Q&A with Norwood Teague: No raise discussed yet for Jerry Kill; wants East-West B1G

[BleedGopher]

Q&A with Norwood Teague: No raise discussed yet for Jerry Kill; wants East-West B1G

From the Q&A: Where are you at with easing the load for football coach Jerry Kill?

Jerry and I have had some incredible discussions since the season has ended about his health, workload and strategic planning for the future. He and I have a great relationship. We're really on the same page. When you have that, it bodes well for the future. Part of that, especially with the strategic planning that we'll do in the next week or 10 days, is to tell Jerry that (things) are off his plate. He's a tiger. It'll be fun to do that, because he's so willing to strategize in that way.

Can you give me an example of what will be off his plate?

Little things. Jerry likes to manage a lot of things. He has such a capable staff. I have to do a better job of getting non-coaching things away from him. That doesn't mean speaking to media or to a rotary group in St. Cloud. It's more little things that creep up in average day when he needs to be hashing it out with the offensive staff or on the phone with a recruit. He shouldn't worry about stuff that the staff can take off his plate.

Where do you stand on giving the coordinators, Tracy Claeys and Matt Limegrover, multiyear deals?

I'm fine with it. It's an industry standard. We have to do a good job of increasing our pay for the coaches. I don't want to be crazy about it. We have to be careful, but at the same time, Jerry is about $700,000 (per year) below the next-lowest paid coach in the Big Ten. Our coordinators are great coaches. We have to get a little more competitive there (with paying them). I want to be as aggressive as we can be.

Has Kill's agent called to inquire about a raise?

I have not talked to his agent since the bowl game. I talked with his agents throughout the year just to get to know them. He knows where we are. With the North Carolina thing (paying $800,000 to cancel two games) being an issue, it makes me more weary of how we spend our money. But we have to be smart and aggressive. I will never be crazy with how we spend money. But I want to build winning programs and compensate them like others are around the country. That's becoming a lot of money right now.

I forgot how much money you're still paying ex-coaches Glen Mason, Dan Monson and Tim Brewster. Can you remind us?

Jerry has a seven-year deal. That's a long time. Right now, we're paying Glen, Brewster, and Monson about $500,000 a year collectively until 2017. That comes out to about $2.5 million (total). That was the one thing with Jerry and the North Carolina buyout. We have to give him some room to build this thing. We can't afford to have somebody in a buyout situation -- someone we'd pay $800,000 a year until 2017. That was a part of the finances there. I should've said that earlier and been more upfront about it. It was one of the big things that into the equation with the North Carolina deal.

Where are we at with realigning the divisions in the Big Ten?

When I find out, I'll let you know.

Are you championing the cause?

I want it to be more regional, more east-west. I want to be in a division with Iowa, Wisconsin, Nebraska, etc. I think we would lean in that direction going forward as a league. Stay on your toes. There will be a whole lot more as it relates to that and other conference issues in the next year.

Adding a ninth conference game in play then?

We've heard that. I could see that probably happening. I don't know. We haven't discussed it. But when you add more teams (Maryland and Rutgers), it seems logical. We'll see.

http://www.1500espn.com/sportswire/...e_No_raise_discussed_yet_for_Jerry_Kill011113

Go Gophers!!

 

[pharmacygopher]

Interesting to finally here his rationale on the UNC series, whether you agree with it or not. So we can actually blame it on Maturi because of the buy-outs....should make people happy! LOL

 

[John Galt]

Think about that: we are still paying Mason, Brewster, and Monson $500,000 per year. Ouch!

 

[Iceland12]

So Kill wanted to spend $800,000 on the North Carolina buyout NOT because he was afraid that he could only win 2 - Big Ten games for the next three years, Jerry wanted to make sure he didn't get fired. The University then couldn't afford another buyout!

 

[pointman99]

So Kill wanted to spend $800,000 on the North Carolina buyout NOT because he was afraid that he could only win 2 - Big Ten games for the next three years, Jerry wanted to make sure he didn't get fired. The University then couldn't afford another buyout!

Kind of how I read it too. Or maybe his final signed contract was adjusted to take into account the $800k buyout?

 

[Dr.Don]

Kind of how I read it too. Or maybe his final signed contract was adjusted to take into account the $800k buyout?

Right. Coach Kill will sign a contract that includes a $200,000 reduction to pay for the NC payout all by himself. Sounds logical to me.

 

[e.bigelow]

Think about that: we are still paying Mason, Brewster, and Monson $500,000 per year. Ouch!

Yea, exactly! How long have Mason & Monson been gone for now? About half a decade each at least!

 

[Iceland12]

Yea, exactly! How long have Mason & Monson been gone for now? About half a decade each at least!

And away we go! Doogie could have left out everything after "We're still paying BUYOUT money!"

Here's some buyout info. It looks like they took out an 8 year loan to pay-off the buyouts. Odd, that Mason's deferred compensation got lumped in there.

The decision also had financial implications. Mason will receive a $2.2 million buyout plus an additional $1.4 million in deferred compensation from his previous contract. However, Mason's contract stated that on Jan. 1, 2007, the university would guarantee him an additional $1 million in deferred compensation. The school saved that money by firing him Sunday.

"That was not the principal factor, but it was a consideration," university general counsel Mark Rotenberg said.

Mason's firing means the athletic department will pay roughly $4 million in buyouts to Mason and men's basketball coach Dan Monson, who accepted his buyout on Nov. 30. Maturi said his department will have to borrow money from the university's central administration to help cover those costs.
---

http://www.startribune.com/sports/gophers/111012084.html?refer=y

Rumored candidates such as Temple's Al Golden and San Diego State's Brady Hoke both have hefty buyouts, $1.5 million for Hoke and a reported $2 million for Golden (Temple is a private school and is not obligated to make its contracts public). Most other potential candidates have buyouts in the $500,000 range.

The question is whether Minnesota will be able to pay a significant buyout just to free a coach from his existing contract. University Regent Dean Johnson said Monday that it's "going to be difficult -- no doubt about it'' for the Gophers to pay a large buyout.

The reason, Johnson said, is Minnesota's current athletic budget, which still requires about $3 million from central administration to break even. Big Ten neighbors Iowa and Wisconsin balance their budgets with no central administration support, partly because the Big Ten Network now provides conference members about $7 million annually.

Johnson said some Regents have made it known they would like to see Minnesota balance its athletic budget without central administration support in the very near future. One reason that could be difficult is that the athletic department still is paying $5.2 million in buyout costs associated with the firings of former men's basketball coach Dan Monson and football coach Glen Mason. The athletic department took out an eight-year loan for $550,000 per year from central administration to pay those buyouts, and is considering taking out another loan from central administration to pay the $750,000 buyout of fired coach Tim Brewster, a figure that will rise with transition costs for the outgoing and incoming staffs.

http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2006/11/30/monsonresigns/

Monson signed a seven-year, $700,000 a year contract with the U of M in 1999 after taking Washington State's Gonzaga University to the NCAA finals. He inherited a Gopher men's program crippled by an academic cheating scandal that infected the team under head coach Clem Haskins.
..Monson leaves with a $1.1 million buyout from the university. The Gophers' assistant coach Jim Molinari with take over the team for the remainder of the season.

 

[Gopherdrummer]

Wow, some seriously well executed contract negotiations from the coaches' perspective. Who wouldn't love that kind of compensation for a few years....after being fired?

 

[GopherinPhilly]

So Kill wanted to spend $800,000 on the North Carolina buyout NOT because he was afraid that he could only win 2 - Big Ten games for the next three years, Jerry wanted to make sure he didn't get fired. The University then couldn't afford another buyout!

It almost sounded mutual...like both he and Teague understand that if we don't see some bowl games and get back to at least where Mason had us by year 4 & 5, we (the fans) are going to be calling for Jerry's head and Teague didn't want to be in that position...so the $800k one time buy out of a game to ensure a higher likelihood of bowl games in the couple of years made sense.

It says alot about the time frame Jerry is thinking it will take for us to resemble a winning program again. And maybe he is right and we are all unrealistic. I suspect that if you ask Jerry when we should be able to compete for a B1G crown...he would say year 9 or 10...well into his extension. Jerry needed 4-5 years to get respectable and competitive and bowl games (even lower level ones) are very important in that process...and maybe then we see recruiting rise, better practice facilities built and brand awareness increase enough to have the talent to make a run at a Rose Bowl.

Plus in 2017, $500k per year in buyouts come off the books and that can be reinvested into the program and coaching staff. I suspect that Jerry would push for multi-year deals and more money for his staff over the next few years and then he gets paid on his contract renewal which will probably double his base salary if we are where we think we will be in year 4 or 5.

 

[Lakeville Goldy]

Kind of how I read it too. Or maybe his final signed contract was adjusted to take into account the $800k buyout?

Well, I'm sure his final contract wasn't adjusted, but to some extent it may have been not adjusted upward to make up for that cost: "Jerry is about $700,000 (per year) below the next-lowest paid coach in the Big Ten." As Teague has been looking at Jerry's salary, you would think that a comment like "well, I understand you're paid significantly less than the other B1G coaches, if only we hadn't just coughed up $800K to UNC..." would come up. Maybe after next year they restructure or extend his contract with a pay increase?

 

[Iceland12]

It almost sounded mutual...like both he and Teague understand that if we don't see some bowl games and get back to at least where Mason had us by year 4 & 5, we (the fans) are going to be calling for Jerry's head and Teague didn't want to be in that position...so the $800k one time buy out of a game to ensure a higher likelihood of bowl games in the couple of years made sense.

It says alot about the time frame Jerry is thinking it will take for us to resemble a winning program again. And maybe he is right and we are all unrealistic. I suspect that if you ask Jerry when we should be able to compete for a B1G crown...he would say year 9 or 10...well into his extension. Jerry needed 4-5 years to get respectable and competitive and bowl games (even lower level ones) are very important in that process...and maybe then we see recruiting rise, better practice facilities built and brand awareness increase enough to have the talent to make a run at a Rose Bowl.

Plus in 2017, $500k per year in buyouts come off the books and that can be reinvested into the program and coaching staff. I suspect that Jerry would push for multi-year deals and more money for his staff over the next few years and then he gets paid on his contract renewal which will probably double his base salary if we are where we think we will be in year 4 or 5.

+1 Well thought through IMHO.

I'd only add two things. Teague has admitted that being new, he had no idea that he'd create a such an uprising by doing this but as you say, he thought it was the way to go.

Secondly, my first post here was just going for a laugh.

 

[scools12]

It says alot about the time frame Jerry is thinking it will take for us to resemble a winning program again. And maybe he is right and we are all unrealistic. I suspect that if you ask Jerry when we should be able to compete for a B1G crown...he would say year 9 or 10...well into his extension. Jerry needed 4-5 years to get respectable and competitive and bowl games (even lower level ones) are very important in that process...and maybe then we see recruiting rise, better practice facilities built and brand awareness increase enough to have the talent to make a run at a Rose Bowl.

These days no coach is going to get 9-10 years to build a program especially when the AD didn't hire that particular coach. That being said Jerry Kill regardless of how the team performs might just get that opportunity based on all the payout money being paid through 2017.

 

[MNVCGUY]

I hate when media guys feel the need to ruin a perfectly good interview with a throw away question like the one about Kill's agents looking for a raise. A raise wouldn't even be in the picture right now. The coach just finished year 2 of a 7 year deal and hasn't done anything to even warrent talk of an extension or a raise. Just don't see the point of even bringing something like that up.

 

[Gopherprof]

I hate when media guys feel the need to ruin a perfectly good interview with a throw away question like the one about Kill's agents looking for a raise. A raise wouldn't even be in the picture right now. The coach just finished year 2 of a 7 year deal and hasn't done anything to even warrent talk of an extension or a raise. Just don't see the point of even bringing something like that up.

That question has created more discussion than all of the others combined. That's why.

That said, yeah, the idea of giving Kill a raise at this point doesn't make much sense. I doubt that Kill is in hot demand for another BCS job, so giving him money just to give it to him is absurd at this point.

 

[Gopherprof]

Also, 2.5 million for a total buyout isn't much when you're talking about three coaches (even if you add in what has already been paid). Kirk Ferentz has a buyout of what? 20 million or so? It's the cost of doing business. With all of the Big Ten money we get, I don't understand how the department can always have its backs against the wall with this stuff. I think a lot of it is posturing to get donations, but then you hear that the department gets bailed out by the general fund for a tune of a few million, so I don't know.

 

[Iceland12]

Also, 2.5 million for a total buyout isn't much when you're talking about three coaches (even if you add in what has already been paid). Kirk Ferentz has a buyout of what? 20 million or so? It's the cost of doing business. With all of the Big Ten money we get, I don't understand how the department can always have its backs against the wall with this stuff. I think a lot of it is posturing to get donations, but then you hear that the department gets bailed out by the general fund for a tune of a few million, so I don't know.

Haven't they've finished in the black the last couple of years, mainly due to the BTN money? Now that they finally get to share in the parking revenue they generate should help too. If they ever quit charging the Department full boat for tuition that would also make things easier. Claiming poverty and/or mismanagement by the other guy makes for a better story though.

 

[ruppertflywheel]

Think about that: we are still paying Mason, Brewster, and Monson $500,000 per year. Ouch!

I can see why " The Grinster" is still grinning.

 

[GopherinPhilly]

+1 Well thought through IMHO.

I'd only add two things. Teague has admitted that being new, he had no idea that he'd create a such an uprising by doing this but as you say, he thought it was the way to go.

Secondly, my first post here was just going for a laugh.

Sometimes the truth makes for the best laughs...