If the strongest steel is indeed forged from the hottest fire that chair under Groces !!! oughta last forever.
2017 Coaching Carousel
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GortTheRobot
- North Bethesda, Maryland
And, drop the mic.
I personally think it will fall somewhere in 2-3 million. I will be incredibly surprised if it tops 3 (in a good way), but seeing as Rutgers is paying Steve Pikiell 1.6 million right now, and I'm fairly certain they are not getting equal funds from the conference as the other members yet, 2 million certainly seems our floor for this next contract.
GortTheRobot
- North Bethesda, Maryland
I agree, 2 has to be the base, but I hope JW is willing to go top dollar for the right guy. How much is that? No idea. However, I think 3.5 is worth it for a program that could be as lucrative as ours, given our fanbase.
sdfidaho
- Boise, Idaho
How much is Groce due for the rest of his contract?
I think the right candidate is worth almost anything in terms of college basketball numbers. The revenues of winning at Illinois are just so much higher than the salary of any one coach.
Anything more than like $2.75MM per year I feel like you'd really have to have some outside investment. Which is possible. But I think that's a reasonable back-of-the-envelope number. That's about where guys like Beilein, Painter and Turgeon are, and the TV money keeps pushing everything upward.
It's who we can attract, not how much we can pay. If Gregg Marshall will take the job, we will make the deal happen financially. He probably won't take the job.
Well said.
Plus you have to pay him a $500K bonus if you keep him, so using some fuzzy math you can deduct that from the $1.6 million. You're right, it's not really any concern.
ILLINIFAN2
- Des Moines, IA
Per Flight Tracker, private jet left Savoy and is headed to Berkely
GortTheRobot
- North Bethesda, Maryland
To follow up my previous post, I only see two guys who may be worthy of that 3 to 3.5 million contract:
Greg Marshall
Fred Hoiberg
Just my opinion, and I'm sure others could suggest others. Anyone else, including Archie Miller, doesn't seem to top that 2 to 2.5 million level of pay, at least starting out.
Of course, you have to pay for what you need, and we NEED someone to turn this thing around.
Funny thing is, even when I am watching us be awful, I always, always, think "when we get good again..." I never have any doubt that this program will get back to where it belongs.
Greg Marshall
Fred Hoiberg
Just my opinion, and I'm sure others could suggest others. Anyone else, including Archie Miller, doesn't seem to top that 2 to 2.5 million level of pay, at least starting out.
Of course, you have to pay for what you need, and we NEED someone to turn this thing around.
Funny thing is, even when I am watching us be awful, I always, always, think "when we get good again..." I never have any doubt that this program will get back to where it belongs.
Excellent point.
I agree, I certainly think 3-4 is entirely reasonable, I just feel less confident believing we'll go that high, or rather, find a coach worth going that high.
Here's a helpful link: 2016 NCAAT Coach Salaries. Not a lot of coaches making more than 3 right now. That's big time basketball coach money, so if we are landing a top coach, I won't be surprised, but I doubt JW will approach all candidates with the same salary offer (which is the appropriate methodology), and so my range is more reflective of what I think the guys we're more likely to land.
Marshall makes $3.3MM now. He turned down $5MM from Alabama a couple years ago.
I think he's the next coach at Indiana or Kentucky.
This is key. There are a number of resources that suggest hiring and Illinois guy just to hire and Illinois guy. Whitman has shown with the football hire that he's willing to put together a competitive financial package to get renowned coaching talent to Illinois.
GortTheRobot
- North Bethesda, Maryland
I could see IU, but what do you think is going to happen at UK? Do you think Calipari might test the NBA again, or just get burnt out and go the broadcasting route for awhile?
Also, I don't think Alabama = Illinois, even at 5 Million. But I may be biased.
The heat will catch up. It always does. He'll get a flashy NBA job and then six months later, we'll find out why. Pete Carroll redux.
Disagree on UK, maybe UNC, Cal is 57 though and will likely be around for longer than his peers at the blue bloods.
GortTheRobot
- North Bethesda, Maryland
Yes, that may very well be true. Calipari vacates more than he vacations.
LarryGotFouled
- Allen, TX
Say what you will about John Groce, but he is going to save me a lot of money. Have been looking for an opportunity to cord cut but lack of BTN was always a sticking point. Problem solved!
NC St solidifying their case for Archie today.
The Sprouting Divot
Invisible and Bulletproof
- Miracle Mile
They're not absolutely perfect comparisons, but I think Marshall would rather be Mark Few than Bruce Weber. He has a good thing going exactly where he is, and there's no guarantee that he'd be able to carry it over to a new and different sort of coaching job. I have extreme doubts that his brand of coaching (and reputed misanthropy) will translate at an elite job like IU or KY, or even a "historically top 25 program" kind of job like Illinois is........or once was.
I can't imagine he'll be employed with the University on April 30. He's owed $400,000 per year and fraction for termination without cause, so that would mean 2 years and maybe a month or two. It's a very small cost as these things go.
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