OT: the coaching carousel begins (Houston gives Herman a big raise)

Submitted by dnak438 on

A lot of big jobs are opening up and Houston is doing its best to retain Jim Tom Herman:

 

Houston announces it's raising Tom Herman's salary to $3M a year. Serious bid to hang on to him.

— Stewart Mandel (@slmandel) November 20, 2015

 

That's not enough to prevent someone like Virginia Tech from making a run at him, but it makes him the highest paid coach outside of the Power 5 + Notre Dame... by a lot. It will take a big offer from a big-time school to dislodge him. Still, odds are probably pretty good that he'll be a finalist somewhere this year.

Here's a useful list of the highest-paid coaches: http://sports.usatoday.com/ncaa/salaries/

Leaders And Best

November 19th, 2015 at 8:22 PM ^

Why leave Houston where you are making $3M unless the right job comes along? Houston has a pretty good recruiting base, and he should be able to do well in the AAC. I could see him wait for a job like Texas, Texas A&M, or Ohio State to open up. The only job that is open right now that I would leave that for is USC.

stephenrjking

November 19th, 2015 at 9:00 PM ^

I'm right with you on this. I don't think this stops him from looking at other jobs; he hasn't verbally said that he is in for the long haul, and there are some huuuuuuge jobs potentially coming open. What this raise does is narrow the field--no way Herman looks at a middling job like Illinois or even South Carolina now. He can hold out for a top job, and if one does not offer him after this season, he can build a dynasty at Houston until the right spot is available.

He would be a fool not to go to a place like Georgia or Texas if they ask him to come; he doesn't need to settle for anything less, now. 

Eat Your Wheatlies

November 19th, 2015 at 8:23 PM ^

It makes sense for a school like Houston to show him that they are committed and throw cash his way. That is really the only chance they have to keep him. If they didn't do this then they'd definitely lose him sooner rather than later. 

Blue Mike

November 19th, 2015 at 10:01 PM ^

It's win-win for Houston.  They know he isn't going to be there through the life of the contract; eventually he'll take a bigger job.  When he does, they aren't on the hook for the big money anymore, but they show that they are willing to put their money on the table.  Looks good for the next coach.  Smart move by them.

FreddieMercuryHayes

November 19th, 2015 at 8:36 PM ^

Yeah, it's one thing when the athletic department is self funded like at UM, but different when the academic side is paying for things instead of the other way around. But you could make the argument it's an initial investment that could bring a lot more money in the future if this stuff gets them into a big time conference or something.



Sent from MGoBlog HD for iPhone & iPad

Pit2047

November 19th, 2015 at 9:02 PM ^

Not the same sport but when Butler went on their Final Four runs, applications increased 40% and they got an estimated $1 Billion worth of PR so sports can definitely help the academic side. If the Big 12 is left out again this year it seems like they'll have no choice but to add a few teams and with Houston's recent success hiring coaches (Briles, Sumlin, Herman) they'd be a great add along with (fingers crossed) Cincinnati.

Mr Miggle

November 19th, 2015 at 11:32 PM ^

is actually worth. They attribute the vast majority of that PR value to social media mentions. How can a school with a $200 million endowment gain $1 billion in value from that?

If that is what all that publicity would have cost them to buy, I'd argue that spending $1 billion on it would be the biggest waste of money by a university imaginable.

bj dickey

November 19th, 2015 at 8:31 PM ^

Sounds like University of Houston intends to be involved in the next round of conference expansion/realignment. They would be a reasonable fit in the big 12 or acc when those leagues get poached again.

skegemogpoint

November 19th, 2015 at 9:00 PM ^

What's really funny is last yr Sam Webb was on radio questioning whether UM could afford to pay JH $4m+. I called him to tell him he had no clue and that UM could easily pay their FB and BB coaches 10% of their gross athletic dept revenues. That's a true statement. It also amounts to just over $14 million. The end is nowhere in sight.

TruBluMich

November 19th, 2015 at 9:32 PM ^

Pretty smart when you think about it for a few minutes.  If the Big XII gets passed up yet again because of their scheduling they are going to have to look for somebody to join.  If Houston can go on a run similare to Boise or a better example would be TCU.  They are going to improve the odds that the Big XII sends out an invite.  That 3 million a year is a bargain if he can keep this up.

Leonhall

November 19th, 2015 at 10:06 PM ^

Well Houston just made the beginning bid! Lol. I agree with others, I think he might stay. However, there are cases like Mississippi State coach not leaving when he was the hot name. (Maybe he was never offered.) I guess the difference is even if Herman loses next year at Houston, he's already getting paaaaaaaaaaaaiiiiiiiiidddddd!



Sent from MGoBlog HD for iPhone & iPad

bseidenb

November 19th, 2015 at 10:56 PM ^

Smart move by Houston to try and keep him around, at least for another year.  While there are a ton of jobs available this year, are there really any that are that enticing beyond USC (California), Miami and VaTech?  I certainly expect Herman to be in the conversation for these spots if more veteran, high profile coaches don't fill them.  I'm most curious to see what Rich Rod will do.  VaTech or Miami seem to be where people think he'll end up.  I'd like to see what he could do at Miami w/ a real defensive coordinator.    

DrewGOBLUE

November 19th, 2015 at 11:32 PM ^

A bit strange that Brian Kelly is only 68th w/ a salary of just $1.2 million. At a school like ND, is that really all he makes?

Have to imagine there's another way in which more money is allocated to coaches like Kelly that this list doesn't take into account.

NRK

November 20th, 2015 at 9:16 AM ^

I thought so too, and I'm sure there are some pieces that are missed, but it does appear his total comp is lower than some of the others. My guess is that changes shortly.

 

The document showed Kelly with a base salary of just under $1 million, which represents a nearly $300,000 increase from his base for the 2012 calendar year.

However, Kelly's total compensation from the school fell to nearly $1.2 million from nearly $1.5 million because he went from receiving more than $600,000 in bonus pay in 2012 to getting less than $10,000 in 2013.

 

http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/college/2015/05/19/brian-kelly-cha…

Mr Miggle

November 20th, 2015 at 11:33 AM ^

a year from their media and marketing firm. Kelly is probably getting more than twice that much. Schools hide pay for coaches in various ways. They can get a cut of the apparal contract, for example. ND hasn't released the details of their UA deal, unlike the public schools.There should be zero doubt that Kelly is one of the highest paid coaches in CFB.

Brenskifhn1

November 20th, 2015 at 10:36 AM ^

Does it surprise anyone else how little Brian Kelly is making at ND? I know they have still been paying Weis but IMO he is a top 10-15 coach and half of the AAC coaches make more than him.