John Canzano in the Oregonian, here:
“A high-ranking UO athletic department source told me in February that the sides were involved in a serious discussions. Cristobal’s agent was in regular contact with Oregon AD Rob Mullens. I expected a long-term deal to be announced in March or April at the latest, but then a pandemic hit.
Oregon instead announced a hiring freeze in April. University president Michael Schill took a 12% reduction in his pay. Mullens and Cristobal voluntarily cut their own pay by 10% in a show of solidarity and fiscal responsibility.
Cristobal’s current contract would pay him $2.7 million this season. It makes him the No. 57 highest-paid coach in the country. He ranks 11th among the Pac-12′s dozen head football coaches, ahead of only Oregon State’s Jonathan Smith ($2.4 million). The Ducks coach needs a raise and extension. I’m told by insiders that the plan is to get him one in the coming months.”
hmm, 300 Large to Cristobal …
Someone who makes $2.7 million dollars a year to exploit young men doesn’t need a raise…what they need is some of those young men to ‘knock them out’!
What happened to “shared sacrifices”???
People criticize football coach salaries, not realizing how precarious the job is and how much revenue is at stake. I mean, sure, the contracts spell out how any coach that is fired will continue to be paid millions for years after leaving a job…sometimes even after being hired and fired at a second position, but doesn’t that just go to show just how precarious the job is? Most people don’t get fired after failing, and certainly not “at will”…right? And ok, so much of the revenue is coming in through media contracts that pay out regardless of performance to an individual coach in the conference, but it is a uniquely challenging job and they are just getting “market value” if you pretend that pure capitalism involves being able to take tuition dollars to subsidize athletics whenever needed.
1. I would like to see a study that shows how much revenue comes from media contracts (compared to donors, ticket sales, seat licenses in sky boxes) for college football. And earlier discussion on this forum suggests that this is much less than people think for college football. Definitely not true for the NFL.
2. Yes market capitalism run amock produces spirals that get it out of control – such as is the case for college football coaches that make, generally, significantly more money than college presidents. I also think that for both Washington and Oregon, the head football coach is the highest paid state employee.
3. Why don’t we just cap head football coach salary across the county at 1M? (what they make beyond that in terms of commercial endorsements is fine and the by product of capitalism)
The Pac12 may have a pathetic media payout. I read the Big10 gives $54 million for football media rights to each member school.
Capping salaries would probably generate some anti-trust action. I think NCAA should just mandate that athletics pay the university $10 million a year for rights to the university name, not take any more money from poor students, and then let market forces work themselves out. I don’t care that a coach makes a lot of money, but I do care when that is part of a system adding debt to students working night shifts.
The P12 indeed does have a bad payout when compared to the other four “Power 5” conferences. It seemed good at the time the league went to 12 and they announced the P12 Network and the multibillion, multiyear rights deals Fox/ESPN. Then the TV network operations ate most of it. Very little of the promised money made its way to the campuses. And that’s on the ADs and the Presidents – who also, coincidently, have obscene salaries. Since they are the boss, make their pay commensurate with the balance sheets. Run the department(s) in the black, and then, only then, can we talk performance bonuses. Or raises.
A real, accurate balance sheet for football is in order, particularly given the current precarious economic conditions. How much money, in total, does the university pay to support football? That’s including all the expenses of the Athletic Department, but also the maintenance of facilities, the expenses of staff for the Jock Box, etc. Then look at the revenue and let us know whether football is making a profit for UO or contributing to the university’s losses. I agree on a salary cap for coaches, and college presidents.
When asked for a comment about his potential raise in response to the recent layoffs, Cristobal reportedly responded “suck it, nerds.”