Iowa Extends Kirk Ferentz's Contract

[SpiderRico]

I'm not sure where this whole "he still has 5 years left on his contract" stuff is coming from that I've seen multiple times in this thread. His current contract expires on 1/31/2020, which by my math is about 3 years and 4 months. Even if counting "seasons", he only has 4 seasons left on his contract (2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019). There has already been negative recruiting happening this year based on the length left on his contract, so it needed to be addressed one way or another.

There's always 2 schools of thoughts to contracts....either leave them shorter which gives Term flexibility to the party making the contract if services/performance start to fall short, but it leaves you vulnerable to market conditions from a Fee/Salary standpoint each time you have to amend/renegotiate; or make them longer, which makes you vulnerable to performance issues and potential buyout issues, but allows the contracting party to lock in at current market conditions, which could be favorable if the market for said services is continuing to go up (which it is). In the end, for me, as long as the buyout clause has been fixed to be a little more reasonable, then I'm good with locking Coach up until he's 70.

If the University wanted to go out and find a candidate today that had, at a minimum, won 2 Power 5 conference championships, participated in 3 BCS-level bowls (winning one), finished in the Top 10 in 5 different years, had won 2 Nat'l COY awards and 4 Conference COY awards, maintained a graduation rate in the 80% range, and had never been sanctioned by the NCAA, I wonder a) if those minimum qualifications even exist in the market that would even sniff Iowa, and b) if they did, what would it cost us?

I think when you factor in not only the record setting season in 2015, but the recruiting momentum as well (2017 class is shaping up to be Top 25 and it's becoming obvious that the 2016 class was way under-rated), we're getting a pretty decent deal in my opinion. Especially when you factor in the gargantuan increase in revenue that will be coming in from the new media rights package.

 

[Thawki]

I'm waiting for the buyout numbers before making judgment on this contract. There's no question that we've had a pattern of a really good year followed by multiple years for mediocrity.

I am willing to bet any buyout beyond 2020 would be for an amount that would be equal to the sort of bonus a guy in his position gets when he retires from a position like that after spending 20+ years in that position. In other words, there is noting that locks us into anything. Period.

Anyone that is losing sleep over this, until they see the fine print of the buyout, is wasting their time.

 

[Mrke1]

I am willing to bet any buyout beyond 2020 would be for an amount that would be equal to the sort of bonus a guy in his position gets when he retires from a position like that after spending 20+ years in that position. In other words, there is noting that locks us into anything. Period.

Anyone that is losing sleep over this, until they see the fine print of the buyout, is wasting their time.

Buyout is $30 million according to Moorehouse.

In other words, Kirk is untouchable yet again. What I feared most.

 

[Not4cy]

Buyout is $30 million according to Moorehouse.

In other words, Kirk is untouchable yet again. What I feared most.

His buyout remains at 75% of his salary. His salary is $4.5M over the next 10 years or $45,000,000. If Kirk is fired today without cause, his buyout would be $33,750,000.

 

[guffus]

$4.5M a year. That's about a 10% bump in pay, which is a bigger raise than I got last year, but not that big of bump for college football head coaches.

As outrageous as it sounds, pretty soon, $4.5M will be the the middle of the pack in the BigTen.

 

[SpiderRico]

His buyout remains at 75% of his salary. His salary is $4.5M over the next 10 years or $45,000,000. If Kirk is fired today without cause, his buyout would be $33,750,000.

If true, then that is absolutely a$$inine! You don't give a coach who will is 61 years old and has made, approximately, $40M in his 18 year head coaching tenure at the University, a buyout worth north of $30M. Why would Barta agree to that? And why would the President sign off on that? I realize that the funds that are used to pay the coaching salaries are not coming from public funds, but the fact of that matter is that both Barta and Harreld have backed the football program, which is always bigger than one person, into a complete corner and put all their chips on one person. I don't fault Ferentz at all for the contract....you bargain for what you can get. But, honestly, if this is the case and Barta and Harreld both signed off on that, then they should be terminated.

 

[westender]

One thing to keep in mind that is Brian likely wants to be the coach at Iowa. Kirk can't end up messing that up, so I don't think Kirk would just hang around to soak up as much cash as possible without getting results or waiting for a buyout. Could Brian make some cash as coach somewhere else, probably so, but I believe he would want to be here. Grew up here and his wife is from around here.

 

[HawkPrdatr40]

After last season KF leaves when he says so.. That's a fact Jack..

 

[Hawk1960]

$4.5M a year. That's about a 10% bump in pay, which is a bigger raise than I got last year, but not that big of bump for college football head coaches.

As outrageous as it sounds, pretty soon, $4.5M will be the the middle of the pack in the BigTen.

I think you are right ... this amount will be middle of the pack half way through the contract ... especially with the additional cash coming with the new B1G TV deal, which is driven primarily by football. Even James Franklin at Penn State made $4.4M last year and what did he do? I have no problem keeping our football coach compensated in the top 3-5 in the B1G. I can understand those complaining about the buyout % however ... 75% is rather steep. Just keep winning and we won't have to worry about that.

 

[hawkinn3]

If next years class is as good as advertised, the next 4 years will be special.

 

[ohhawk]

I've been on both sides of this Ferentz issue over the years.......typical fan? I remind myself that I don't have to look beyond the BIG 10 to find many programs still looking for the magical head coach after being faced with change at this position. Unless you have the tradition and recruiting ability of a Meyer or Harbaugh it looks like a crap shoot for finding success with any new replacement.

 

[OUTofTOWNHAWK]

Wow they never learn.

 

[Motigerhawk]

Why?
I was looking forward to him retiring when his youngest graduated.

No Tom Herman for us.

 

[BlindDogScooter]

This is just dumb IMO. Two years ago everyone wanted him fired.. And now one good season with a weak-as-can-be schedule that ended in a blowout loss in the Rose Bowl and he's given an extension with 5 years left on his current contract. What kind of business are they running down there?

One that nets an enormous amount of profit...

 

[BlindDogScooter]

If true, then that is absolutely a$$inine! You don't give a coach who will is 61 years old and has made, approximately, $40M in his 18 year head coaching tenure at the University, a buyout worth north of $30M. Why would Barta agree to that? And why would the President sign off on that? I realize that the funds that are used to pay the coaching salaries are not coming from public funds, but the fact of that matter is that both Barta and Harreld have backed the football program, which is always bigger than one person, into a complete corner and put all their chips on one person. I don't fault Ferentz at all for the contract....you bargain for what you can get. But, honestly, if this is the case and Barta and Harreld both signed off on that, then they should be terminated.

It's only North of $30M if they fire him today. What do you think the odds are of that happening?

 

[BlindDogScooter]

Wow they never learn.

Sure they did. They learned that guys with Kirk's overall track record on and off the field are very rare and very expensive when you find one.

 

[tksirius]

I doubt Kirk will want to coach more than 5 or 6 more seasons.

 

[Jonrn]

I think this is more of a situation where ferentz actually runs the athletic department. Gary barta is a pawn. Of course harrald approved the deal as a former business man. The football program turns a good profit with Kirk as CEO, that's the definition of success in the business world. It's not w and L's, it's $$$$.

I heard an interview on the finebaum show with the AD of Texas AM, which is a huge department. Pawl asked him how he deals with the coaches especially Kevin sumlin. He basically said he can't act lien sumlin a boss when he's making 6x as much as him. He works "with" sumlin on a "few" things. It's a tail wagging the dog situation in major departments. Basically barta has no play and no negotiating power.

 

[OUTofTOWNHAWK]

A year ago everyone knew that Iowa was handcuffed to Kirk. One season and they do it again. Good coach or not it was stupid. If you have watched Iowa football for more than a year it's really stupid.

 

[Thawki]

I think this is more of a situation where ferentz actually runs the athletic department. Gary barta is a pawn. Of course harrald approved the deal as a former business man. The football program turns a good profit with Kirk as CEO, that's the definition of success in the business world. It's not w and L's, it's $$$$.

I heard an interview on the finebaum show with the AD of Texas AM, which is a huge department. Pawl asked him how he deals with the coaches especially Kevin sumlin. He basically said he can't act lien sumlin a boss when he's making 6x as much as him. He works "with" sumlin on a "few" things. It's a tail wagging the dog situation in major departments. Basically barta has no play and no negotiating power.

I disagree with the last part of what you said. The AD/University has plenty of leverage in certain areas like contract negotiations and how the athletic department (which the football team is a part of) functions.

Yes, the AD pretty much lets the coach be a CEO over what he does. But if you let them do ANYTHING they want, then you have things happen like what went on with the Baylor basketball program years ago or any program Kelvin Sampson was a part of. It is a balancing act, but the AD does have power. It doesn't surprise me, though, that an AD from Texas said that. He may or may not mean it. ADs are usually pretty controlling types in their own right.

Back to this scenario, though. KF was the one that needed something in this instance. We actually had leverage in a couple of ways. He probably wants to pave the way for his son to succeed him. Therefore I don't think he could afford to be unreasonable in his demands. He also is the one that needs at least a five-year deal to protect against negative recruiting. Yes, the program/University needed it, but it is his success that is impaired if he doesn't get it. But I think seal, figure he will not leave Iowa for another job, so why give him a ten-year deal? Negative recruiting will be there as each year passes just based upon his age, so you could say the longer term is irrelevant for that purpose.

All in all, though, he probably damages the chances of his son getting the job when he leaves if he doesn't leave in a MUTUALLY agreeable way. So maybe that is the ultimate leverage, so that the buyout is irrelevant, if there is a handshake agreement under the table anyway.