Is Saban worth $5mil a year?

[UA All the Way]

I'd like to know the board's opinion. If we could get Saban for $5 million a year, would it be too much?

 

[Big_Fan]

I'd like to know the board's opinion. If we could get Saban for $5 million a year, would it be too much?

Considering that we had in excess of a 5M surplus even with Shula's pay, 5M would not burry us. Most would be coming from private contributions and endorsements anyway.

The real issue is whether or not we could afford to NOT pay what it takes to get him. Merchandise and ticket sales go up when we play well, as do bowl revenues. If we don't reverse the trend of mediocrity, 5M will be a drop in the bucket.

 

[bamacpa70]

Considering that we had in excess of a 5M surplus even with Shula's pay, 5M would not burry us. Most would be coming from private contributions and endorsements anyway.

The real issue is whether or not we could afford to NOT pay what it takes to get him. Merchandise and ticket sales go up when we play well, as do bowl revenues. If we don't reverse the trend of mediocrity, 5M will be a drop in the bucket.

So are you the one who is going to make a private contribution or do you just like spending other people's money?

 

[Vegas4Bama]

Let me 'splain!

Even though I voted "NO", I am still aware that someone will always end up paying whatever is necessary to get a coach.

**I mean look at the baseball giants and what they just payed to get a good pitcher to help them win the pennant next year........that amount of money is obscene $120+ million dollars!!!

So, I guess 5 million is considered a pitance for the services of a good head coach for Bama??:BigA:

 

[derek4tide]

Wow, lswho fans voting "no."

 

[TerryP]

Considering that we had in excess of a 5M surplus even with Shula's pay, 5M would not burry us. Most would be coming from private contributions and endorsements anyway.

The real issue is whether or not we could afford to NOT pay what it takes to get him. Merchandise and ticket sales go up when we play well, as do bowl revenues. If we don't reverse the trend of mediocrity, 5M will be a drop in the bucket.

While you may think that, paying 5 mil a year to a coach would be a stupid mistake. NO, we can't afford to do that.

Fact of the matter is...the offer is around 3 to 3.5 a year.

 

[bama07]

If Bama has 5 mil to spend, then hes worth five mil.....

 

[OreBama]

While you may think that, paying 5 mil a year to a coach would be a stupid mistake. NO, we can't afford to do that.

Fact of the matter is...the offer is around 3 to 3.5 a year.

That's the first I've heard of an actual dollar amount, but that was my guess.

If he wins us a NC, he's worth twice that. If he has Shula's record, he's not worth a 1/10 of that. It all depends on results. I voted "yes" by the way.

 

[RhodeIslandRed]

Sounds like we'll need to add a TAG Heuer watch endorsement to his contract. :biggrin:

 

[alatider]

While today, $5 mil might sound like an astronomical figure, a few years ago $1mil also was considered to be an astronomical figure. Now, $1 mil is almost a base salary for any good 1A coach.

IMO, our next HC will come from the NFL simply because of the delay in hiring. As one of the commentators on ESPN said last night, if Bama was going to hire a college coach as their next HC, they would have done so already - BEFORE the bowl games. That makes sense to me.

 

[NYBamaFan]

That would be overspending by about 50%. We would reset the bar for coaching salaries across the country. Salaries that are already out of control. And we would harm the sport, damaging schools that are already having a hard time keeping respectable coaches.

That having been said, I do not intend to return to Alabama (except for short family visits), so I would like to see them do whatever it takes to return us to the top - including making this sort of mistake. If I had to make the decision myself, I would say no - but I will not complain one time if we decide to do this, assuming that we are paying for someone like Saban.

As for the question - is Saban worth $5M/yr - probably. That is what he is getting now. Anything is worth what one is willing to pay for that something. The NFL is paying top coaches $5M/yr. The question is whether or not colleges can compete with the NFL. Yes - Saban is worth $5M/yr - but are we willing to pay that much to pull him back to college football if he demands it? Probably not...

 

[bamacpa70]

While you may think that, paying 5 mil a year to a coach would be a stupid mistake. NO, we can't afford to do that.

Fact of the matter is...the offer is around 3 to 3.5 a year.

TP, I agree we can't afford $5 mil. and we do not want to get in bidding wars for coaches with the USC's, Texas', & OSU's of the world. However, I'm not sure if I understand the economics of it all, perhaps you could explain. Here is how I envision it works.

The Athletic Department is a self-contained entity. It generates its own revenue and pays its own expenses with no outside (i.e. public) help. My current understanding is that we have a surplus of somewhere between 4 & 6 million $ annually. Now, what happens with this surplus? Is a portion of it used to pay interest and principal on the debt taken out for facilities upgrades? I know the athletic department "donates" a large chunk to the University's general (scholarship?) fund. Where else does this surplus go?

If it is operated like a business, the AD will not allow margins to suffer because of increased expenses. Theoretically, if we bring in a $5 mil coach, we will win more games, which means more money from bowls & merchandise sales. But that money is not guaranteed, so what I would expect to see is increased ticket prices and Tide Pride membership dues to make up for most of the increase. Our stadium seats 90k+ and we have 7 home games a year. It seems like a $5 increase in ticket prices acroos the board (faculty and students included) would cover the entire $3 mil increase.

Then we get into price elasticity and yadda, yadda, yadda. $5 mil seems to be way above market value for any college coach, but when you break it down into a per person, per game amount it doesn't seem unreasonable. What am I missing???

 

[moorav]

I don't know but if you look at how much more income Oklahoma has had since Stoops took over then it is justifiable.

 

[TheCrimsonLiver]

If the man brings the program back to the top and wins a NC, then he is priceless!

 

[BamaMoon]

If TerryP is right (3-3.5 mil), then the alleged offer must be heavily laden with a signing bonus, and staying bonus and performance incentives.

 

[crimsonaudio]

No, not yet. Maybe some day, but right now the only coach in all of football that's worth $5m/year is Bill Belichick, imo.

Bob Stoops might be close - his record as head coach is simply astounding.

Some folks here seem to be making Saban out to be the greatest coach to ever walk the sidelines. While his track record (particularly @ LSWho) is very good, it's not unbelievable. *IF* we were to get him as HC, I'd be pleased, but to pay him more than any other coach in all of football is a stretch.

Granted, I want the university to make a statement with this hiring, and a large salary is a huge statement to the rest of football - we're serious about getting it back on track and we're devoted to being champions again.

Also good to keep in mind that the uni doesn't pay the full salary - I think Shula's salary from the uni was around $350k (out of his ~$1.5M) - the rest is guaranteed through endorsements, donations, etc. So being able to afford a huge contract has a lot more to do with the wealth of the school's followers than the actual wealth of the school...

 

[day-day]

NYBamaFan summed up most of my thoughts.

3 to 5 million dollars is ridiculous, but when the money comes from boosters and sponsors who are willing to fork it over, I guess it doesn’t matter.

If Albert Means was worth $200,000, then what is a top-level head coach worth?

 

[RhodeIslandRed]

I don't know but if you look at how much more income Oklahoma has had since Stoops took over then it is justifiable.

Agreed. I also believe that more and higher level corporate endorsements can be made. The coach's image is not being leveraged enough, IMO. That's how Tiger Woods and Michael Jordan make their money. I wasn't kidding about a TAG Heuer deal.

 

[Whiz]

If TerryP is right (3-3.5 mil), then the alleged offer must be heavily laden with a signing bonus, and staying bonus and performance incentives.

You have to remember that even though the offer will be around 3 million there will be many free perks invloved. Think about all of the rich alumni that can offer free use of planes, summer homes, yachts... the list goes on and on.

 

[BAMAHD]

The 5 mil and 5-7 mill bonus is not going to happend anywhere. The base offer 3-3.5 sounds about right and puts him inline with Stoops. Now the performance incentive's could boost him up to five but he has to earn it. A SECCG,BCS bowl and National Championship will probaly have big numbers but they will pay for themselves like they do with Stoops.
Anyway after one winning season in the past four it's time to bite the bullet and hire best coach we can get. Like everyone else i'll gladly increase donations to be competitive again. Like Kines says we should expect nothing less than a winner!