Deal or No Deal? Contracts Don't Seem to Mean Squat to Many Coaches
April 8th, 2012 - 14:29
Should I stay or should I go? It's a good thing universities play in mammoth arenas because the egos of their "Pompous Pilots" wouldn't fit any other place.
Much of the excess in the canonization of coaches is perpetuated by coaches-turned-television commentators who shamelessly fawn over their former colleagues. Instead, the analysts should be more concerned about encouraging mentors to spare fans the pious blather about school loyalty and the sanctity of a contract.
Granted, it's survival of the fittest amid the offer-you-can't-refuse backdrop. But in many instances, schools have been little more than convenient steppingstones for "larger-than-life" coaches along their one-way street to success. It's understandable in many instances why mercenaries are leaving the minute they're appointed because coaches are in a distasteful "hired-to-be-fired" vocation, where a pink slip is only one losing season or poor recruiting class away.
Nevertheless, it's a black eye on the sport when loyalty seems to have become too much of a one-way street. At times, it makes one wonder how the bench bosses can look themselves in the mirror. Five of Tulsa's six coaches in one stretch - Nolan Richardson, Tubby Smith, Steve Robinson, Bill Self and Buzz Peterson - abandoned ship for more prestigious positions despite each of them having at least three years remaining on their deals.
More than 70 different active coaches had at least three years remaining on their pacts when leaving for greener pastures. Trent Johnson, slated to leave LSU for TCU, joins the following alphabetical list of coaches who departed three or four schools before their contracts expired:
Trent Johnson - five years remaining on contract when he left Nevada for Stanford; one when left Stanford for Louisiana State, and two when left LSU for Texas Christian
Lon Kruger - four years remaining on contract when he left Kansas State for Florida; five when left Florida for Illinois; four when left Illinois for the Atlanta Hawks, and two when left UNLV for Oklahoma
Ritchie McKay - two years remaining on contract when he left Portland State for Colorado State; four when left Colorado State for Oregon State, and four when left Oregon State for New Mexico
Kevin O'Neill - three years remaining on contract when he left Marquette for Tennessee; four when left Tennessee for Northwestern, and two when left Northwestern for the New York Knicks (assistant)
Buzz Peterson - nine years remaining on contract when he left Appalachian State for Tulsa; four when left Tulsa for Tennessee; two when left Coastal Carolina for the Charlotte Bobcats (director of player personnel), and four when left Appalachian State again for UNC Wilmington
Bill Self - two years remaining on contract when he left Oral Roberts for Tulsa; five when left Tulsa for Illinois, and five when left Illinois for Kansas
Tubby Smith - three years remaining on contract when he left Tulsa for Georgia; six when left Georgia for Kentucky, and four when left Kentucky for Minnesota
Mark Turgeon - two years remaining on contract when he left Jacksonville State for Wichita State; nine when left Wichita State for Texas A&M, and four when left Texas A&M for Maryland
The length of contracts doesn't seem to carry any weight as a factor in the equation. Johnny Jones, a former player and assistant coach under Dale Brown at LSU before averaging 21 victories annually the previous six seasons with North Texas, returned to his alma mater for more green. In doing so, the thumbed his nose at the six years remaining on his Mean Green contract and joined the following striking number of coaches other than Peterson, Smith and Turgeon who virtually ignored contractural obligations of more than five years left on pacts: Rick Barnes, John Beilein, Tony Bennett, Dave Bliss, Mike Brey, John Calipari, Jeff Capel III, Tom Crean, Matt Doherty, Larry Eustachy, Dennis Felton, Tim Floyd (twice), Travis Ford, Billy Gillispie, Brian Gregory, Leonard Hamilton, Ben Howland, Jeff Lebo, Gregg Marshall, Thad Matta, Fran McCaffery, Sean Miller, Dan Monson, Lute Olson, Skip Prosser, Oliver Purnell, Mike Rice Jr., Steve Robinson and Kelvin Sampson.