tmh8286 Posted January 13, 2007 Share Posted January 13, 2007 Congratulations on your engagement, gold*. I'm not really up on the coaching search protocol to know how normal or abnormal the process actually was. It seems to me as an outsider that it went off rather smoothly. The only potential problem that I've heard is the fact that your new coach came from a conference rival. But I really don't see how that is that big a deal, really. The money WAS a surprise. I think that Al Jerkins said on the radio yesterday that Coach K was making $450,000. They more than doubled that to get Graham. Someone asked Al if he thought Kragthorpe would have stayed for the larger sum, but Al didn't think so. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gold* Posted January 13, 2007 Share Posted January 13, 2007 Al must have been on wrong on K's base salary. It was definitely more than that and I had had been told near a million a year. I've heard from my people that this is basically Kragthorpe's contract. Also, keep in mind that the $1.1 mill was reported by the Houston CHRONICle, not the World. Not sure how the Houston paper would get it unless they talked to Graham or the Rice people. It likely wasn't Graham (TU gags the coaches on that), so it must be the Rice people. If so, a pox on them. The Rice fans are mad. We were ticked when Buzz left, but we never attacked the Tennessee fans. TU plays at Rice in football next year -- I might have to make that one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tmh8286 Posted January 13, 2007 Share Posted January 13, 2007 Maybe the $450K was the base salary, with the rest coming from camps and other various contracts, like it does with basketball coaches. If that's the case, then the number Al gave is misleading - not comparing apples to apples. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ORUTerry Posted January 13, 2007 Share Posted January 13, 2007 Agree that the Rice - TU game should be very interesting next year. Graham took the team to a bowl IN HIS FIRST YEAR.... something that the Owls had not done in 45 years. And just two days after he signed a contract extension. You can kinda understand why Rice might be a little upset - especially since he left to go to a conference rival. Oh well, all's fair in love and war.... and football/basketball. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Titan Posted March 18, 2007 Author Share Posted March 18, 2007 I see TU as no different than Gonzaga -- if anything, CUSA should get more bids than the WCC. I'll find you the article that said Tulsa was Gonzaga before there was a Gonzaga from last year. Even if CUSA only gets one bid (I think it will get at worst two this year), that doesn't mean Wojcik is somehow discouraged from staying. For the record: C-USA gets one bid (Memphis) for NCAA, zero for NIT. And if the poor attendance at the C-USA tournament in Memphis is any indication, there's a real lack enthusiasm for the current league line-up among its member schools, and college basketball fans in general. If Memphis bolts, this league (at least for now) becomes the SunBelt overnight. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gold* Posted March 18, 2007 Share Posted March 18, 2007 It's still a better conference than the WAC, even without Memphis. The CUSA tournament attendance was bad. No excuse. That said, Memphis isn't going anywhere. The SEC doesn't want them because they stink at football most years and because Tennessee would riot. The Big East can't really take anyone else and they were left out because of football. Only possible scenario is that Arkansas joins the Big 12 (not going to happen) and then the SEC needs another member. Calipari wants to be at non-BCS league. If he really wanted out, he could have taken any of the BCS jobs over the last few years. For some reason, he thinks he can win consistently in CUSA. Last year, CUSA had two bids. Do you have evidence to the contrary? Most years, I think this league will get two bids at least. While CUSA got one bid, the average RPI jumped like 80-100 points. Calipari made a big deal that the league was better this year. I think it will continue to get better, with coaches like Davis, Eustachy, and Doherty. This Wojcik guy is pretty good, too. I think there is also a great deal of enthusiasm among the fans. For sure, it is a football league first. And this all stands in contrast to your original sub-argument that Wojcik is gone once he wins 20 and makes the tournament and the other poster's argument that TU can't pay a football coach (which was blown out of the water). I don't think Wojcik will take the first job that opens. I think he'll leave for the right job, like Tubby and Self. I could see him eventually replacing Skip Prosser at Wake Forest. And if we somehow win the Rotnei Clarke sweepstakes, I think he'll stay awhile -- he has to give every assurance of staying awhile in that scenario and Woj is a man of his word. Conference standings are fleeting. When TU left the Valley, that league was a total joke. A little over a decade later, it's a power again. CUSA has made a similar effort to get schools to boost their schedule and programs. The league has several proven coaches. I think it will be fine. No matter the case, TU is way, way, way better off than it was in the old Valley and a D-1a football independent. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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