FB: North Coast Athletic Conference

[wally_wabash]

Is it worth an additional 50k a year to continue that?  I couldn't imagine very many Wabash alums begrudging such an expense.

The marketplace for Division III head football coaches says that yes, another 50k/year is unnecessary.  It was mentioned below that Wabash's compensation to the head coach is plenty competitive in the D-III marketplace. 

I really like a Snickers bar.  They make me happy.  Should I pay $45 for one just because I can?  No.  That would be dumb. 

[Mr. Ypsi]

I think you're assuming that Wabash's giving base is influenced proportionally by the football team's success and I think that's dead wrong.  I've given every year since graduation and not once have I even thought about football when doing so.  This isn't Tuscaloosa or Columbus and we aren't boosters (thank God).  I can't stress this enough: Division III football is not Division I football, no matter how much you want to pretend that it is. 

Let's play devil's advocate for a minute.  You claim that Wabash digging deeper to overpay (per the market) a great football coach begets wins and happy feelings amongst many alumni who in turn cut giant checks at homecomings because they had a great time and that those extra donations more than offset the extra compensation for the coach.  Maybe.  Consider that roughly 10% or so of the living alumni played football at Wabash...that leaves 90% of alumni that didn't.  And 90% of alumni that are endeared to Wabash for a lot of reasons other than football...academic resources, student life resources, career services resources, student activities, literally dozens and dozens of other things that exist to mold Wabash men that exist beyond fall Saturdays.  How many of those 90% would be negatively influenced if they knew that their donations were being steered to overpay a football coach...donations that could be used for grants or scholarships to support the kid that will be the next Rhodes Scholar?  Maybe you lose more donations than you gain.  It's not crazy.

It's not just donations and giving.  It is raising the profile of Wabash in recruiting future students, increasing alumni involvement, making Wabash known for more than football.  Other divisions do this. 

As for football, Wabash is recruiting against Franklin, Marian, and a resurgent DePauw (which is spending ton$ on athletics facilities... and I wonder how much Lynch makes?).  Whatever happened to Trine, btw?  I don't know.  And that is in Indiana.  Add to that the NCAC and other rivals above D3 like maybe Dayton.  Is it enough for Wabash and you were Wabash to "merely" have consistent winning season like it did pre-Creighton?  Is the bar now higher so that Wabash should be willing to part with more money in order to attract the coaching candidates who have the resume that can carry on the success of the last 15 years?

Is it worth an additional 50k a year to continue that?  I couldn't imagine very many Wabash alums begrudging such an expense.

What happened to Trine is that once-in-a-lifetime qb Eric Watt graduated.  The second bolded sentence should tell you all you need to know about the overall importance of d3 athletics - you are obviously a football fan, yet had no idea what happened to a d3 school in Indiana!  (Don't feel bad - prior to the founding of this site, d3 coverage was SO bad that I did not know my alma mater (IWU) won the men's basketball national title (1997) until I got the alumni magazine several months later!)  The ONLY similarity between d1 and d3 sports is that they play by the same rules on the field - consequences for enrollment, alumni contributions, etc., while debatable for d1 (some studies suggest it is more an 'urban legend' than real), it has little to nothing to do with d3.

[Li'l Giant]

Is it worth an additional 50k a year to continue that?  I couldn't imagine very many Wabash alums begrudging such an expense.

I'm not sure how much negotiating people do in their jobs. I happen to negotiate a lot.

Why would Wabash bid against itself this way? There's ZERO evidence that Wabash has been told that any above market pay rate would guarantee that he would stay. We have ZERO reason to believe he would make more than LL was at UWW (and good reason to think he would make less). It's reasonable to surmise that he will get a pay increase (above his current Wabash pay) to coach at UWW (assuming of course he is offered and accepts). Which makes any effort to renegotiate at a rate above LL's rate at UWW an obvious bluff.

When people negotiate to pay money to others they usually have a "top dollar" that is a hard and fast number. That top dollar number is usually the result of some analysis of what a "market value" is. People very rarely go straight to that number in negotiations and will try to come in under it if possible because everyone wants to save money. Very rarely in my experience do people exceed that number. And if they do, it's usually because there's a darn good reason. Some factor that fundamentally changes the analysis upon which the "top dollar" figure is based.

So, where does the necessity of this extra $50k you want to toss him come from? My guess is if any coach approached Wabash with interest from another D3 school and asked to be paid grossly above market rate they would be allowed to walk unless that coach had won a couple of national championships.

Being considered the best coach in D3 (as Leipold was) justifies him being (almost certainly) the highest paid coach in D3. There's no justification for Wabash deciding that it's going to make any coach the highest paid in D3 without that coach first winning some Walnut & Bronze.

[smedindy]

You know, having WORKED in the development office, and closely with admissions, at Wabash the biggest strides and reaches made in admissions and fundraising were in the late 90's, when Wabash started the Campaign for Leadership and worked like the devil to reach the 1000 mark in applications. Everything they've done to date in fundraising and admissions have used those efforts as the building blocks.

The late 90's were not the halcyon days of Wabash football. They were good, but not like they are now. Basketball had some good years then, but it wasn't all-consuming on campus.

The annual fund solicitations don't mention athletics any more than they mention all of the other programs at Wabash. Mostly, they focus on the entire EXPERIENCE of Wabash - something that was there when the team was 5-5.

The religion / philosophy major with a rhetoric minor that has very academic aspirations isn't going to go to Wabash because their sportsball team did well. The alumni who is interested in funding Immersion Trips for students cares a great deal more that the money he is given will transform the lives of the men involved than if the sportsball team did well.

It is only recently that Wabash even added a check box for giving to athletics in its annual fund appeal.

The only reason Wabash is succeeding in fundraising and admissions is that the people they have working in their offices are busting their butts, and the administration and faculty are supporting their efforts because they know it makes a difference. Football is a nice conversation point, but most every Wabash man would support the school if they were 9-1 or 5-5.

The crusty old alumni complaints have never really been about football, but more about the 'liberal' nature of the faculty and programs, which, in my travels around academia, are crusty old alumni complaints at EVERY school EVERYWHERE.

If there is any increase in applications due to athletics, it's that the coaching staffs have busted it trying to recruit kids. But still, that's not a large increase over the baseline number of applicants they would have had anyway. The football team rosters have always been big, even in the 80's and 90's as I can remember. Wabash has never not had a numbers crunch in football in terms of live human bodies out there.

[ADL70]

Back to non-fiscal discussion, the front page poll favors Bullis over ER 44% to 31%

[wally_wabash]

Kevin Bullis for president. 

[jknezek]

That can't be that surprising. I'm sure the UWW fans are all pulling for Bullis since he's an insider. The casual fan of a successful program usually votes for continuity unless there is a home run candidate. The casual fan of a sliding program will lean toward a fresh break.

[Bishopleftiesdad]

Raeburn is closing the Gap now 39% Bullis 36% Raeburn.

[BashDad]

In less than 3 weeks, BJ Hammer is going to be named the new Wabash College head football coach.

After Raeburn leaves, Joe Haklin is going to be put in a pretty crummy position. If he begins a nationwide search for a new head coach, he's basically forfeiting the spring practice session, interrupting the recruiting cycle even more, and making a (stacked) roster adapt to two new schemes as opposed to one -- all of which risk a year of disappointment under someone unaffiliated with the program. Which just sounds sucky. His other option is promoting the architect of a top-5 defense (two years running), who also happens to be a celebrated alum, and who also happens to have been a less-than-terrific head coach at a less-than-terrific D3 program. Keep Hammer and you don't wait six weeks for the new coach or another two months for the dust to settle -- you get to move on immediately, repair whatever recruiting damage has been inflicted the last 14 or so days, and focus a spring session implementing a new offense under a familiar regime. That sounds pretty good in the short term, if also kind of I-guess-we'll-see in the long term. Haklin isn't going to take the bigger risk when he doesn't have to. So the BJ Hammer experiment is going to happen.

But. Let's play a game.

This is my Top Five of non-BJs, listed alphabetically:

Mike Hallet - Head Coach - Heidelberg College
James Killian - OC - St. Thomas
Mike Leonard - Head Coach - Franklin College
Craig Smith - OC - UW-Osh Kosh
Matt Walker - Head Coach - UW-River Falls

[Li'l Giant]

This is my Top Five of non-BJs, listed alphabetically:

Mike Hallet - Head Coach - Heidelberg College
James Killian - OC - St. Thomas
Mike Leonard - Head Coach - Franklin College
Craig Smith - OC - UW-Osh Kosh
Matt Walker - Head Coach - UW-River Falls

All great choices. I have in at least 3 different offline conversations named Walker as a target Wabash should absolutely aim for. Would s#!& a green frog if it happened but it's worth a shot.

[bashbrother]

I'll play...more questions for the ER to UWW scenario.

Would BJ stay or would he go? OR Does ER pick Bullis as the DC?  (Might be a strong move to gain immediate support from Alums, fans and players)

Who would be brought in as OC if BJ took over at Wabash?  (I believe this to be important)

I personally still believe Bullis, the Insider, has a fighting chance.  One could consider it a safer and popular move.

IF ER does not get selected and he quickly puts the Wabash hat back on.. Is there an impact (positive or negative?)

Ready for it to be over. 

[Joe Wally]

According to a current student I know ER has met with the players and every indication coming out of that meeting is that if he is offered the job, he would accept.

Living in Westfield, IN, I have to wonder how this will impact Jake Gilbert, Josh Miracle, and the rest of our high school coaching staff. 

[Joe Wally]

IF ER does not get selected and he quickly puts the Wabash hat back on.. Is there an impact (positive or negative?)

Ready for it to be over.

Only speaking for myself, it would have no negative impact on how I view ER.  UWW is a top tier job right now, and ER is still a relatively young guy, of course he would be interested.

[ExTartanPlayer]

IF ER does not get selected and he quickly puts the Wabash hat back on.. Is there an impact (positive or negative?

I'm not a Wally, but I'll chime in with the outsider's perspective; this should absolutely not engender any negative feelings towards ER if he returns. It should be understood that this is an extremely rare opportunity and probably one of the only jobs in the country that any successful D3 coach should not be penalized for looking into. Some of the other guys on that list, who are not already on the position of piloting a consistent winner, would likely consider other jobs elsewhere if not hired at UWW (and even Dean Paul, with a succcessful track record but unable to get over the top, can hardly be slammed for looking into a chance to escape Mount Union's shadow). Unless Raeburn had aspirations to coach in a higher division, this is probably one of a very small handful of positions that he'd consider leaving for.

That might be a harder sell to the players.  And I'm sure there are some clowns (the ones who think Raeburn is paid $350K yearly) who will grumble in the stands about how he's not a Wabash Man or something dumb like that. I'm guessing those clowns have never had analogous situations in their professional careers.

[sigma one]

ER has been up front with the team and the administration.  Everyone realizes this is a rare opportunity however it works out for him.  While there may be a few players who have bad feelings for a short time--natural for young people who aren't used to change--most of the team understands and will move on.
     The unknown for me is how a new president will react and what he might or might not insist on:  promotion from within  v. national search.  I believe the thinking will be more about the potential of not reaching the numbers to fill next fall's freshman (not "first-year") class and only secondarily about losing a couple of recruits who might really help the football team. 
     Building on BashDad's comments, BJ would be a sterling choice, both for the sake of continuity within the team and for his knowledge of the College.  He is far removed from the challenges he faced at Whittier, has the support of the team, and is a brilliant recruiter.
     I've been thinking a lot about the 2015 season almost since the last game of 2014.  Despite losing some very talented, and decorated, defensive players (C. Buresh, Akinrabade, and Wilkins come first to mind), there is still plenty of defensive talent returning and some good players in the wings.  Offensively, virtually the entire team returns, with continuing QB head-scratching  still in play.  The whole Oline comes back, a first-team all NCAC running back, and the top receiver.
     If he stays, I don't see ER losing any clout. Again, because everyone recognizes the specialness of what he has applied to do.  If he goes, Hammer is my preferred next coach. I'd be surprised if he goes along with Erik. Some version of several new coaches will be worked out. Don Morel has been the Offensive Coordinator for several years, even though we recognize that it's ER's offense he is executing.  If it's a national search, I suppose it's a sign that Wabash is willing to risk uncertainty for the short term, but even then, it might end up  being BJ.  I can't imagine he would not apply even if he is told he has go go through a lengthy process.  On second thought, yes, I can, but I hope he would be willing to apply if that is the College's decision.  There's got to be the thinking in many of the coaches' minds about what would happen to them if a new guy is selected.
     Other possibilities exist, of course.  Would BJ decide to go if he's told he won't be promoted and is "encouraged" to join the pool of candidates in a full search, etc, etc, etc.