The conversation has been happening in various corners of the board today, but let's give something Derek something to merge into. (Love ya, DY.)
Alright, so, we all know that Bruce is getting extended. But there are two questions: How long, and how much?
How Long?
Most of the deals you see out there right now for new coaches are in the 5-6 year range. When you recruit kids, you need to take into consideration that they will likely want to play for the same coach for 4-5 years. That means it behooves you to show that level of commitment to a coach.
Bruce has three years left on his current deal (2020-2021), and he's 61 years old. His current contract takes him to 64. Pitt, who is rumored to be interested in Bruce, has been shopping around six year deals. It's likely Bruce will want to coach until he's in his late 60's, so you're likely on the hook for a three year deal. I'd push for two, but would be prepared to give three.
That would take us to the 2023-2024 season, which is one year before the Big 12 would be under the auspices of a new media rights deal.
How much?
Bruce currently makes $2.15 million a year. He has a $100k escalator every year (pretty standard KSU fare), which means he stands to make $2.25 million next year, $2.35m the next, and $2.45m in the final year of his deal. Pitt is shopping about 6 years/$18 million, which works out to $3.0 million a year over the life of the deal. This likely means you start at $2.75 this year and end at $3.25 in the final year.
With Tech and KSU losing in the Elite 8, we're relying on KU to beat Duke to gain additional units for the conference in this tournament. As it stands, the Big 12 accumulated 17 units so far this tournament, and each unit is worth $1.7m. It's paid out over six years, so that means each school will be paid ~$2.89 million over the course of the next six years based on the performance in this tournament alone.
Now, that's not enough to cover the distance between his current deal and a contract Pitt is likely to offer. Because some of that is ultimately going to cover the travel expenses of participating in the tournament. But what it does mean is that over the next six years, we have some help in covering the ground.
What I would do, personally, is offer Bruce a $500k annual raise to bring us to a $2.75 million salary. Factor in a standard $100k/yr escalator, and that brings us to 6 years/$18 million. That is exactly what Illinois is paying Brad. Cunzo Martin has a seven year deal worth $21 million. This puts Kansas State on par with Missouri and Illinois in terms of pay.
Before anyone says he hasn't earned it, or that's a knee jerk reaction to playing well in the tournament, I want to clarify a couple of things. First, we aren't really paying competitive salaries compared to some of our peers. Even that level of compensation would be less than Scott Drew, who makes about $2.9 million a year, and it's significantly less than what Gregg Marshall stands to make in 2018 (around $3.5 million). If you're serious about competing, you're going to have to step up your game.
Second, I'm of the opinion that you figure out a way to re-arrange the budget to make this kind of salary work so that if things with Bruce don't work out, or he retires, you've already figured out how to pay a competitive salary for someone on the open market when the time is appropriate.
On top of that, I believe you need to find an additional $300k on an annual basis to spread across assistants and other support staff. Finding an additional $800k a year on basketball isn't easy, but it's necessary if we want to signal that we're in this for the long haul.
Summary
At the end of the day, I think you give Bruce a three year extension worth what amounts to an additional $3 million over the life of the deal. Given what we're probably going to get back from the tournament this year, we're probably on the hook to find about $2.5-3.0 million additional dollars over six years for the entirety of program (including assistants). Some of that is napkin math, but probably in the ballpark.
This should help retain guys like Lowery, Frazier, and Korn. It would also allow us to carve out the budget so we're willing to bring in a strong candidate when the time comes.
Alright, so, we all know that Bruce is getting extended. But there are two questions: How long, and how much?
How Long?
Most of the deals you see out there right now for new coaches are in the 5-6 year range. When you recruit kids, you need to take into consideration that they will likely want to play for the same coach for 4-5 years. That means it behooves you to show that level of commitment to a coach.
Bruce has three years left on his current deal (2020-2021), and he's 61 years old. His current contract takes him to 64. Pitt, who is rumored to be interested in Bruce, has been shopping around six year deals. It's likely Bruce will want to coach until he's in his late 60's, so you're likely on the hook for a three year deal. I'd push for two, but would be prepared to give three.
That would take us to the 2023-2024 season, which is one year before the Big 12 would be under the auspices of a new media rights deal.
How much?
Bruce currently makes $2.15 million a year. He has a $100k escalator every year (pretty standard KSU fare), which means he stands to make $2.25 million next year, $2.35m the next, and $2.45m in the final year of his deal. Pitt is shopping about 6 years/$18 million, which works out to $3.0 million a year over the life of the deal. This likely means you start at $2.75 this year and end at $3.25 in the final year.
With Tech and KSU losing in the Elite 8, we're relying on KU to beat Duke to gain additional units for the conference in this tournament. As it stands, the Big 12 accumulated 17 units so far this tournament, and each unit is worth $1.7m. It's paid out over six years, so that means each school will be paid ~$2.89 million over the course of the next six years based on the performance in this tournament alone.
Now, that's not enough to cover the distance between his current deal and a contract Pitt is likely to offer. Because some of that is ultimately going to cover the travel expenses of participating in the tournament. But what it does mean is that over the next six years, we have some help in covering the ground.
What I would do, personally, is offer Bruce a $500k annual raise to bring us to a $2.75 million salary. Factor in a standard $100k/yr escalator, and that brings us to 6 years/$18 million. That is exactly what Illinois is paying Brad. Cunzo Martin has a seven year deal worth $21 million. This puts Kansas State on par with Missouri and Illinois in terms of pay.
Before anyone says he hasn't earned it, or that's a knee jerk reaction to playing well in the tournament, I want to clarify a couple of things. First, we aren't really paying competitive salaries compared to some of our peers. Even that level of compensation would be less than Scott Drew, who makes about $2.9 million a year, and it's significantly less than what Gregg Marshall stands to make in 2018 (around $3.5 million). If you're serious about competing, you're going to have to step up your game.
Second, I'm of the opinion that you figure out a way to re-arrange the budget to make this kind of salary work so that if things with Bruce don't work out, or he retires, you've already figured out how to pay a competitive salary for someone on the open market when the time is appropriate.
On top of that, I believe you need to find an additional $300k on an annual basis to spread across assistants and other support staff. Finding an additional $800k a year on basketball isn't easy, but it's necessary if we want to signal that we're in this for the long haul.
Summary
At the end of the day, I think you give Bruce a three year extension worth what amounts to an additional $3 million over the life of the deal. Given what we're probably going to get back from the tournament this year, we're probably on the hook to find about $2.5-3.0 million additional dollars over six years for the entirety of program (including assistants). Some of that is napkin math, but probably in the ballpark.
This should help retain guys like Lowery, Frazier, and Korn. It would also allow us to carve out the budget so we're willing to bring in a strong candidate when the time comes.
