The cost of a coaching change in the cutthroat SEC

[aubiefifty 18,231]

al.com

The cost of a coaching change in the cutthroat SEC

By Tom Green | tgreen@al.com

10-13 minutes

Gus Malzahn turned his visor backward and let loose in the visiting locker room at Davis Wade Stadium.

It had the feel of a momentous celebration — like the aftermath of a rivalry win or a championship game. Except it was neither of those, rather a 24-10 win against Mississippi State to close a regular season unlike any the Tigers experienced before, and one that ended with a disappointing 6-4 record.

While it showed a side of Malzahn not often seen outside of closed doors over the last eight years, it was also representative of where the program was at that point of his tenure. The Tigers were seven seasons removed from playing for a national title, and it had been three more since they won the SEC West. There were those remarkable highs and confounding lows, like the 0-12 road record against Auburn’s three biggest rivals.

Things felt stale, and it was time for a change. Approximately 14 hours after his postgame dance moves went viral online, Malzahn was out as Auburn’s head coach.

Athletics director Allen Greene announced Dec. 13 that Auburn was making a change at the top of its football program and that a national search was underway to bring in a coach “that can help the Auburn program consistently compete at the highest level.” That change was going to come at a cost, though, between the hefty buyout owed to Malzahn — who just completed the third season of a seven-year, $49 million contract to stay at Auburn — and his staff, as well as the financial investment of bringing in an entirely new coaching staff.

Now, more than three months after Auburn hired Bryan Harsin as Malzahn’s replacement and more than two months after his inaugural staff was completed, we can put a price tag on what it takes to overhaul a coaching staff and stay competitive in the most cutthroat conference in college football. According to documents obtained by AL.com through multiple public records requests, Auburn’s decision to make a coaching change will cost more than $73 million when accounting for the full value of the new staff’s contracts and the buyouts due to Malzahn and his former assistants.

It’s a reflection of how much coaching contracts and buyouts have exploded in major college football in the last decade, including when Auburn last made such a change in its program. The decision to fire Gene Chizik, two years removed from a national title and following a 3-9 season, to hire Malzahn cost the program $28.92 million. Auburn owed Chizik and his staff $8.78 million in buyouts, while the hiring of Malzahn and his full staff of on-field assistants to their original contracts totaled $20.14 million, according to AL.com records.

This program makeover was considerably more costly, thanks both to substantial buyouts owed to members of the previous staff as well as the increased cost of hiring new coaches in today’s college landscape.

Auburn is still on the hook for $27,347,000 owed to Malzahn and former assistants after several of them saw their buyouts offset after being hired at other programs. The Tigers owe Malzahn $21.45 million — equal to 75 percent of the money remaining on his contract at the time of his termination — half of which was due within a month of him being fired and the rest doled out in four equal annual installments. That amount is not subject to being offset by his salary at UCF thanks to the language in the seven-year, $49 million contract he signed at the end of the 2017 season.

Auburn also owes a combined $5.32 million to former coordinators Kevin Steele and Chad Morris. Steele is set to earn $4.1 million in buyout money from Auburn over the next two years after the $5 million remaining on his deal was offset by his brief tenure on Tennessee’s staff earlier this year. Morris, who was recently named the head coach at Texas prep powerhouse Allen High, had $1.47 million remaining over the final two years of his Auburn contract, but that amount will be offset by his salary at Allen, where he will make $124,000 annually the next two years, according to the Dallas Morning News.

Another $125,000 is owed to former wide receivers coach Kodi Burns, whose recent hiring at Tennessee will save Auburn $300,000. Rodney Garner’s Auburn buyout was also offset by his hiring at Tennessee, while Jack Bicknell is due $75,000 after seeing hit buyout reduced upon accepting the offensive line job at Louisville. Bicknell had one year remaining on a deal worth $500,000 annually at Auburn, and in February was hired at Louisville, where he will earn $425,000 this year, according to a copy of the contract obtained by AL.com. Pogue, who was owed $375,000 by Auburn for the upcoming season, will have that amount offset by his salary at Troy, where he was hired as cornerbacks coach in February. Pogue’s salary at Troy is not known, as Troy did not respond to multiple AL.com public records requests.

Auburn did not owe buyouts to Travis Williams, Larry Porter or Wesley McGriff, whose contracts expired and were not renewed. Even if Pogue’s entire buyout is negated by his salary at Troy, Auburn would still owe the previous staff $26,972,000 in buyout payments.

After a nine-day coaching search and behind-the-scenes battle over who would lead the next era of Auburn football, Harsin was named the Tigers’ next head coach on Dec. 23, making the jump to the SEC following a successful seven-year stint at Boise State. Harsin, who earned just north of $1.7 million last season with the Broncos, agreed to a six-year deal with an average salary of $5.25 million per year to take the reins at Auburn.

Harsin will earn $5 million in his first season with the Tigers and receive a $100,000 raise in each of the remaining five years of his deal, according to a copy of the contract obtained by AL.com through a public records request. His contract would make him among the top-15 highest-paid coaches in college football and in the top half of head coaches in the SEC, based on data from the 2020 season compiled by USA Today. Harsin can also earn up to $1,275,000 in on- and off-field performance bonuses annually.

Not only did Harsin see his annual salary increase threefold by accepting the job at Auburn, but his six-year deal — worth a total of $31.5 million through Dec. 31, 2026 — also includes a 70 percent buyout with no offsetting language. That’s comparable to the 75 percent guaranteed on Malzahn’s last contract with the program.

Once Greene prevailed and lured Harsin from the Mountain West, the Tigers’ new coach spent the ensuing 36 days meticulously putting together his inaugural staff. Harsin brought in a mix of experienced SEC veterans, assistants with both coordinator and head coaching experience, up-and-comers in the industry, those with NFL coaching experience, as well as some who previously worked under him at Boise State.

The construction of that staff of 10 on-field assistants, plus a strength and conditioning coach and a newly minted “chief of staff” will cost Auburn $7,070,000 in salary this year, according to documents obtained through public records requests. For the duration of those contracts — which span from one to three years — Auburn will dole out $14.86 million to those 12 staffers.

Of that total, $6.9 million is set to go to Auburn’s new coordinators. Offensive coordinator Mike Bobo, the lone assistant to be given a three-year contract, will earn $1.3 million per year for the duration of his deal. Defensive coordinator Derek Mason, the former Vanderbilt head coach, will earn $1.5 million per year over the next two seasons.

Auburn is also allotting $2.8 million over the next two seasons to its offensive and defensive line coaches. Offensive line coach Will Friend and defensive line coach Nick Eason are the two highest-paid non-coordinators on Harsin’s inaugural staff, with each signed to two-year contracts worth $700,000 annually.

Friend, who coached at Tennessee last season and came to Auburn after a brief stint at South Carolina this offseason, will be among the top-10 highest paid offensive line coaches in the country next season. Eason, meanwhile, was the final addition to Harsin’s coaching staff, joining the program Jan. 27 shortly after Tracy Rocker — announced as defensive line coach Jan. 14 — left for a position with the NFL’s Philadelphia Eagles. That late staff change wound up costing Auburn an additional $25,000 each of the next two seasons, as Rocker agreed to a two-year deal worth $675,000 annually to return to his alma before his abrupt departure for the NFL, according to a document obtained by AL.com in response to a public records request.

Running backs coach Cadillac Williams, the lone holdover from the previous staff, has a contract that runs through January 2022 and will earn $350,000 this season. The remainder of the coaching staff includes inside linebackers coach/defensive run game coordinator Jeff Schmedding ($500,000 annually over the next two years, outside linebackers coach/special teams coordinator Bert Watts ($425,000 per year on a two-year deal), tight ends coach Brad Bedell ($350,000 annually on a two-year contract), cornerbacks coach Zac Etheridge ($315,000 per year over two seasons) and wide receivers coach Cornelius Williams ($300,000 per year on a two-year deal).

Then there are Harsin’s two major off-field hires, strength coach Jeff Pitman and football chief of staff Brad Larrondo, who were his first two staff additions in early January after previously working with him at Boise State the last six seasons. Pitman, who also worked with Harsin at Arkansas State in 2013, is on a two-year deal worth $400,000 annually, while Larrondo — who serves as Harsin’s right-hand man and oversees the football support staff, among other duties — will earn $230,000 this year.

It adds up to $73,707,000, minus the offset of Pogue’s contract at Troy. That’s a substantial financial investment for Auburn to renovate its football program from the top down in an effort to consistently compete for championships.

Whether the rate of return will be worth it for Auburn is a question that won’t have an immediate answer, but between the cost of the coaching staff change and the $91.9 million price tag for the new Football Performance Center set to be completed next summer, Auburn is making what it believes to be the requisite expenditures to keep the football program relevant on the national scene.

That’s just the current cost of staying competitive in the cutthroat SEC.

Tom Green is an Auburn beat reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @Tomas_Verde.

[TigerHorn 1,384]

Higher Ed is broken. I don't even understand what the point is of BB players taking classes with the present transfer system. There is no way you can get a semblance of an education changing Universities every year and leaving the system in 1-2. Football is headed the same way. And we raise and spend this kind of money on coaches. I love AU sports as much as anyone, but there is no way you can convince me that this money couldn't have gone to something better within the AU community. How many scholarships and endowed chairs would that have funded?

[Hank2020 3,355]

14 minutes ago, TigerHorn said:

Higher Ed is broken. I don't even understand what the point is of BB players taking classes with the present transfer system. There is no way you can get a semblance of an education changing Universities every year and leaving the system in 1-2. Football is headed the same way. And we raise and spend this kind of money on coaches. I love AU sports as much as anyone, but there is no way you can convince me that this money couldn't have gone to something better within the AU community. How many scholarships and endowed chairs would that have funded?

As long as I get to watch AU football I’m good with it!!

[DAG 34,754]

21 minutes ago, TigerHorn said:

Higher Ed is broken. I don't even understand what the point is of BB players taking classes with the present transfer system. There is no way you can get a semblance of an education changing Universities every year and leaving the system in 1-2. Football is headed the same way. And we raise and spend this kind of money on coaches. I love AU sports as much as anyone, but there is no way you can convince me that this money couldn't have gone to something better within the AU community. How many scholarships and endowed chairs would that have funded?

The money invested into the football team brings money to the community. I am not even someone completely okay with it but that is economics 101. The money spent on Giannis will influence a lot of businesses around metro Milwaukee. That is the way it goes. 

[TigerHorn 1,384]

12 hours ago, DAG said:

The money invested into the football team brings money to the community. I am not even someone completely okay with it but that is economics 101. The money spent on Giannis will influence a lot of businesses around metro Milwaukee. That is the way it goes. 

I've been closely involved with community economic incentive programs on the business side unrelated to sports, I get that aspect. At some point though, there is a line to be crossed and I think we're either right at that line or already across it. But Auburn UNIVERSITY is just that, a institution of higher learning with the mission to economically impact the state and its taxpayers through education, not football. Per the Creed, athletics was always meant to be a PART of the experience, but only a PART. It's becoming a dominant part. 

[DAG 34,754]

6 minutes ago, TigerHorn said:

I've been closely involved with community economic incentive programs on the business side unrelated to sports, I get that aspect. At some point though, there is a line to be crossed and I think we're either right at that line or already across it. But Auburn UNIVERSITY is just that, a institution of higher learning with the mission to economically impact the state and its taxpayers through education, not football. Per the Creed, athletics was always meant to be a PART of the experience, but only a PART. It's becoming a dominant part. 

Auburn university is a business that takes part in academic and athletic opportunity . Once people realize this, the better people will be. I thought COVID made this blatantly obvious. And correct football is a big part of Auburn Culture and a benefactor of football is it brings in a lot more interest in the university: academically, socially and athletically. Tuscaloosa didn’t just get interesting all of a sudden because of their law program. 

[WDE_OxPx_2010 5,473]

On 4/5/2021 at 10:28 AM, aubiefifty said:

According to documents obtained by AL.com through multiple public records requests, Auburn’s decision to make a coaching change will cost more than $73 million when accounting for the full value of the new staff’s contracts and the buyouts due to Malzahn and his former assistants.

Worth every penny.

[W.E.D 11,071]

15 hours ago, TigerHorn said:

Higher Ed is broken. I don't even understand what the point is of BB players taking classes with the present transfer system. There is no way you can get a semblance of an education changing Universities every year and leaving the system in 1-2. Football is headed the same way. And we raise and spend this kind of money on coaches. I love AU sports as much as anyone, but there is no way you can convince me that this money couldn't have gone to something better within the AU community. How many scholarships and endowed chairs would that have funded?

Higher Education is not broken.

The idea that college players are students first is a notion that is broken.  They aren't students 1st when there is hundreds of millions of dollars at stake.

[AUApostle 7,759]

Quote

According to documents obtained by AL.com through multiple public records requests, Auburn’s decision to make a coaching change will cost more than $73 million when accounting for the full value of the new staff’s contracts and the buyouts due to Malzahn and his former assistants.

Misleading statement.  The coaching change did not cost us $73 mil...we would be paying for each of the coaching positions whether Gus or Bryan was here.  The only number that truly counts is the buy-out amount of the staff...that's money that is going to nothing of value currently.

[mickeyspano 45]

26 minutes ago, AUDevil said:

Misleading statement.  The coaching change did not cost us $73 mil...we would be paying for each of the coaching positions whether Gus or Bryan was here.  The only number that truly counts is the buy-out amount of the staff...that's money that is going to nothing of value currently.

Correct. You cannot count both. My grandpappy always told me there are three kinds of lies in this world.  Lies, damn lies, and statistics. Looks like Al.com is using # 3 to try to support # 2. Typical.

[IronMan70 3,322]

47 minutes ago, mickeyspano said:

Correct. You cannot count both. My grandpappy always told me there are three kinds of lies in this world.  Lies, damn lies, and statistics. Looks like Al.com is using # 3 to try to support # 2. Typical.

Yep, $27.3 million not $73 million. To put it another way, Al.com sucks. 

[TigerHorn 1,384]

4 hours ago, W.E.D said:

Higher Education is not broken.

The idea that college players are students first is a notion that is broken.  They aren't students 1st when there is hundreds of millions of dollars at stake.

Thanks for making my point. 

[Tigerbelle 5,299]

6 hours ago, DAG said:

Auburn university is a business that takes part in academic and athletic opportunity . Once people realize this, the better people will be. I thought COVID made this blatantly obvious. And correct football is a big part of Auburn Culture and a benefactor of football is it brings in a lot more interest in the university: academically, socially and athletically. Tuscaloosa didn’t just get interesting all of a sudden because of their law program. 

Tucaloosa is still not interesting.....

[AUpreacherman22 3,945]

18 hours ago, AUDevil said:

Misleading statement.  The coaching change did not cost us $73 mil...we would be paying for each of the coaching positions whether Gus or Bryan was here.  The only number that truly counts is the buy-out amount of the staff...that's money that is going to nothing of value currently.

Im glad someone beat me to it.  Thanks @AUDevil   $27+mil is still a boatload of money and many of the points are still valid.  But to say the coaching change cost $73mil is just plain false.  
The higher education system is certainly flawed, but I don’t think it’s in as bad of shape as “journalism” is.  Our media is a disaster of epic proportions!

[Hay Field 101 660]

22 hours ago, WDE_OxPx_2010 said:

Worth every penny.

Hell Yes !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!