the culture is now built in. Recruits know it and its the biggest reason they are where they are.
I don't know if Baylor will be the same without Mulkey but UConn will continue beyond Geno.
There's only been a womens college basketball championship since the 80's, you are talking half the history of the sport when talking about these coaching tenures. Only 15 schools have ever won a championship. Baylor has won 8% of the total championships in the sport. Prior to the pandemic Baylor was top 10 in womens basketball attendance while Michigan was 35th with less than half the average attendance. Its not the same level as Michigan as a job, its a clearly superior job.
I wonder what UM attendance will be 2-3 years from now with a couple more similarly successful BIG finishes and tourney runs. I would guess top-20.
Forgive my ignorance but why is Baylor a dream job for KBA? Does she have ties there? I know Baylor's had a ton of success under Mulkey but didn't have much of anything before her. Are the facilities overwhelming? Or is it just the money and recent success?
One thing about Baylor, Waco isn't overly attractive (to most people) but they have A LOT of money down there. Texas politicians are also disproportionately Baylor grads.
If you go back to the SWC/Big Eight merger in the mid-1990s, Baylor was going to be left out. They were likely C-USA bound. But their $$$ and political influence won their way into the Big XII, and they are where they are now.
Private schools have less accountability, and some are absolutely flush with $$$. USC, ND and Baylor can throw as much money as they want at coaches and facilities with no one questioning them.
Many private schools don't care much about sports, and many aren't rolling in dollars. Those that are both rich and motivated can spend like the sultans in the EPL.
That said, there's been a lot of ugliness around Baylor athletics (not necessarily women's hoops); big money is great, but I'd take a close look at what I was getting into before I jumped.
If she chooses to leave, best of luck to her - though I'll never be a Baylor fan.
You should add Stanford to your list of private schools with money, and motivated to spend it. Stanford runs one of the biggest and most successful athletic departments in the country. They are the prime example, ahead of USC, ND, and all the others.
To their credit, Stanford is more egalitarian about it than the others. They run more programs instead of funneling most of their money into football and basketball. Unfortunately they're dropping a handful of the small sports this year, but will still have top tier programs across most NCAA sponsored sports.
She gone.
And she'll probably take Hillmon with her.
April 27th, 2021 at 10:59 PM ^
shut yer damn kommunist borscht-hole
It is surprising when the Michigan fan base knows that if Baylor wants our coach Baylor will have our coach. Anyone else find that at least slightly concerning? Ill hang up and listen why Baylor would be able to offer 3x what we can.
I got nothin
It's honestly crazy that any team would offer 3 million bucks for a women's basketball coach (with the one exception (maybe) being UConn or Tennessee with legendary coaches like they have/had. Otherwise I feel like you could still get any coach you want for half that.
I'm not sure where the OP got the $3M figure for Mulkey. She claims LSU is giving her more money than Baylor and her reported contract with them is for $2.5M. This has raised the bar with Gene Auriemma getting $2.4M. I would bet Baylor won't pay their next coach anywhere near $3M.
The $3M figure was quoted in the linked article
Whether we literally can offer her $3M a year, and whether it makes sense for us to do so, are two very different things.
Are you prepared to pay more for football/men's basketball/hockey tickets to cover this cost?
$3 million is crazy money for a women's basketball coach. Juwan Howard makes $2 million. Baylor's men's coach Scott Drew reportedly makes $2.75 million.
KBA can follow a legend at Baylor who she'll forever be compared to, and be castigated as soon as her team loses a game the fans think Baylor should win.
Or she can stay in Ann Arbor, make vastly more money than all but a tiny percentage of Americans can even dream of making, and be a legend of her own creation.
Yeah if I were making nearly a million bucks living in Ann Arbor you definitely are not convincing me to move to Waco and be affiliated with Baylor University. But I also totally understand folks who would make a different decision.
Wow. Coaching salaries (and all sports-related salaries in general) are just absurd at every level.
$3mil for a women’s coach does seem wild. I can’t imagine the program brings in that much annually before any other expenses.
Yeah, not saying she's not a good coach ---- but if you had asked me to guess her salary prior I would have figured something more like $1.1MM. $3MM is a LOT.
Agree, seems like the most elite women’s coaches would be somewhere in the $1M range. Of course outliers would exist, but even KBA at $800k was surprising to me. I just assumed the market was roughly $200-$300K less than that for a great coach
I'm a bit shocked to see a WBB coach with a $3M salary. This is comparable to FB coach pay (which is also absurdly high - a *school's* highest paid employee should never be a full time sporting coach)... does WBB bring in the same scale of revenue for any of the major schools?
Me too. I know Baylor WBB is obviously big but $3M seems really high. I assume from this that the WBB program is a definite money maker?
According to a Baylor fan I know she made 2.27 million last year
https://www.collegefactual.com/rankings/sports/basketball-women/division1/#5
According to this website, Baylor's women's team brings in ~$9million in revenue, which looks like the most in WBB according to this list.
It should be noted that figure is revenue, not profits. Also, I wonder if there is some funky accounting going on with the revenue reports on that website. Sure Michigan at $466,499 in revenue aligns with Northwestern at $227,757 and Maryland at $677,530 but looking at some others I find it hard to believe that each is reporting in the same way:
U Miami $5,723,586
Marquette $4,572,038
DePaul made $3,462,918
Florida State $7,680,432
Ohio State $794,802
Elon Univ $1,781,585
Wake Forest $3,447,683
Quinnipiac $2,735,931
So Quinnipiac brings in over 5 times the revenue of Michigan and 4 times OSU?
I had the same thought when looking at those numbers. They're bizarre.
So, too, is the idea (very sorry) of really opening the bank for a coach of a team other than football / basketball (dudes) / hockey (dudes, again). Most college sports aren't profitable, right? (I understand that they're part of the university experience and that everything can't be quantified, but ...)
Or, maybe they are. I don't know for sure. Maybe millions of people watch lacrosse on TV.
Wait until you find out that the highest paid public employee in nearly every U.S. state is either a college football or college basketball coach