Whether you like it not, LP is about to be a very rich man.
LP about to get that bag!
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Pay the man.
Quite an architect job with this year's team.
I like what he's doing on the recruiting trail as well.
Quite an architect job with this year's team.
I like what he's doing on the recruiting trail as well.
This team was picked to be last. He's just getting started... let's be realistic here.
Yes, I know, but expectations change. If you had told anyone at the beginning of the year that we would finish in the middle of the conference, we'd have snatched that up. If, at this point in the season, we slide down to middle of the conference, it will feel disappointing.
Definitely give him a raise - do not make the buyout so big that he can't be fired.
He's clearly shown he has a great upside, however, we know nothing about the possibility of sustained success. (Remember Frank had a Final Four upside.)
I still think we should let one coach get poached. USC always falls for the "someone is coming for your recently successful coach" narrative and enters into one-sided, ridiculous contracts. So far it has never been true.
He's clearly shown he has a great upside, however, we know nothing about the possibility of sustained success. (Remember Frank had a Final Four upside.)
I still think we should let one coach get poached. USC always falls for the "someone is coming for your recently successful coach" narrative and enters into one-sided, ridiculous contracts. So far it has never been true.
We were close to losing Dawn.
I can't imagine the meltdown here if RT let LP walk and he turns OSU into a national power. My goodness. You don't let people you believe in walk. And you don't want to give people you believe in reason to look around. The only problem I have with RT is the Muschamp guaranteed contract. I don't think anyone could have foreseen the fall off after our FF run.
Do we "believe" in him yet? Like "all in?" I believe he has had a tremendous 24 game stretch (I'm specifically excluding the last two games). A stretch that shows he's got a lot of promise. But let's not believe that he's an actual candidate anywhere because a lazy sportswriter made a list.
If he goes 2-3 or 1-4 down the stretch, he's a nice story, but literally not a candidate anywhere. And really, big teams will want to see winning at a high major over the course of several years, not just one. There will be so many candidates out there with multiple years of success (McDermott at Creighton will probably get OSU, unless Michigan opens as well) - to think Paris will be a legit candidate at a place like Ohio State is the type of thinking that gets USC locked into bad contracts after prematurely going all in on a coach has a little success.
Pay him for sure - don't bind the future of Carolina basketball to him just yet.
Enough to not have him in the cellar of the SEC, sure. Enough to have him in the top half of the SEC, sure. It's more than just this year though. I could see the improvement in our level of play last year. I was crushed on this board for saying it. I was told people like me are why USC has been a joke, bc we always accept mediocrity. I didn't care what the record said. You could tell a better brand of bball was on the court. It was just a matter of getting players. He's taken a couple of Martin hold overs, and a group of guys with mediocre-average success in other programs and built a top 4 SEC team, in a year where the SEC is REALLY good. You don't know if he's a candidate anywhere or not. BetOhio.com has him at the 4th highest odds to land at OSU. Sportsline.com has him at the highest odds.
I wouldn't give him a guaranteed contract, but I would make him very, very comfortable.
Such is the nature of modern college athletics. Nobody undergoes a proving period any longer because everyone is desperate to find the next big thing and money is no longer a question at most major programs. If a coach shows the slightest bit of promise, even after one season, vultures will be circling. There is no "let's give him 2 or 3 seasons" to see if his success is sustainable. Schools are basically forced to overpay because if they don't, someone else will.
Paris is making $2.2 million a year now. While that is lowest in the SEC, it is still a ton of money. Give him a raise to around $3 million and an extension and add some bonuses for winning the SEC, making the NCAA tournament, etc. such that he could make close to $4 million if he won a championship of some kind and/or got to the final four. A coach having a good year shouldn't make the AD throw open the vault doors to him.
That will only work if Paris' aim is not to get the most money possible. If he gets us to the tournament and wins a game, someone will be ready to pay him considerably more than $3 million. At a school like OSU, it doesn't even matter if that's overpaying. If it doesn't work out, so what? They've got the money.
With NIL, coaches are now learning from the players how to play the money game.
Showing LP some love is not a guarantee but not showing some love is dangerous.
Showing LP some love is not a guarantee but not showing some love is dangerous.
You know what, the real joker would be those who forget how much more eminent Ohio State is in every way than the U of SC. The woods are full of people who would do better there than here because of their heritage and resources alone, including NIL superiority.
Let it shake out. We could easily be in the midst of a 6-game skid that would drop us to 9-8 in conference play.
Absolutely. It is the trajectory of the program that counts. Just a couple of strong games heading out, and the progress is substantial.
I think so. There was some thought that it could be for the WR coach. Unless the WR coach is going to be making more than $600K, it's not that bc anything under $600K doesn't require board vote. On the other hand, if it is WR coach, then Beamer got someone in fairly high demand.
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I think it's $600k TCV, not $600k ACV. A two year deal for a WR coach would probably be >$600k TCV.
Good point. Stepp was on a one year deal so I just assumed the replacement would be. But obviously, that's not certain.
Some of you ppl are a trip. I like Paris but he hasn't proven anything yet. He's definitely having a nice year but we don't know if he's real or just a one-year wonder like Frank. Time will tell. Plenty of coaches have done fine here, but @KingWard said it best when comparing SC to tOSU. We haven't won the SEC since Fogler, and nobody is winning a natty here.
Unpopular but rational take. Ideally, you'd see if a guy can maintain his success before making a big change in his pay.
Unfortunately, the reality is, even though he's only in his 2nd year here and having his first good year, if we don't pay him, someone else will gladly come along and offer him a big payday.
He's exceeded expectations in his first two years. He's got a chance to win the SEC regular season for the first time in 18 years. He's proven he deserves to be paid better than last in the conference. He shouldn't be penalized for Frank Martin's failures.
This. Can you imagine the black eye on this program for refusing to get a guy out of the cellar of the conference so he goes somewhere else and turns them into a power?
I think not only has Lamont impressed people with the on court product but he’s handled himself and represented Carolina in a first class manner.I hear comments from other fan bases around the SEC about how they like Lamont.
At some point you have to take stock and just ask yourself the question ,Do we have the right guy?.If your answer is yes pay him and move on.In the grand scheme of things are you willing to let what appears to be an outstanding coach get away because of mistakes made with Will Muschamp.
Stay tuned.
At some point you have to take stock and just ask yourself the question ,Do we have the right guy?.If your answer is yes pay him and move on.In the grand scheme of things are you willing to let what appears to be an outstanding coach get away because of mistakes made with Will Muschamp.
Stay tuned.
When I saw that blurb on Google this morning about the Limestone coach (I have seen nothing since), they were talking about the BOT meeting in conjunction with that. Of course, one thing could be totally unrelated to the other.
I would give him a $1.2 million raise, which would take him right to the middle of the league, which I think is fair based on 2 seasons of results (with 1 good season). But I would make it incentive-laden with hefty bonuses for the SEC regular season title, SECT championship, making the NCAAT and then advancing to round of 32 etc. Also, would add language with additional raises to kick in based on meeting certain goals.
I like your thoughts, but the cyclical nature of coaching contracts makes it unlikely to work. If we don't put an offer together commensurate with what a program trying to hire a hot major conference sitting head coach / possible national coach of the year would put together, we'll lose him.
If we succeed in keeping Paris and he thrn underperforms his contract, the cycle of other coaches in the league getting hot and getting raises will push his new compensation back towards the midpoint.
Such is the cycle that has pushed head coaching pay increases far ahead of other job classifications.
It's tricky. As hard it would be, I think we have to avoid getting caught up in a bidding war with another program.
There's always a balance of paying for what he's done vs paying him for what you think he'll do. I think we would be foolish to go over $4 million/year based on results to date. That's why I think raises built into the contract is sensible and fair. We'll raise you from $2.2 million to $3.4 million next year. Make the NCAAT again next year and get a $500,000 raise. That demonstrates that we are committed to paying him commensurate with his results, and you can't get more fair than that.
I dunno. I know that's not how it's going to go, but I don't think it's wise to overpay based on results to date just to keep him from going somewhere else. We're so desperate for success in a men's sport, though, we probably will end up overpaying if we have to.
I will say this about Lamont. If this was his first job. after this past season, I'd ask myself if this season is a fluke. The fact that he built Chattanooga into a winner prior to coming here tells me that Lamont Paris is a winner. He is just 49 and thus gives us the opportunity to have a coach who could make USC into a nationally relevant men's basketball powerhouse for the next 20 years. You don't let someone like that get away. You just don't.
Now compare him to Shane Beamer. Shane had a good 2nd year here. But, that 2nd year isolated into 2 November games, Tennessee and Clemson. The games before that were OK, but nothing to crow about. Paris, on the other hand, has had his team rolling during the course of the entire season, thus far. If we are honest, other than those 2 November games, we don't know whether Beamer is a bummer or not. He does not have prior experience as a successful Head Coach. With Lamont Paris, we have evidence that he is the real deal.
If I had to make a guess, he will be raised to be around the Top 20, around #20, in paid men's basketball coaches. I'd be fine with that and consider that reasonable.
Now compare him to Shane Beamer. Shane had a good 2nd year here. But, that 2nd year isolated into 2 November games, Tennessee and Clemson. The games before that were OK, but nothing to crow about. Paris, on the other hand, has had his team rolling during the course of the entire season, thus far. If we are honest, other than those 2 November games, we don't know whether Beamer is a bummer or not. He does not have prior experience as a successful Head Coach. With Lamont Paris, we have evidence that he is the real deal.
If I had to make a guess, he will be raised to be around the Top 20, around #20, in paid men's basketball coaches. I'd be fine with that and consider that reasonable.
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It's true, I think you take into consideration what he did at Chattanooga. But then you've got the Horn factor. All arrows were pointing up for him. He'd turned WKU into a consistent winner and took them to the Sweet 16. Came here and took us to 21-10 (10-6) with our best conference record in 12 seasons in his first season. So you have somewhat the same thing. Proven winner at previous program with a quick turnaround here. Then the bottom fell out.
It's just the nature of the beast that you have to overpay to keep promising coaches.
If he is paid to be around the 20th paid men's basketball coaches in the nation, would anyone consider that unreasonable? I wouldn't?
Lamont seems like a reasonable guy. If I were R.T., I would have sit him down to understand what he wants. Does he want to be here and is he interested in other opportunities?
If his answer is, "this is where I want to be", you ask him what is needed to lock him for x number of years. Again, i think he'll reasonable and say something like "I want to be in the top third of SEC coaches. "Done" is what should come out of Ray's mouth. Then Ray will need to work with his agent to formalize.
If he says he's seriously looking elsewhere, Ray needs to make some tough decisions. I really don't think it will go in this direction and I think Ray already knows he wants to be here. Give him a contract in the top 3rd of the conference and I think he'll be good.
I'd put him squarely in the top 5 in the league. The success he's having isn't b/c of one stud. They're not fluke wins. We've got 4 guys averaging double digit points. We were missing our most talented player for the first 6 weeks. Now Stute has missed several games. Doesn't matter. He keeps getting this team ready. Seeing guys like Meechie develop into a legit SEC starter, and CMB blossoming as a TF is great. I wrote Meechie off last year. I said LP needs to hit the portal to replace him. Nope. He just developed him into a legit player. Look at the improvement in Gray's game. The dude is just a damn ball coach. I'd load him up with incentives on top of that as well.
I was thinking that as well. He just doesn't come across like the kind of guy who is out for a money grab.
I understand the comparison, I don't think Horn's team sniffed the Top 25. And I know he did not make the NCAA Tournament that season. Did he take his team on the road and beat highly ranked teams like Kentucky and Tennessee? I don't recall. Most personnel decisions are gambles. You just have to hope you are taking a good one. I've a hunch this is a good one.
The problem may be his agent. They are all about money grabs. Need to get to LP one on one. LP has the ultimate yea or nay with the agent. If LP defers to his agent, this could get ugly from a $$ standpoint.