Magnus

December 12th, 2013 at 11:24 AM ^

I think he's absolutely worth $7,000,000 to the university, but coaching salaries are getting crazy. The question is whether next-tier coaches are worth next-tier money. 

dahblue

December 12th, 2013 at 11:35 AM ^

Whether he's worth it down the road could be an open question, but how much was it worth to hire a coach that could unite the various upset parties (alumni, players, former players, fans, boosters, administration, etc.) post-RR? Though he'll utimately be judged based on his record, there's a ton of value in what Hoke was able to do before even coaching a single game.

Monocle Smile

December 12th, 2013 at 11:47 AM ^

Yes, Hoke was a panacea of a sort at the start of 2011 and throughout what was evidently a magical season.

However, I have concerns that his hire serves as an enabler for the circling of the wagons around the Michigan program and the xenophobia toward those who aren't "Michigan Men" that's pervaded the entire culture for decades. I'm worried this will end up biting us in the ass down the road when we hire a truly awful coach purely because of Michigan ties.

P.S. If I didn't actually believe everything I typed, this would be a textbook example of concern trolling. Note to self: be careful with wording.

fatbastard

December 12th, 2013 at 12:54 PM ^

It is funny to hear people say such uninformed things about Brandon and Hoke.  I've got plenty of issues with Brandon, but hiring Hoke is far from one of them.

The map around A2 doesn't refer to a road map, per se (though Rodriguez certainly needed that, too) so much as it referred to handling the various requirements of his job, which was at Mihcigan, not West Virginia.  The differences are nothing short of monumental.   RR was terrible at communication, and said too many dumb things inviting scruiny.  He didn't comminicate with the AD in any meaningful way, and instead made many an enemy there.  I could go on, and on, and on.  Lion KIng.  Josh Groban.  No Defense . . . . 

You get the point.

Blue2000

December 12th, 2013 at 1:27 PM ^

The map around A2 doesn't refer to a road map, per se (though Rodriguez certainly needed that, too) so much as it referred to handling the various requirements of his job, which was at Mihcigan, not West Virginia.

Respectfully, wtf are you talking about?  It's funny when people criticize others as "uninformed," and then just pull stuff out of their ass.  All that from "a map of Ann Arbor"!   Your ability to glean the metaphysical meaning from stupid Dave Brandon comments (and then turn it into a passionate criticism of RR) is truly impressive.

jmblue

December 12th, 2013 at 3:09 PM ^

OK, here we are seeing a misuse of the voting feature.  Fatbastard has a different opinion from some of you but he's not posting anything objectionable.  His interpretation of Brandon's comments and comparison of Hoke/RR can be debated, but they''re not trolling comments.  You shouldn't downvote him because you disagree.  

The goal of the voting shouldn't be to encourage groupthink in which no one dares to express a different opinion.  That would make for a very boring message board.

Monocle Smile

December 12th, 2013 at 3:43 PM ^

They might not be trolling, but I propose that there is a difference between "I disagree" and "I think this is dumb/wrong." I don't think fatbastard's comments here have been particularly coherent and he's said some pretty ridiculous things. Then he did his usually old-man insult crap when someone called him out for being ridiculous.

I will happily downvote posts that are ridiculous or just wrong even if they're not troll comments.

MGoBender

December 12th, 2013 at 3:35 PM ^

@jmblue

Could the downvoting be because a post is wrong?  Because I think the "road map" comment was quite literal when it was said and arguing it wasn't, well, I think that's a poor argument.  I wouldn't be surprised if that's the source of a few negs.

But I generally agree.  disagree != downvote.

Blue2000

December 12th, 2013 at 4:18 PM ^

jmblue - your point is well-taken, but I respectully disagree that I, or anyone else here, has misused the voting feature with regards to Fatbastard's comments.  Fatbastard may not be "posting anything objectionable," but his post - that Dave Brandon meant something other than what he actually said with regards to the map, is completely absurd.  I think it's fair game to point that out via a downvote; doing so will hopefully increase the level of discouse such that people aren't making things up out of whole cloth, and then insulting those who point out that they've done so.  

WestQuad

December 12th, 2013 at 3:37 PM ^

Bo Schembechler could have been an NFL coach if he had wanted to, but he choose to stay at Michigan becuase he was a Michigan Man.  Doesn't matter that we was from Miami and OSU, he was true blue.  While it helps to have that initial connection, Michigan Man seems more of an ethos than a resume stint in Ann Arbor.  

The opposite of a Michigan Man is Nick Saban.  He is an awesome coach and he has brought some great football to MSU, LSU and BAMA, but he has zero loyalty.  It's hard to build something special when your coach is always a threat to go somewhere else.  How many people at MSU and LSU still like Saban?  How will BAMA fans feel when Saban goes to UT?

With a few exceptions (Saban, Harbaugh?, Brian Kelley?) Mercenaries usually don't win wars.  

Blue2000

December 12th, 2013 at 4:31 PM ^

Even if Saban leaves for Texas tomorrow, I think Alabama fans would disagree with your assertion that Saban didn't build something special there.  Sure they'd be better, but that wouldn't change the success he brought to the program. 

Also, I don't know tons of LSU fans, but the ones that I do are forever criticizing Les Miles and pining for Saban. 

MI Expat NY

December 12th, 2013 at 11:53 AM ^

Do you think he would have balked at being hired if he was making $500K less?  I certainly don't.  I think he was given a contract that has him currently the 11th highest paid coach in the country because Michigan thinks its coach should be one the top 15 highest paid coaches.  While I think that sentiment is fine, it's hard to argue that Brady Hoke's resume then, or now, would have him in the top 15 of current or potential head coaches.   We paid him based on the position he was taking, not his resume.  Which was the OP's point.  

I don't think its a real insult to Hoke to say that we paid him a salary based on what we are hoping he becomes.  We're certainly not the only ones to do this.  

I Like Burgers

December 12th, 2013 at 3:17 PM ^

The same thing goes for our assistants. They are all near the top of the pay scales for their respective titles. Mattison is the only one that's actually worth what he's paid.



For instance, prior to his big raise last year Narduzzi was making about the same as our position coaches. Which is mind blowing.

moffle

December 12th, 2013 at 12:12 PM ^

Whether it was worth that amount of money or not isn't the question.

The question is whether the numbers in the contract represented approximately what was required by Hoke, or whether they instead represented a general sense of what a great coach at Michigan would be paid nowadays. 

The argument is that a coach's salary ought to be determined by personal market value, not the school imitating what they see comparable schools paying their highly successful and established coaches (though in some cases those numbers certainly could be the same).

gbdub

December 12th, 2013 at 4:57 PM ^

The argument against Hoke's salary, such as it is, is not necessarily an indictment of his value to the program. Rather it's more like, "We don't need to be paying Hoke top tier money because there's no way he'd be making that much somewhere else". Nick Saban can make 'Bama pay him $7M because if they don't, someone else will.

But I doubt anybody is going to outbid Brady Hoke's current salary, and frankly I'm not sure anybody other than Michigan would have substantially outbid Hoke's SD State salary in 2011.

BluByYou

December 12th, 2013 at 12:06 PM ^

"worth" $7mm or $5mm.  Saban makes as much as or more than 65% of the NFL head coaches in 2013.  Which job is harder?  I'd say NFL by far based on number of games, level of competition, responsibility & patience of fan base.  Only advantage is NFL coaches don't have to kiss high school kids' asses, but have a more difficult time with player discipline & egos.  If a university can justify that kind of money, fine, but the expectations are so high on the HC, I believe it makes cheating more likely, not to mention the pressure on other schools to retain good coaches, a bad spiral.

BlueCE

December 12th, 2013 at 12:30 PM ^

It is not about what job is harder, it is about how much value they generate for the school. Considering he has made Alabama one of the highest earning teams in the country and the cost to Alabama if they lose him, I would say he is definitely worth it.

4godkingandwol…

December 12th, 2013 at 12:36 PM ^

... what revenues + other good will does Nick Saban bring in vs. his cost and what revenues + other good will does the next best alternative bring in vs. his cost.  obviously, estimating those things is difficult, and defining a time horizon for which to evaluate this is challenging, but the process should determine if he is "worth" it.  

 

Given where the program was before him, the risk associated with change, and the direction his program is pointing with him... my guess is he is worth an extra $3MM a year just in "good will", which will be funded by rich dudes who like to see their alma mater win championships.   

jmblue

December 12th, 2013 at 3:12 PM ^

The issue really shouldn't be whether Saban is worth that kind of money.  Hiring him basically guarantees that your school will contend for, if not win, national championships.   

The issue is more over whether a bunch of other coaches, who are clearly less accomplished than Saban (and may be less of a sure thing) should be making near-Saban money.

fatbastard

December 12th, 2013 at 12:56 PM ^

I would respectfully suggest tha the value of the Alabama franchise to the school and the State is more valuable than an NFL franchise.  While he is not worth 7mm/year, neither is Canoe worth whatever he got.  It's all relative. 

umchicago

December 12th, 2013 at 1:17 PM ^

think about this.  if bama had a mediocre coach and had mediocre results (think 10 years ago), they could easily lose 10k fans per game.  at $100 a ticket, pkg, etc, that's a $1mm revenue loss per game.  that doesn't include potential bowl $$ either.  so ya, he's worth it.  i don't like either, but he's worth it.

bluebyyou

December 12th, 2013 at 2:11 PM ^

When you look at a stadium with 10,000 unfilled seats at a price of 1K per ticket, which approximates better season ticket prices at the Big House, that's 10 million, so yeah, in my opinion it is worth it.  Having said that, for the vast majority of programs, that kind of money is just not in the cards.

ijohnb

December 12th, 2013 at 11:24 AM ^

no, the same way that Robinson Cano is not worth 24 million dollars per year because it is just way too much money and sports spending is out of control. But yes, in the sense that he is that good and probably is a good 2 million dollars better than any coach in the country.  But I doubt it matters.  I believe Saban is going to Austin.

In reply to by ijohnb

1464

December 12th, 2013 at 11:32 AM ^

We can argue the merits of a free market system for employment, but to say someone is not worth the amount of money they are being offered when they are a well known commodity is sort of false.  You're worth what people are willing to pay you.  Does he impact lives as tangibly as a good surgeon, teacher, or even mechanic?  No.  But he's worth what someone is willing to pay.

MI Expat NY

December 12th, 2013 at 11:45 AM ^

That's a little simplistic, no?  Lots of people pay more for a service than they think it's worth.  They do this for many reasons.  The Alabama AD may be thinking, there's no way in hell Nick Saban is worth this much money, but I'll be damned if I'm the guy blamed for letting him walk away.  The Mariners front office might think there's no way in hell Cano is worth the $240M they're paying him but may have decided they had to make a splash in free agency, even if that meant greatly overpaying.  

What one is willing to pay does not always equate to worth.  This is true in everyday life when you say countless times "I can't believe I just payed that much for this."  It's also true at these levels in sports when you may knowingly overpay and harm your own financial interests for vague reasons that may or may not make sense.  

MI Expat NY

December 12th, 2013 at 12:02 PM ^

There's a difference between pure economic worth, which you're right, is a simple concept, and the more subjective concept of people saying "is it really worth it?"  Those that say anyone is "worth" their salary because someone is willing to pay that much is being simplistic.  They're ignoring subjective context in favor of a rigid definition.  Life is more than rigid definitions.  

1464

December 12th, 2013 at 11:57 AM ^

It may be simplistic, but I have two rebuttals. 

First, you can't say that what one is willing to pay does not equate to worth.  If some kid tells me he will mow my lawn for $40 and I accept, I've made an evaluation of the worth of that action.  $40 may be a little steep for me, but when it boils down to it, the convenience was worth the financial loss.  Now, in retrospect, if the kid does a bad job, I can look back and say "wasn't worth it."  Hence overpaid guys who did not live up to their contracts.  The sports world is littered with them.  Saying someone was overpaid would be a hindsight thing.

Second, Saban has brought a financial windfall and an aura of greatness to the football team.  I'm sure he adds more than $7 million a year in value to the program when compared to a lesser coach.  Your boosters are happy.  This would be like having the best stockbroker in the world working at your company.  In the end, all the guy does is stare at numbers and transfer invisible funds from one place to another.  There is no tangible good done.  However, this guy is netting a lot of money for your company, so sitting in a chair and making decisions all day is worth a lot more than $7mil to your brokerage.  Your investors are happy.

MI Expat NY

December 12th, 2013 at 12:08 PM ^

As I said right above your post, there's a difference between the pure economic definition of worth and the concept of what people mean when they're discussing what someone or something is worth. 

Someone may be willing to spend $5,000 on a purse made from $200 in materials for reasons solely related to status and such.  That doesn't mean the rational people who look at the bag and say, that's crazy, there's no way it's worth that much are "wrong."

Edit:  I should add this to say that I'm not sure Saban isn't "worth" the money even in the subjective sense.  As you point out, he undoubtedly brings in more money than his pay check.   

umchicago

December 12th, 2013 at 1:24 PM ^

i don't think he's worth quite that much, but seattle has to overpay to get him to go there; much like the tigers.  that said, baseball attendance has a pretty steep elasticity curve, i think, for a team between 70-90 wins.  if cano can help seattle contend, even for a wild card, that could translate to at least 10k more fans per game, like my saban example above.  $10k more per game at $40 avg ticket = $400k revenue per game x 80 games = $32mm per year.  so he may be worth it.

MichiganStephen

December 12th, 2013 at 11:25 AM ^

He coaches in a college football centric state and contends for championships year after year. He may the the greatest coach of the last 50 (60? 80?) years.

Universities also use athletics to promote their brand. So it's likely a win-win for the athletics and acamedic side.  $7 million is a bit ridiculous (to me) and I wonder if there is a bubble building, but clearly not yet.

ak47

December 12th, 2013 at 11:27 AM ^

I mean according to reports saban has had an extension (his second one this year) available to him this entire week and hasn't signed it, so there is that.  I also don't think 7 million is enough since apparently texas is offering 10 million a year, a 1% stake in the longhorn network and highest paid assistant coaches.

Also shows that already having signed an extension this year doesn't mean anything, since saban already did that once.