I put together the below list, which shows how long each coach is under contract until and what the buyout would be if they were fired at the end of this season. I was curious which, if any, coaches do you think are on the hot seat?

Personally, I think Hawkins is the only one in real danger. His contract is up and I just don't see how they could possibly give him a multi-year extension. Murphy likely would have needed to have a catastrophically bad season for EMU to buy him out with one year left on his deal. Montgomery has already achieved enough this year that his job is safe. Keno Davis just got a contract extension in September. Senderoff isn't going anywhere. Everyone else is pretty much relatively new still or has too much money left on their deal to be bought out.

Team.............Coach.......Contracted Until Buyout
WMU........Steve Hawkins...........2020…....….N/A
EMU.........Rob Murphy..............2021……....$315k
NIU.........Mark Montgomery.......2021……...$326K
CMU........Keno Davis................2024…...….$500k
Kent........Rob Senderoff...........2022....…….$580K
UB..........Jim Whitesell.............2024....…….$600K
Ball St.....James Whitford..........2022....…….$630k
Miami......Jack Owens ..............2022..……....$700K
OU..........Jeff Boals..................2024....…….$850K
Akron.......John Groce...............2023....…….$1.2M
BGSU.......Michael Huger...........2024....…….$1.6M
UT...........Tod Kowalczyk..........2026....…….$2M

Yeah.... Its only Hawkins and Murphy who are possibly on the hot seat. Hawkins could just retire. Does EMU want a dead end coach for 2021???

CMU fans don't like Keno... I'm not sure how safe his job is

Dear utpotts,
Eastern does not have the funds to pay off Murphy, and then hire a new coach at approximately the same salary. That's a $630,000 hit.
Murphy will be around for one more year, and then let go. Our basketball program will be down again next season.

(02-28-2020 08:07 PM)UofToledoFans Wrote:  CMU fans don't like Keno... I'm not sure how safe his job is

The fact he just signed a 4 year extension 6 months ago is why I feel his job is safe. His contract would have otherwise ended at the end of this season. Keno being fired would be the AD admitting he made a huge blunder, which I doubt he wants to do.

How did you figure the buyout number? Just because a coach has a $550,000 salary and 2 years left does not mean his buyout number is $1,100,000. Some AD's put lower buyout numbers into the last 2 or 3 years of a 5 year contract to protect themselves. I know Owens buyout number is lower than what you listed, and I would guess that might be true of some of the others.

(02-28-2020 10:19 PM)DICK Wrote:  How did you figure the buyout number? Just because a coach has a $550,000 salary and 2 years left does not mean his buyout number is $1,100,000. Some AD's put lower buyout numbers into the last 2 or 3 years of a 5 year contract to protect themselves. I know Owens buyout number is lower than what you listed, and I would guess that might be true of some of the others.

I got most the data here. Owens wasn't listed so I pulled that from another article.

https://watchstadium.com/college-basketb...0-24-2019/

Thanks, Kreed, for providing the data, which shows how laughable it is that a handful of fans on the Toledo board are calling for Kowalczyk to be fired.

(02-29-2020 10:13 AM)Dwight Wrote:  Thanks, Kreed, for providing the data, which shows how laughable it is that a handful of fans on the Toledo board are calling for Kowalczyk to be fired.

If we were 0-30 to end the year would it be crazy? The contract going thru 2026 doesn't mean he shouldn't be fired. It just means he is safe by the terms of his contract.

(02-28-2020 02:55 PM)kreed5120 Wrote:  I put together the below list, which shows how long each coach is under contract until and what the buyout would be if they were fired at the end of this season. I was curious which, if any, coaches do you think are on the hot seat?

Personally, I think Hawkins is the only one in real danger. His contract is up and I just don't see how they could possibly give him a multi-year extension. Murphy likely would have needed to have a catastrophically bad season for EMU to buy him out with one year left on his deal. Montgomery has already achieved enough this year that his job is safe. Keno Davis just got a contract extension in September. Senderoff isn't going anywhere. Everyone else is pretty much relatively new still or has too much money left on their deal to be bought out.

Team.............Coach.......Contracted Until Buyout
WMU........Steve Hawkins...........2020…....….N/A
EMU.........Rob Murphy..............2021……....$315k
NIU.........Mark Montgomery.......2021……...$326K
CMU........Keno Davis................2024…...….$500k
Kent........Rob Senderoff...........2022....…….$580K
UB..........Jim Whitesell.............2024....…….$600K
Ball St.....James Whitford..........2022....…….$630k
Miami......Jack Owens ..............2022..……....$700K
OU..........Jeff Boals..................2024....…….$850K
Akron.......John Groce...............2023....…….$1.2M
BGSU.......Michael Huger...........2024....…….$1.6M
UT...........Tod Kowalczyk..........2026....…….$2M

Hawk is probably going to go after this year. It's somewhat unfortunate as the guy has a respectable career record and builds his team with four year guys, unlike EMU and CMU who are transfer hungry. Nevertheless it looks like the game may have passed him by and WMU will probably prosper when they hire the next Nate Oats, subsequently disrupting the old-boy network of MAC West coaches. Monty at NIU gets his turn this year to hang a Division Champ banner with likely the fourth or fifth best record in the conference. It only took him NINE years to achieve an over .500 record in the MAC. Congrats Monty.

(02-29-2020 11:01 AM)UofToledoFans Wrote:  

(02-29-2020 10:13 AM)Dwight Wrote:  Thanks, Kreed, for providing the data, which shows how laughable it is that a handful of fans on the Toledo board are calling for Kowalczyk to be fired.

If we were 0-30 to end the year would it be crazy? The contract going thru 2026 doesn't mean he shouldn't be fired. It just means he is safe by the terms of his contract.

If we were 0-30 it would be less crazy. Of course, we're not 0-30. And yes, the contract going through 2026 does mean he shouldn't be fired, since it would be highly irresponsible for the university to throw away $2 million.

Yeah, anything more than ~500k starts reaching irresponsible buyout territory. The real question is how did he get a 100% guaranteed contract through 2026?

(02-29-2020 09:49 PM)Dwight Wrote:  

(02-29-2020 11:01 AM)UofToledoFans Wrote:  

(02-29-2020 10:13 AM)Dwight Wrote:  Thanks, Kreed, for providing the data, which shows how laughable it is that a handful of fans on the Toledo board are calling for Kowalczyk to be fired.

If we were 0-30 to end the year would it be crazy? The contract going thru 2026 doesn't mean he shouldn't be fired. It just means he is safe by the terms of his contract.

If we were 0-30 it would be less crazy. Of course, we're not 0-30. And yes, the contract going through 2026 does mean he shouldn't be fired, since it would be highly irresponsible for the university to throw away $2 million.

The university wouldn’t be throwing away any money. My guess is the guys on our board who want him gone would pony up the $2 mill.

WMU/EMU in play for NDSU's Dave Richman? 22+ wins last couple years, NCAA tournament win. NDSU's Saul Phillips went to Ohio.
Maybe this is the time for Richman's shot at 1 of those. You could save money on him as well since he only makes $160k right now. at $275-300k he'd be all over it

(03-02-2020 04:59 PM)lakesbison Wrote:  WMU/EMU in play for NDSU's Dave Richman? 22+ wins last couple years, NCAA tournament win. NDSU's Saul Phillips went to Ohio.
Maybe this is the time for Richman's shot at 1 of those. You could save money on him as well since he only makes $160k right now. at $275-300k he'd be all over it

It's probably way too soon to speculate. The last basketball coach WMU hired was 17 years ago so it's hard to say what the current AD would value. It looks like Richman signed a 2 year extension prior to this season bringing his base pay to $230k. Any idea what his buyout is? When Ohio signed Saul he signed for something in the neighborhood of $500k and was one of the highest paid coaches in the MAC. EMU and WMU haven't shown the willingness to invest that type of money into their basketball program thus far.

not much of a buyout,

A lot Bronco fans are hoping to "bring home" this guy:
https://mgoblue.com/staff-directory/sadd...ngton/1579

(03-03-2020 11:22 AM)Motown Bronco Wrote:  A lot Bronco fans are hoping to "bring home" this guy:
https://mgoblue.com/staff-directory/sadd...ngton/1579

I can't believe it was 20 years ago that he was a player. Man, time flies.

He was rumored to be leaving (or even taking over U Michigan) when Beline left. He could 'skip over' the MAC.

(03-03-2020 11:22 AM)Motown Bronco Wrote:  A lot Bronco fans are hoping to "bring home" this guy:
https://mgoblue.com/staff-directory/sadd...ngton/1579

That is a damn good resume. He has earned a shot as a head coach.