Under the heading: Have ADs Learned Nothing?

[WoadBlue]

Here is a 'cute' article about the 4 year old son of a Seminole booster running a lemonade stand to buy out Willie Taggart's contract. That buyout is 17 million dollars.

Taggart didn't come to FSU after, say, 3 years as a P5 HC, the last of which was a conference champ. Taggart was 7-5 in his lone P5 season. The improvement in each of his 4 years at USF suggested he could do the job at FSU, but that kind of buyout for a coach who has not proven anything at the P5 level is nuts.

 

[franklin street]

almost everything about college football is nuts.

 

[Archer2]

almost everything about college football and basketball is nuts.

Fixed it for you.

 

[WoadBlue]

Fixed it for you.

It is both, because they are revenue sports.

I know the market matters, and top coaches are worth a small fortune. But coaches who remain unproven as consistent winners in a P5 should never be given a large buyout if fired for failure to win.

This system is making a lot of mediocrities rich from failing.

 

[TVJ]

This system is making a lot of mediocrities rich from failing.

It definitely is, but what agent would go for "failure to win games" in a contract as a reason for a small (or no) buyout. Unfortunately, it is where we have come to in college athletics.
But ADs are human, and do listen to alumni/fan input. Not to beat a dead horse, but remember the hue and cry to "lock in" Fedora after our Coastal championship season.
It's a multi-faceted issue.