Coach Contracts Need To Be Scaled Back

Show me the money! That's what Nick Saban said God knows how many times. And we have Les Miles, who didn't even need to change addresses to cash in on the insane world of college athletics.

It's hard to blame Miles, Saban or the assorted others who have cashed in on the big business that is college athletics (OK, I lied, ripping Saban is completely understandable). These coaches are just taking what the market will pay them. Well, I have a pipe dream I'd like to throw out in this forum. THE MARKET NEEDS AN ADJUSTMENT!

This week Tubby Smith, the hopeful savior of Minnesota basketball, finally inked his deal with the University which will earn him $1.75 million annually for seven years, not including incentives. That deal makes Tubby Smith the highest paid University employee. Tubby's contract, in the grander scheme of college sports, isn't outlandish, though it puts him in the highest echelon of Big Ten coaches.

Now back to college football, take a look at this USA Today piece that notes: This year, for the first time, the average earnings of the 120 major-college football coaches hit $1 million, a USA TODAY analysis finds. That's not counting the benefits, perks and myriad bonuses in their contracts.

Meanwhile, college professors earn on average $113,000 (Link, See table 4). A nice take too, certainly, but the gap between athletics and education at our universities is ever widening.

Most of us don't think twice anymore when coaches rake in the big bucks. Some economics guru tells us about supply and demand. We hear jargon like "market forces" and "competitive marketplace." So, we look the other way. But should we? In some instances, as this article from CFO.com points out, some of the spending is past on to students.

But as programs vie to outspend one another, many go deep into the red, forcing schools to raise student fees and seek new sources of support. (Texas is a rarity: its program is self-sufficient and usually runs in the black.) Indeed, although many schools have increased revenue by adding premium seating and charging for seat licenses and ticket guarantees, they haven't improved their financial positions much, if at all. Unlike in the corporate world, most universities don't bother to track the returns on their sports investments beyond the win column. Despite the myth of massively profitable college-sports franchises built on the backs of unpaid players, only a handful of athletic programs manage to break even without university or student-fee subsidies.

As sports fans, we like winning. Minnesota fans are overjoyed with Tubby Smith. Michigan fans wouldn't have blinked if their athletic department had made Les Miles a record-breaking offer. We can't begrudge these coaches, but we can tell our University presidents that enough is enough. At some point we should let college athletics be about the amaetur athlete again. And if that means coaches only make five times what university professors make, well, I would bet there would still be a long line of highly qualified people wanting to coach college athletics.

So, let's get rid of this "market forces" B.S. and put some blame squarely on the shoulders of our university leaders.

Sensationalism Saturday, Or Why Kirk Herbstreit Should Shut His Mouth

On a day when the crazy college football season should have taken center stage, some goof named Kirk Herbstreit stole the thunder from Oklahoma, Pittsburgh, LSU and others.

And since ESPN likes to market every Saturday during the college football and basketball season with a ridiculous name, I decided I'd lend a hand to the geniuses in Bristol, Conn. and name this past Saturday for them: Sensationalism Saturday. Beacuse that's what reporting is about at the 4-letter. It's about Internet hits and clicks. It's about gossip, not actual reporting.

The latest display of ESPN's tacky journalism began early Saturday morning on College GameDay, when color commentator and college football analyst Kirk Herbstreit decided to offer his best John Clayton imitation. Herbstreit cited a "source," who may or may not be close to the situation, who had apparently told him that Les Miles would be bolting from his position at LSU to take a job at his alma mater in Ann Arbor. Shortly thereafter, ESPN had a story up on its Web site. Miles was on his way to Michigan, ESPN was reporting just hours before LSU was to meet Tennessee in the SEC title game. Meanwhile, eager Michigan bloggers began sending readers over to ESPN to read the good or bad news, depending on their perspective.

But it quickly became clear that Herbstreit's reporting was shoddy. Other reports trickled out that indictaed Miles was going to have a presser with his LSU bosses and announce his plans to stay in Louisiana. Here's the text of Miles' brief meeting with the press:

There was misinformation on ESPN and I think it’s imperative that I straighten it out. I’m the head coach at LSU, I will be the head coach at LSU, I have no interest in talking to anyone else. I have a championship game to play and I’m excited about the opportunity of my damn strong football team to play in it. And that’s really all I’d like to say. It’s unfortunate I had to address my team with this information this morning. With that being done, I think we’ll be ready to play. There will be no questions for me; I represent me in this issue, please ask me after. I’m busy. Thank you very much, and have a great day.

Miles was pissed. He had a right to be. I bolded the first line for emphasis because on at least one replay of the presser I saw on the 4-letter, the network decided to leave that intro out. But it's the end of Miles' statement that should bother Herbstreit going forward. The mark of any good journalist is to check his information. In this situation, there are any number of reasons why someone would want to leak misinformation about Miles. Perhaps someone from Michigan wanted this story out there to ruin Miles' relationship with his current employer. Who knows? Perhaps Miles leaked it through someone else as a way to pressure LSU to ante-up. We might never know. But if Herbstreit is going to pretend he's a reporter, he at least needs to learn that people have motives from time to time when they decide they want to leak information 'off the record.'

And that's exactly the reason why Herbstreit should have checked his information with an authority, like Les Miles for instance. Because of Herbstreit's arrogant reporting, Miles was forced to address his team (again, before the SEC Championship game) about his fate as coach.

My question is, couldn't this wait? I try to understand the landscape of the modern media. Videos go viral in minutes. News breaks and it's hyperlinked around the globe as quick as someone can make something up. And it's not just Herbstreit. This week, Buster Olney pulled the same crap regarding Johan Santana and the ongoing trade talks between Minnesota and Boston. Olney didn't go as far as Herbstreit, but he implied that a trade was imminent. The result? Links on Minnesota message boards to Olney's story that turned out to be bogus, or at least premature.

Herbstreit took a few moments Saturday night while he was calling the Missouri-Oklahoma game to explain the Miles incident. He didn't offer an apology. He didn't retract his reporting or offer to correct it. In fact, he implied that Miles may well still be on his way to Ann Arbor. Saying that, now with a prime time audience during a game with national title implications, Herbstreit has once again put the onus back on Miles to make another denial. And who knows? Miles could very well bolt. Stranger things have happened.

But wouldn't it all be a lot easier if Herbstreit or other ESPN hacks could wait until they have something solid to report? Here's a good ground rule: If kids' emotions are in play, say like on a day they are playing for a championship, maybe sensational, scoop-oriented reporting can wait for 12 hours until what really matters--the game--is over.

And people think they can't trust what they read on the blogs ...