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I've never seen that contract before, thanks for posting. In a quick read, it looks like his guaranteed annual minimum is $410K, plus bonuses for post season play and honors and APR levels, plus incidentals (cell phone, car, tickets). So firing him prior to 12/31/18 would require a payout of $1,230,000 plus whatever bonuses might be earned this year. After 1/1/19 it drops to $615K plus bonuses, so basically in half. I don't know what our APR or avg attendance numbers are, but I assume he is earning between $10-15K for those. Pretty sure there won't by any post season play or honors bonuses this year to worry about.
So my advice is 1) wait until after the end of the year, and 2) raise the $615K and take it to Harris with your grievances. Pretty sure that's just walking around money for guys like run&blade or clenz. You might be able to sell him on loss of revenue costing us more, but when you have doubled the price of tickets it's hard to know whether it is performance or economics that accounts for attendance decreases. I think the regular posters on this board (50 or 60?) are unanimous in wanting a change. It would be nice if the other 5,000 members would participate in a poll so we had a better idea where the overall fan base stands.
I'm not convinced AD Harris feels the need for a change. In our worst season in memory we are probably going to finish 6-5. He comes from a place where 6-6 gets you a bowl game, 7-5 gets you a bowl game people have heard of, and 8-4 gets you a New Years Day or after bowl. Our worst year is one they go over the moon for in Ames, where they only make a bowl game every 30 years or so on average. Our better years are win totals they can only dream about seeing in their lifetimes. So he may not see the problem. PSC donations set a new record every year and with the steady price increases ticket revenue probably does as well. Those are the things I think he cares about, not fan boards.
In actuality, after 1/1/19 it will never be cheaper to fire him thru the end of his contract, his appearance money goes up $20K every year and there will be years with bigger bonuses. If you get into the last 2 years of his contract and no one is talking about a new one/extension, he may see the handwriting and walk away. Or he may take every last penny and retire in 2021.
I used to think he could get a big time defensive job, but I'm not so sure anymore. As the offensive side of the game has continued to mover further and further beyond his grasp, his ability to defend those offenses has also continued to slide, just not as fast. We have never had a great pass defense.
So my advice is 1) wait until after the end of the year, and 2) raise the $615K and take it to Harris with your grievances. Pretty sure that's just walking around money for guys like run&blade or clenz. You might be able to sell him on loss of revenue costing us more, but when you have doubled the price of tickets it's hard to know whether it is performance or economics that accounts for attendance decreases. I think the regular posters on this board (50 or 60?) are unanimous in wanting a change. It would be nice if the other 5,000 members would participate in a poll so we had a better idea where the overall fan base stands.
I'm not convinced AD Harris feels the need for a change. In our worst season in memory we are probably going to finish 6-5. He comes from a place where 6-6 gets you a bowl game, 7-5 gets you a bowl game people have heard of, and 8-4 gets you a New Years Day or after bowl. Our worst year is one they go over the moon for in Ames, where they only make a bowl game every 30 years or so on average. Our better years are win totals they can only dream about seeing in their lifetimes. So he may not see the problem. PSC donations set a new record every year and with the steady price increases ticket revenue probably does as well. Those are the things I think he cares about, not fan boards.
In actuality, after 1/1/19 it will never be cheaper to fire him thru the end of his contract, his appearance money goes up $20K every year and there will be years with bigger bonuses. If you get into the last 2 years of his contract and no one is talking about a new one/extension, he may see the handwriting and walk away. Or he may take every last penny and retire in 2021.
I used to think he could get a big time defensive job, but I'm not so sure anymore. As the offensive side of the game has continued to mover further and further beyond his grasp, his ability to defend those offenses has also continued to slide, just not as fast. We have never had a great pass defense.
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