No Bonus to Beilein for Big 10 Championship
I thought of putting this in one of the main page threads, but it didn't really fit anywhere.
There is something I read somewhere in the basketball coverage yesterday that bugged me a bit. Apparently, Beilein will get no bonus for winning a Big 10 Championship. There are apparently compensation bumps for thresholds met in the NCAA tournament, but not the Big 10. While I don't think the word "outrage," is correct, this doesn't seem right. It seems to me that Beilein should be rewarded, apart from how far the team goes in the post season.
I'd love for someone more knowledgable about salary compensation and contracts, especially in the coaching world, to comment. Is there any financial way that Michigan can do something? How can Beilein be rewarded for this achievement? Who makes this decision? What role does Brandon play? The Board of Regents? Do they tear up the current contract? Do the regents or the Athletic Administration award a bonus for the championship anyway, even though it isn't written in?
There are so many who should receive credit for this season: Novak. Douglass. Burke. THJ. Morgan. Smotrycz. Bill Martin for the facilities. Dave Brandon for follow through. The assistant coaches. But the key player is Beilein. With patience, calmness, and competence, he recruited, coached, encouraged, schemed, planned, and led, to get Michigan basketball to this point. I think it only fair for Beilein to receive financial recognition from the University of Michigan for what he has done.
Brandon/AD general counsel negotiate with Beilein/his lawyer on contract stipulations. The Regents don't really have a role other than voting on whether to approve or deny terms.
Brandon does have discretionary money to give, though. Hoke turned down a bonus for the Sugar Bowl win, but it was offered.
This. As an aside, I think Hoke eventually took the bonus after the Sugar Bowl and donated it to charity (can someone confirm?).
I agree with the OP that Beilein should get some financial reward for winning the B1G - the '89 championship team and the Fab 5 were unable to win it, which demonstrates how impressive of an accomplishment this title is. There should be a bonus attached to winning the B1G, probably a larger bonus for winning the title outright.
All I know is Michigan has an amazing coach in Beilein - this man is in a class of his own both on and off the court. We're very fortunate to have him. Thank you Coach!
Beilein may well turn an offered bonus down as well. It is great that Brandon does have discretionary funds. I do think a Big 10 championship is an accomplishment worth celebrating and rewarding.
Why in the world would Brandon not have discretionary funds? This isn't a DIII school that Brandon is running.
And, no one thinks a B1G championship shouldn't be celebrated, but not everything deserves a bonus. In the larger picture, the NCAA tournament is much more important that the conference tournament.
The school's goal has always been Big Ten Championship. Hoke get's a $300,000 bonus for the Big Ten Championship but nothing special for a National Championship (probably 125000 - like the other "major bowls"). That's why the point was probably brought up.
What a truly ridiculous comment. I mean, seriously, read this post again. Wow.
http://www.annarbor.com/2011/03/30/Hoke%20contract%202011.pdf
Edit: BornintheArbor, I'm pretty sure he'd get the $500k allotted for the BTCG win (AKA Rose), since this isn't the SEC and we don't send two teams to a two team playoff.
NCAA more important than Big 10 Championships? I'm not sure I agree. In fact, I'm sure I don't. Besides, if we win the Big 10 Championship, we know we're going to the NCAA tourney.
You're right, not everything deserves a bonus. But I happen to think this does. One of the side affects is that the stands are full. Selling tickets is the bottom line. Beilein and Michigan Basketball have filled Crisler. I daresay more tickets were sold this year than for a long time.
Regarding discretionary funds, its obvious that Brandon has some. But to have enough to unilaterally decide to give Beilein a 100k plus bonus? No, not everyone has that kind of either funding or discretionary power. Pimp hand, I suppose others would say.
Given the structures of their contracts, it's pretty clear that in football B1G>All, while the NCAA tournament is how the basketball team is judged. That seems reasonable to me, given the differences between sports. I'm too lazy to look it up, but I do wonder whether Red has any CCHA incentives, or if they're all NCAA.
Come to think of it, I would guess that Beilein, Red, Hutch and everyone else have only NCAA incentives, while Hoke is the outlier with no postseason incentives (none revolve around winning the bowl, he just has to get there).
Hoke has bonuses in his contract for winning the Big 10, making the Big 10 Championship game, and for lesser bowl games. Apparently the possibility of making a BCS bowl without playing in the Big 10 championship game was overlooked. All Brandon did was decide to give Hoke the same bonus ($125k) he'd have earned for making the Capital One Bowl. It wasn't, strictly speaking, required, but it would have been a slap in the face to give Hoke only the "any bowl game" bonus of $75k.
this is worth giving Beilein something extra, negotiated or not.
I know he got $125,000 for getting in to the Sugar Bowl, I don't know if he got an additional bonus for winning.
I'm assuming he purchased a dictaphone just for MGoBlog, although the auto-spell on Beilein or Smotrycz must be a bitch to deal with.
kthxbye
or too short. They have to be jusssst right.
I think it only fair for Beilein to receive financial recognition from the University of Michigan for what he has done.
He does, it's called a paycheck. And you said above that there are bonuses for NCAA tournament thresholds. What is the big deal yo?
I can't believe I scrolled down this far for someone to say this. The man is getting a very large salary as it is, and he will get a bonus (which I'm sure he doesn't really care about) when he wins games in the NCAAs. We all love JB, but I wouldn't say it's too big of a deal either.
it has less to do with him getting paid a ton of money and more to do with the fact that he had negotiating sessions over his contract, and was told one of three things:
- No, you cannot qualify for a bonus based on the regular season championship.
- Yes, you can qualify, but at the expense of bonuses elsewhere.
- Nothing, because he didn't ask.
Either way, I'm sure he had a damn good lawyer and that Beilein is a savvy guy. In the end, he signed the contract knowing full well what the terms were.
I think if you focused your attention somewhere else, it is not outside the realm of possibility that you could have put an end to world hunger. Oh well, next thread please.
Beilein is a great coach and I hope Michigan finds a way to offer him an extension for the remainder of his natural life, but this is the contract he signed. I am sure he could have forfeited some NCAA tournament bonus opportunities for Big Ten bonus opportunities, but he and his agent chose this avenue. I won't begrudge him for it, every contract negotiation is unique. If it isn't in his contract I don't see retroactively giving him a bonus that the university didn't agree to (I am sure it was discussed) now. Maybe you can extend his deal and offer him a larger base salary, but not a formal bonus.
I'm pretty sure Beilein makes plenty of money. He's got a contact for a reason. Love the man, but I'm not going to lose sleep about whether he gets a B1G championship bonus.
i don't understand - Beilein negotiated a contract, but you think that he should be given compensation for something that he didn't bargain for?
This. Beilein and his agent negotiated on his behalf. There are two parties who are a part of the contract, it's not like DB wrote it up and made Beilein sign it against his will. And it's not like he found out today that he didn't get a bonus for that. That's how contracts worth. You can't sign it and then complain later that it's not fair.
I'm sure that if this is an issue to Beilein, Brandon will get it resolved.
Can we change your avatar?
will do
Don't you think we should wait until the season is over and see what kind of bonus Brandon awards Beilein? No one said Beilein is not getting a bonus.
"You never count your money when you're are sitting at the table. There'll be time enough for counting when the dealing is done."
Beilein is already slated to get a bonus of $25,000 for Michigan earning an NCAA bid. His bonus goes up the further the team advances in the tournament, according to reports of the terms of his inital U-M contract:
Beilein's non-cumulative bonuses include: $25,000 for helping Michigan earn an NCAA tournament bid; $50,000 for advancing to the round of 16; $100,000 if the Wolverines play in the Final Four; and $150,000 for winning the national championship
I don't think JB is losing any sleep over this but I do think that winning the conference championship is more difficult than an NCAA bid.
Would be a fine enough reward for his work. I'm sure he'd like a few more years of job security. And they can work in bonuses for regular season titles as well.
two years ago.
I really think Beilein is doing pretty well financially...how in the world did you manage to turn this topic into one of urgency? Are you that pressed to find something negative?