Coaches’ Contracts: Mark Richt

The series of SEC coaching contract analysis passes the midway point with Mark Richt’s deal with Georgia.

Image from georgiadogs.com

At first glance, it looks as though Mark Richt’s contract is between him and the University of Georgia Athletic Association and therefore he’s not officially a state employee, just like Urban Meyer is not a state employee of Florida. However, it clearly states a little later that he’s an employee of the University System of Georgia. Any other speculation regarding his employment is moot, since he has an excellent record as a head coach and has no incentive to leave.

The contract leads off with his duties and powers, the only contract to mention “powers” of any kind. It would be awesome if his contract gave him powers like flying or the ability to transmute into a liquid, but instead it gives him empty, so-called powers like the ability to recommend assistant coach candidates (that the AD can unilaterally veto) and to agree with the scheduling choices the AD already made. Most other coaches get full power for hiring and firing assistants, as well as significant influence in setting the slate of games.

His goal as coach as spelled out here is at first seems noble, but the ulterior motive is found a couple paragraphs down. It first says he must keep the team competitive and supported by the “University Community,” a fine endeavor to create a unifying force in the state of Georgia, right? Except that, it specifically states later that one of his duties is to increase student and fan interest not for the good of the community, but to make enormous amounts of money.

The progression from child to booster really flies by, doesn’t it? Gotta indoctrinate them early! Image CC by Flickr user Natalie Blackburn.

In the way of bonuses, Richt’s deal is pretty straightforward. He gets either $25,000 or $75,000 for winning the SEC East or the overall conference title, and he gets the same amounts in addition for going to a bowl or a BCS bowl, respectively. A top-5 AP poll finish nets $50,000, but a national championship named by the BCS and/or the AP gets him $150,000. He gets $50,000 for his team finishing in the top third in the conference in academics; that’s a bit unique since most other academic bonuses are tied to absolute terms, not relative terms. He does have the sweetest longevity bonus I’ve seen – a cool $2.4 million if he stays through the 2013 season.

Overall, the contract has more of a money-focused feel to it than most of the other ones do, though it’s hard to pick exactly what it is that gives it that feel. Maybe it’s that Richt or the athletic associate twice a year can recommend ways to restructure his pay to reduce his or the university’s tax liability for it. Or maybe it’s that if he leaves for another job, he can pay his $2 million buyout in quarterly installments between his leaving and the end of his contract in 2013. Regardless, it’s a surprisingly restrictive deal for a guy with such a great track record.

Selected Quotes:

“WHEREAS, football is a high emphasis sport at the University;”

Huh. You don’t say. You mean making Mark Richt the highest paid state employee wasn’t enough to demonstrate that?

Someone fire up the “O” signal!

“Richt’s duties and powers include… [t]aking any and all reasonable actions to increase student and fan interest in and support of the Team in order for the Team to generate substantial net revenue for the [UGA Athletic] Association and the University.”

This part of his deal immediately discredits the idea that the UGA football program exists solely for righteous pursuits like giving kids a good education and a great start to adult life. Or that getting students and fans involved is intended to “give back” for their support for that matter. It’s all about keeping them engaged to keep getting their money, and according to this section, poor revenues could be a breach of contract on the head coach’s part. Of course, every other I-A football program exists for the same reason, but few if any others are so brazen in talking about it.

“Richt’s duties and powers include… [w]orking in good faith with the Athletic Director to schedule future opponents identified and approved by the Athletic Director.”

In other words the AD picks out Georgia’s schedule, and it’s up to Richt to schedule the games. He must support all of the AD’s scheduling pursuits and can only object with “reasonable” complaints. Contrast that with Nick Saban or Houston Nutt who were required to recommend their scheduled opponents. Nutt even had to include “dates, places and times” rather than just submit a list of every non-BCS school in the Gulf Coast region as his recommendations.

Paterno and Bowden

Two recent articles from ESPN.com couldn’t make the distinction between Bobby Bowden and Joe Paterno more clear. The Bowden article is by Heather Dinich; the Paterno article is by Ivan Maisel.

Their Involvement

It’s more accurate to call it an FSU article than a Bowden article, since it is mostly about Jimbo Fisher slowly taking over the program. In any event, here is a quote from Bobby Bowden regarding coaching:

“People say, ‘He can’t coach no more.’ Well, a head coach don’t coach. [The assistants] coach. They do all the coaching.”

To illustrate Paterno’s involvement, I offer a couple quotes:

CB Willie Harriott: “How did he see my hand on his [the receiver's] back from way over there?”

Assistant coach Tom Bradley: “He’s still in every drill, coming around all over the same place. He doesn’t coach from a tower, you know what I mean.”

Could he even climb a tower anymore?

Practice Behavior and Demeanor

Bowden: Sitting quietly in the stands watching his assistants run the practice.

Paterno: Literally kicking former guard and new center Mike Lucian in the rear for not being consistent in the shotgun snap.

Their Records

Bowden: He says he wants to finish with more than 400 career wins and take home another national title before quitting.

Paterno: “I don’t care about the record… You know when they bury you, you going to look up at your stone and say, ‘Hey, I got a record?’ You’re dead. You’re gone. I think there are other things that are more important.”

Succession Plans

Bowden: Already underway, with Fisher doing the Seminole Boosters circuit and learning other aspects of the head coaching job while having the safety net of not being the head coach.

Paterno: His attitude is basically “Trust me. I know what I’m doing.”

* * *

They have similar ages and win counts, but that’s about it. They really are that different.

The reason why it’s so easy for Bowden to accept a succession plan is that he is a coach in the way that video game players are coaches. He runs the program, recruits high schoolers, and makes decisions, but when it comes to actually coaching players, someone else does it in the way that EA customers just choose the option of picking an outfit to “coach” during timeouts and seeing the results happen automatically.

He also does commercials, did I mention that?

The reason it’s so hard for Paterno to accept a succession plan is that he still is coaching the players. He’s teaching them technique, giving advice on how not to stare down receivers as a quarterback, and from across the field spying a cornerback putting his hand on a receiver’s back. He coaches everyone on the team, something Bowden has been quoted as saying is not a part of the head coaching job description.

FSU’s succession plan sounds like a great idea for easing the transition, especially since it’s so hard for Mr. Outside Hire to follow a legend at a program. Its transition program makes sense, unless FSU is actually ending up with only half an offensive coordinator as Fisher divides his time between his current and future jobs. After all, the Seminole offense actually was actually worse in Fisher’s first year as compared with Jeff Bowden’s final year.

That’s right - Jimbo’s first offense was worse than any of Jeff Bowden’s offenses.

Penn State, meanwhile, is asking for an extremely difficult situation by not keeping Paterno under contract past this year. PSU can only hope that the legend-following process there works like it did at places like Florida and BYU, where after a brief down period a sharp, young head coach came in and restored glory. The alternative could be like the unmitigated disaster that has been Alabama in the post-Gene Stallings era.

It’s impossible to say what will happen after each is no longer coaching his school. Neither program did anything of note before they got there, so there is nothing before them to base a judgment on. Even if Fisher or Paterno’s eventual successor don’t work out, it may not matter since great programs have survived bad coaches and been fine. What is clear is that you’d be hard-pressed to find two more different coaches.