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LIKE IT IS : The waiting is over; UA finds its man in Grobe Published: Thursday, December 06, 2007 PRINT E-MAIL It will be a few days, maybe weeks, before all the details are released about Jim Grobe’s financial package as the head coach of the Arkansas Razorbacks. But one thing is certain, and it is not limited to the UA: College athletics is a bad business model. Just four years ago when Nick Saban and LSU won a share of the national championship, his contract called for him to be the highest-paid college coach in the country if he won the big title. Saban’s salary jumped to $ 2. 5 million per year. Now that seems to be an average salary for coaches in BCS conferences, although it should be noted Saban still sets the curve at $ 4 million a year.
Professors, the real educators, make a fraction of what coaches do. Schools wisely have tried to protect their coaching investments with big buyouts if a coach gets another offer. The $ 6 million the UA would have had to pay Auburn to hire Tommy Tuberville apparently was a stumbling block John White just couldn’t get over. Instead of hiring Tuberville, the UA got him a raise. Butch Davis and Tommy Bowden, too. Jimbo Fisher, too, and three of those four (all but Bowden ) are represented by agent Jimmy Sexton. Sexton is the one who negotiated better deals long before contracts had expired. He also negotiated a reported $ 1. 9 million per year for Houston Nutt at Ole Miss, or approximately a cool million more than Ed Orgeron was being paid by the Rebels. Sexton does his job, which is take care of his clients, very well. As for Grobe, many today will sigh in relief that the UA hired a head coach with BCS bowl credentials (last year’s Orange Bowl ). Others will say why him. But the most important thing right now for the Razorbacks nation is to give this guy a chance. It was obvious by the people who were not interested that the UA job is not viewed as favorably from the outside looking in as it is by those on the inside looking out. Arkansas is in better shape overall than Wake Forest was in 2001 when Grobe arrived there, but there might be a couple of lean years in front of him and the Hogs faithful. When Grobe got there Wake Forest faithful would have died to be thought of as highly as an afterthought. It was a school in the Atlantic Coast Conference and football was what you did as a warm-up for basketball. Six seasons later he led the Demon Deacons to 11 victories and was named Associated Press Coach of the Year. Now, he will get a chance to name his own staff and the sooner he gets here the better, because if someone had not been named by the weekend, things could have gotten dicey for the recruiting class. It’s a plus that Grobe is a head coach, but someone needs to get on campus and stop the circus now. Mike Markuson, who is a good offensive line coach, is one of the Arkansas assistants expected to leave Jan. 2 for Ole Miss but apparently he is already recruiting for the Rebels. Tuesday morning he scheduled a January on-campus visit to Ole Miss for a recruit from Tennessee whom Arkansas had shown some interest in but hadn’t offered. Markuson might be the first multijob coach in the country. This whole thing with the assistants going to Oxford and back to Fayetteville is reminiscent of 1989, when Michigan basketball coach Bill Frieder accepted a job offer from Arizona State just before the NCAA Tournament. Frieder expected to coach that team, but Athletic Director Bo Schembechler fired him on the spot, saying only a Michigan man would coach a Michigan team. Assistant coach Steve Fisher took over as the interim head coach and the Wolverines won six consecutive games and the NCAA championship. Not to put pressure on Grobe — he’ll have plenty of that in time to come — but the good news for the Razorbacks nation was apparently someone finally stepped up and said he wanted to be an Arkansas man. More Stories From: WALLY HALL · LIKE IT IS : Pops, Pepsi's pop flies great way to forget heat · LIKE IT IS : Stephens helped Jackson plot his own course · LIKE IT IS : Griffin No. 1 choice, then it's anybody's guess · LIKE IT IS : Hogs' NCAA run provides food for thought · LIKE IT IS : Hill, Ripley keep adding to, improving school Yesterday's Most Popular 1. HOG FUTURES JERRY MITCHELL : Hurricane brings Mitchell to Hogs 2. THE RECRUITING GUY : Purifoy's size fits into UA's plans 3. Iowa prep standout Kelly joins UA track 4. Former Diamond Hog Richards inks contract with Marlins Today's Most E-mailed |
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