humanrefutation wrote:Is another school going to swoop in and grab Wojo? Probably not - and even if that happens, you're probably not complaining.
Is Wojo going to agitate to the press about it? Probably not - he knows that wouldn't have been a good look for him and that would hurt him with recruiting.
Are you going to lose recruits? Maybe. The best ones MU goes after aren't probably planning to be there for four years, though, and besides, kids aren't naive enough to believe that college coaches don't get fired/leave/resign. But yes, perhaps it tips the balance for a recruit.
I'll bring Wisconsin back in because it's relevant in this particular case.
Imagine if Gard had this season and we didn't have great recruiting classes coming in after? We're stuck in a middle ground.
Woj may be proving he's not worth keeping but he just scored more great recruits. That's not a bad thing...even if it is leftovers that you try to convince to stay for the next guy. Stability is huge in college sports.
humanrefutation wrote:The best case scenario is what you described - you sign him at a cheaper rate and that convinces recruits to come and you win big. I don't think the cheaper rate is even that relevant in that situation, though, because if Wojo turns MU into a top 10-15 program, bigger programs will be circling and you'll have to renegotiate his deal to keep him, anyway. So either you pay him on the front end or you pay him on the back end.
This is still a benefit. Generally the other school will have to pay to pull the coach away. Most times, it's a large amount. So now you have both the other school and the coach still at a bit of a leverage point. It's not great, but it's something.
And again I'll go to some professional sport discussions. Namely baseball because, like NCAA coaching, there is no salary cap.
For every Jacoby Ellsbury and Giancarlo Stanton (now looking bad) there are 2-3 great mega-contracts that they have. If you have the cash to spend and are allowed to spend it, you can't be afraid to dip your toe in the water because you're worried about sunk costs. Firing Woj will likely be a drop in the bucket for a big-time basketball program like Marquette.