Clifford was supposed to participate in the Hula Bowl yesterday.

[marshall23]

I have a question I’d like to ask, regarding your post above about JF’s salary. First off it’s what the present market calls for, and more power to him. But this is a hypothetical that one day coaches may face. How is it handled if at all?

Envision the following scenario, very similar to professional sports where many players make more money than the head coach or manager in baseball. And obviously more than most assistants. NIL continues to grow, becomes more prevalent and vast amounts of money are provided to the athlete instead of the coaches. ( Don’t say it will never happen, anything can happen much too often to our belated surprise).
How does a college coach maintain control in that regard? ( Texas A&M this past season may be an early precursor of the problem, and even there the salary distribution greatly favored the coaching staff).
Professional athletes in their 20’s and 30’s are a much different animal than a room full teenagers with excess money to burn, away from home for the first time with feelings of invincibility. And actually making more money than most assistant coaches on the staff. In such a case, lack of instant success would cause much quicker termination, because it’s easier and less costly to jettison one than 85.
That would be one hell of a situation to manage with I assume the head coach earning every penny of his mid to high seven figure income. Just food for thought in an increasingly complex world.

You are correct in characterizing CJF's contract as what the market calls for. In fact, after the recent ride on the coaching carousel, he may not even be in the top 15 in terms of annual compensation.
I also agree the A&M 's disappointing season could reasonably be attributed to a program "rotting from the inside."
Football is not like basketball where 2 superstars can be complemented with 3 others to build a winner.
Football requires balance at every position and depth. Disparity in NIL distribution would IMO, eventually destroy a college team. The one outlier may be a well compensated high preforming QB. Again. you are spot on about the difference between a college locker room and an NFL organization. Players entering the show are slotted by draft order and then position. Even so, contracts can cause division.....and yes NFL players have 3 or 4 more years to mature.
As for college coaching and how it might by impacted NIL. My thoughts are that this is where CJF and similar coaches will excel. We all want the blue chip recruit. I believe that PSU still pursues the best players available with demonstrated good character. Does this preclude issues? Of course not. But, it does minimize them.
Eventually, I believe there will be some form of legislation establishing boundaries as conferences realize that the current lawlessness isn't sustainable. Perhaps the current uncertainty is a reason coaches are looking for 6-8-10 year contracts...unheard of until recently.
I have similar thoughts on the portal. I like how PSU shops to fill a need. Wholesale portal reliance adds an element of mercenary to your roster. When the "going gets tough" a mercenary is more likely to cash in his chips. I attribute some of the on field and off field woes of Michigan State and to a lesser degree Auburn to a lethal dose of portal.
I think James does an excellent job of recruiting young men (and families) whose values closely align with those of the PSU program (and the university). One of the reasons I scoff at "play calling" etc., is that game day might be less than one percent of what a prominent college HFC needs to master in today's climate.

 

[marshall23]

No skin off my news fanboy.

I just pointed out a simple mistake.

You are the one who is so thin-skin that you feel compelled to give us three novellas a week defending a simple mistake.

I just sit back and laugh at all the anguish it causes you.

Nope. I'm a 100% happy and content PSU football fan. I have no complaints about the coach or the win loss record.
As I said, fans have always had the portal. If anything about PSU football motivates you to come here and constantly *****...be a Georgia Fan, Ohio State Fan or an Alabama Fan. With 100k faces in the crowd each week, you wouldn't be missed.

 

[BostonNit]

game day might be less than one percent of what a prominent college HFC needs to master in today's climate.

Hey, I'm not trying to be antagonistic, but isn't the stuff that happens ON the field what enables coaches to do all the other stuff on any sustained basis?

Would Joepa had been able to have such a profound impact on the University and so many young men, built a library wing, raise half a billion dollars for the endowment fund, etc. for 50 years if he had started his career by going 3-8 every year? He would've been gone long before anything that made him Joepa ever even happened.

So it's a balance, and the X's and O's and game day are still incredibly important and a HUGE part of what a coach needs to understand and master, no?

No argument that it's incredibly more demanding to be a coach now than 50 years ago... Even the X's and O's are tougher now. But let's not poo poo the importance of focus on game day by Franklin and all coaches. I'd never be able to assign a percentage to it but man it's way way higher than 1% of what they need to know if they want to do all the other stuff. Plenty of admin staff and advisors to manage the nuts and bolts of the other stuff. It's not like Franklin is setting up QuickBooks to pay football invoices, etc.

The breadth of knowledge a coach must have is inarguably wider than ever, but it all comes down to GameDay and that's what drives/enables everything else, and that's way more than 1%, unless you were just throwing that out there for emphasis.

 

[marshall23]

Hey, I'm not trying to be antagonistic, but isn't the stuff that happens ON the field what enables coaches to do all the other stuff on any sustained basis?

Would Joepa had been able to have such a profound impact on the University and so many young men, built a library wing, raise half a billion dollars for the endowment fund, etc. for 50 years if he had started his career by going 3-8 every year? He would've been gone long before anything that made him Joepa ever even happened.

So it's a balance, and the X's and O's and game day are still incredibly important and a HUGE part of what a coach needs to understand and master, no?

No argument that it's incredibly more demanding to be a coach now than 50 years ago... Even the X's and O's are tougher now. But let's not poo poo the importance of focus on game day by Franklin and all coaches. I'd never be able to assign a percentage to it but man it's way way higher than 1% of what they need to know if they want to do all the other stuff. Plenty of admin staff and advisors to manage the nuts and bolts of the other stuff. It's not like Franklin is setting up QuickBooks to pay football invoices, etc.

The breadth of knowledge a coach must have is inarguably wider than ever, but it all comes down to GameDay and that's what drives/enables everything else, and that's way more than 1%, unless you were just throwing that out there for emphasis.

When it comes to sustained success, IMO proper administration and philosophy trump game day decisions in importance. One could argue chicken or egg. My experience tells me that its egg. Certainly sustained success purchases credibility. What is done with that may differ from coach to coach. Joe had the vision to use his currency for the betterment of the entire university.
In any event, a coach must win enough, in order to stay long enough, to teach....."Woody Hayes"

As an athletic administrator, I will pick the coach that does things the right way over the one who wins and cuts corners every day of the week.

 

[Moogy]

Nope. I'm a 100% happy and content PSU football fan. I have no complaints about the coach or the win loss record.
As I said, fans have always had the portal. If anything about PSU football motivates you to come here and constantly *****...be a Georgia Fan, Ohio State Fan or an Alabama Fan. With 100k faces in the crowd each week, you wouldn't be missed.

People who consistently b!tch about everything are annoying, no doubt. People who consistently b!tch about the people who b!tch about everything are equally as annoying. Yet, you're perfectly content to act as you act, being the latter type of person ... so what makes you think the former type of person would act differently than you and just move on? You're both the same type of individual, with the same annoying "personality tic" ... just with a different perspective.

 

[marshall23]

I have a question I’d like to ask, regarding your post above about JF’s salary. First off it’s what the present market calls for, and more power to him. But this is a hypothetical that one day coaches may face. How is it handled if at all?

Envision the following scenario, very similar to professional sports where many players make more money than the head coach or manager in baseball. And obviously more than most assistants. NIL continues to grow, becomes more prevalent and vast amounts of money are provided to the athlete instead of the coaches. ( Don’t say it will never happen, anything can happen much too often to our belated surprise).
How does a college coach maintain control in that regard? ( Texas A&M this past season may be an early precursor of the problem, and even there the salary distribution greatly favored the coaching staff).
Professional athletes in their 20’s and 30’s are a much different animal than a room full teenagers with excess money to burn, away from home for the first time with feelings of invincibility. And actually making more money than most assistant coaches on the staff. In such a case, lack of instant success would cause much quicker termination, because it’s easier and less costly to jettison one than 85.
That would be one hell of a situation to manage with I assume the head coach earning every penny of his mid to high seven figure income. Just food for thought in an increasingly complex world.

I may not have addressed your question regarding coaching compensation and how hierarchy might be impacted by burgeoning player income. I guess the only frame of reference I have is MLB baseball. Managers and coaches have long been paid a pittance compared to the players. As long as coaches/managers determine playing time, I think it will work.
Of course that opens another discussion, as in baseball, lineups are often recently dictated by Analytics Dept.
Interestingly enough, it doesn't keep fans from attacking their manager for loses. LOL

 

[marshall23]

People who consistently b!tch about everything are annoying, no doubt. People who consistently b!tch about the people who b!tch about everything are equally as annoying. Yet, you're perfectly content to act as you act, being the latter type of person ... so what makes you think the former type of person would act differently than you and just move on? You're both the same type of individual, with the same annoying "personality tic" ... just with a different perspective.

Moogy

 

[BostonNit]

I may not have addressed your question regarding coaching compensation and how hierarchy might be impacted by burgeoning player income. I guess the only frame of reference I have is MLB baseball. Managers and coaches have long been paid a pittance compared to the players. As long as coaches/managers determine playing time, I think it will work.
Of course that opens another discussion, as in baseball, lineups are often recently dictated by Analytics Dept.
Interestingly enough, it doesn't keep fans from attacking their manager for loses. LOL

I saw Bill Walsh speak at a conference one time and the underlying theme he spoke to was how to manage not only salaries but also egos. He had a team with Joe Montana, Steve Young, Jerry Rice, Roger Craig, John Taylor, etc.

A different era and perhaps an extra zero or two now on compensation but the problem has been around for a long time in high performing organizations.

I just never thought we'd see the day when college coaches had to worry about it. But here we are.