Lovie Smith's contract revised
I would be totally good with that continuity
I would like to see Lovie stay long-term, he is 58 y/old not sure if he wants to bounce around the NFL. But if he stays 5 years and either Hardy or McGee take over that might be the continuity that we need to sustain the program.
I'd be surprised too. Seems like 5-6 years at Illinois, cap the experience with a New Years day bowl or two and a big ten championship game appearance or two. Go into semi-retirement as a commentator/color analyst for CFB and the NFL.
That could also help explain a bit why McGee came here from Louisville. If the idea was that he was sort of a head coach in waiting, that could be alluring. Personally, as long as things go well for the next couple of years I don't see an issue with having a guy like McGee take over. If the program is moving in the right direction, having a guy like him take over could help keep it on that path.
Who wants to help me out, I was under the impression that the first two years of his deal were "grossed up", if you will, by offset provisions in his Tampa Bay contract. If that were the case, his "raise" in year two means no additional money to Lovie and additional expense for the university.
Any chance this was a move to keep Tampa Bay from throwing a fit about the pay structure being so back loaded. There was a nice reference to $2.5M being the conference average.
I do love the thought that McGee or Nickerson is our next coach, but I'm hoping that's after two full terms of Lovie at the helm.
Any chance this was a move to keep Tampa Bay from throwing a fit about the pay structure being so back loaded. There was a nice reference to $2.5M being the conference average.
I do love the thought that McGee or Nickerson is our next coach, but I'm hoping that's after two full terms of Lovie at the helm.
I thought so too on the offset provisions with TB. Does not seem to make sense to me why this would be beneficial. If anything it almost seems like Lovie would make less money in the long run because he would be getting X million in the first two years regardless. If they front load, he'd still make X million but in the later years he makes less from U of I.
Lets all pump the brakes on a succession plan. We're a few months into the Lovie Smith era and we're already thinking about what happens when he retires... come on. The man is 58 years old.
Is there a reason you believe Tampa Bay would be paying less depending on what Illinois pays? I hadn't read anything hinting at that.
How about this possibility? They are pleased so far with how Lovie has been doing. You move up the back end payment as a good will gesture. If Lovie is doing well in year 3 or 4 of this contract, for example, I would imagine they would possibly restructure it anyway by increasing the salary as well as adding some more years to it.
Tampa owes Lovie $5 million each of the next two years. That money is offset by whatever we pay him.
He's essentially coaching the team for free for the next two years, because he wouldn't get a dime less if he just sat on his couch.
What's interesting though, is that money has moved from years 3-6 to years 1-2, which represents a pay cut from Lovie's perspective. That surprises me a bit.
It could be that Tampa complained about the structure of the deal, which they would be within their rights to do.
We'll see. Obviously the financial commitment to sustain this thing is going to be critical. Our immediate boost at the box office certainly helps that.
Source, please.
Nothing regarding the specifics of the offset are popping up immediately on Twitter, but it was discussed a lot at the time and in general that's always how coaching buyouts work, unless your agent had the stupendous good fortune of negotiating against Ron Guenther.
Illwinsagain
- Cary, IL
Maybe it is just a Guenther thing, but I thought those usually were null and void if you switch leagues between college and pro. So, you could double dip by getting full buyout from one while working at the other.
Just a hunch, but I'm guessing this restructuring is due to the fact that the Buccaneers somehow successfully fought that clause.
It would depend on the contract language.
That seems like occam's razor here.
Lovie's contract was self-evidently structured to take advantage of the Tampa buyout money. To what extent that's allowable is a fuzzyish line. Illinois/Lovie's argument would be that $2 million is more than Illinois has ever paid a coach before and that it's a fair market wage for a program of Illinois' stature. Tampa's argument would be that the structure of the deal makes it plain that Lovie is worth more than $2 million per to Illinois.
I've never been involved with a question like that actually being litigated, but the one guarantee would be it would be a big waste of both parties time and money. This seems much better.
I agree with this thought (and I learned a new principle in occam's razor - thanks Wikipedia!).
When I was reading that his first two years would have an offset and Tampa would be on the hook for the $5M less whatever he would be paid, my question is how does anyone determine was a true FMV or arm's length contract would be?
Otherwise UIUC could structure the deal such that he made $1M (or less - this is an exaggeration) in the first two years and backload the contract with all the money that was saved by not having to shell it out. Meanwhile Lovie still gets paid the $5M for each of the first two years and gets more money from UIUC later due to the backload.
I would have to think this is something related to them reaching an agreement with the Bucs.
BZuppke
- Plainfield
I agree that it must have everything to do with Tampa Bay's payout - not any succession plan or need to keep him happy. Lovie brings so much to the table for us but we have to keep things in perspective: There are a lot of good/great coaches in the B1G. Lovie will have the edge on most of them predominantly if he can out recruit most of his rivals. I think he will (and already has) improved our prospects here. We know he knows how to coach them.
Details on the buyout:
icengineer
- Southern Illinois
That all sounds very favorable to the UI. Still not sure what prompted the minor restructuring of the existing contract. But as our AD says, we have a solid, long-term deal with Lovie. If after 3 years we have any doubt about our HC's abilities and/or where we are headed we have a reasonable out. I don't think it will ever come into play.
And that's all I care about! Now let's beat the Tar Heels!