FreddyBrown
Moderator
I feel some sympathy for Todd Lickliter only in the sense that he feels defeated and probably feels like he was wronged. However, the harsh reality is that he had the worst coaching record in the long and relatively proud history of Iowa basketball, and a team from which some of the best talent was continually being lost transfer.
But here's the real bottom line: Those who say we shouldn't be focused on how much a coach makes are missing a very key point. Coaching salaries are as high as they are in part because these jobs carry a fair amount of risk that coincides with very, very high rewards. One of the risks that is greater now than ever, and will only become more so as salaries continue to escalate, is that you won't get a long time to prove yourself. The tradeoff for bearing that risk, which almost every coaching contract now incorporates in one way or another, is that if you do get fired other than for cause (very narrowly defined, at that), you end up getting a substantial percentage of your salary for the balance of the contract, free and clear and without regard to what you might earn elsewhere.
In Todd Lickliter's case, that is enough money that if he didn't want to, he probably wouldn't have to work another day in his life.
Also worth noting is that there is nothing on Todd Lickliter's contract that would have prevented him from walking away from this job to take another without any penalty whatsoever. So, in many respects, the deal is very one-sided in favor of the coach.
This is the deal he made: Iowa has the right to terminate him without cause at any time, and in exchange he accepts $2.4 million over the next three years. The standard is evolving in college sports, and not surprisingly so, that there are no guarantees that a university won't sit and wait several years for results, when the stakes are that high on both sides.
If what has been reported about what Barta learned in player meetings is true, I think Lickliter's termination was warranted regardless of how much he makes, how much he will be paid in severance, or how long he'd been on the job. But no matter what the circumstances, Iowa is simply acting in accordance with the deal it make with Coach Lickliter, and he has to live with it, too.
And live rather well, I might add.
But here's the real bottom line: Those who say we shouldn't be focused on how much a coach makes are missing a very key point. Coaching salaries are as high as they are in part because these jobs carry a fair amount of risk that coincides with very, very high rewards. One of the risks that is greater now than ever, and will only become more so as salaries continue to escalate, is that you won't get a long time to prove yourself. The tradeoff for bearing that risk, which almost every coaching contract now incorporates in one way or another, is that if you do get fired other than for cause (very narrowly defined, at that), you end up getting a substantial percentage of your salary for the balance of the contract, free and clear and without regard to what you might earn elsewhere.
In Todd Lickliter's case, that is enough money that if he didn't want to, he probably wouldn't have to work another day in his life.
Also worth noting is that there is nothing on Todd Lickliter's contract that would have prevented him from walking away from this job to take another without any penalty whatsoever. So, in many respects, the deal is very one-sided in favor of the coach.
This is the deal he made: Iowa has the right to terminate him without cause at any time, and in exchange he accepts $2.4 million over the next three years. The standard is evolving in college sports, and not surprisingly so, that there are no guarantees that a university won't sit and wait several years for results, when the stakes are that high on both sides.
If what has been reported about what Barta learned in player meetings is true, I think Lickliter's termination was warranted regardless of how much he makes, how much he will be paid in severance, or how long he'd been on the job. But no matter what the circumstances, Iowa is simply acting in accordance with the deal it make with Coach Lickliter, and he has to live with it, too.
And live rather well, I might add.
