Massive buyouts show college programs aren’t changing, even during a pandemic
When it first became obvious the coronavirus pandemic would make a major dent in the bank accounts of most college athletic programs, the thinking was some financial soul-searching would be in order.
Turns out, that thinking was wrong.
Turns out, old habits are hard to break.
Sunday headline: South Carolina fires head coach Will Muschamp despite owing him a $13.2 million buyout.
Tuesday headline: Wichita State parts ways with Gregg Marshall, agreeing to pay the now former head basketball coach $7.75 million.
In Marshall’s case, the coach agreed to resign after a three-month investigation into allegations he had physically and verbally abused Wichita State players and an assistant coach. In exchange, the university agreed to pay Marshall half of the $15 million buyout clause in his contract.
In his resignation statement, Marshall denied any wrongdoing, yet there had to be a reason why the university decided to part ways with a coach who took the Shockers to the Final Four in 2013. And according to Taylor Eldridge of the Wichita Eagle, Marshall’s seven-year contract renewed at the completion of each season at $3.5 million per year for another seven years.
So why didn’t Wichita State just fire Marshall with cause, meaning it wouldn’t have to pay any of the buyout?
“While you’re trying to prove that, you have to pay him until you can make your case,” sports attorney William Robers told Eldridge, “In addition, if they terminated him for cause, they would have had to give him a hearing. (WSU) likely didn’t want that publicity.”
But would Marshall really want the publicity of a public hearing in which the findings of Wichita State’s investigation — findings the school says will remain confidential — were aired for all, including potential future employers, to hear and see?
Instead, the school was OK with the publicity of paying a coach who allegedly struck a player $7.5 million to go away.
As for Muschamp, the coach now has the distinction of being fired by not one but two SEC East schools. Florida fired “Coach Boom” near the end of the 2014 season after going 28-21 in Gainesville. Then in 2016, South Carolina gave Muschamp a second SEC shot.
There was some thinking that COVID-19 would afford coaches a mulligan for 2020. After all, how can you judge a coach’s performance in the midst of all the off-the-field protocols and lack of preseason practice, not to mention an unusual and punishing 10-game league schedule? After all, this season is not even close to your normal football season.
After a 59-42 loss to Ole Miss last Saturday dropped the Gamecocks to 2-5 and Muschamp to 28-30 in Columbia, South Carolina had seen enough apparently. The good news: The school had reduced Muschamp’s 15 million buyout in its last contract negotiation with the coach. The bad news: USC still owes Muschamp $13.2 million.
In the middle of the coronavirus economic crisis, can a school afford to pay an eight-figure buyout? Aren’t schools across the country dropping sports because of the financial pinch? Well-heeled donors will no doubt foot the bill for the school’s commitment to its now former coach. And those rationalizing South Carolina’s decision claim that if Muschamp returned for 2021, apathy among the fan base might actually cost the school more.
Still, couldn’t the money from those well-heeled donors help in other areas affected by the pandemic? After all, as Josh Kendall of The Athletic reported, despite being projected to fall $40 million short of its normal operating budget, South Carolina will pay Muschamp $270,000 per month for the next 49 months.
And yet, the NCAA has the gall to go before Congress claiming it doesn’t have the money to pay athletes, and that allowing athletes to profit off name, image and likeness agreements is not in line with its values and would deprive institutions of much-needed funds.
Meanwhile, South Carolina football and Wichita State basketball will go out and sign new coaches to contracts that pay millions and buyouts that guarantee millions more.
For those of us who thought the pandemic might change some of those things, looks like we were mistaken.
