What's the big obsession with Fritz?

[Withers940]

They don't have the money to do that. They have a 22,000 seat stadium and are located in the middle of nowhere.

To be fair, We have a 30,000 seat stadium located on campus that we cant fill

[Eagle-96]

Where are we getting this?  I could see us going above $800k, with incentives such as a bowl win and top 25 ranking to potentially bump it above a million.  But I don't see any way we're getting to the $1.2-1.5 million range that we would need to triple Fritz's salary.  Maybe you know something I don't?

I don't have anymore information than any of the rest of us. Just saying that we could approach tripling and be in the 1 million range which would be 2.5 times his current salary. I just don't think 900K to 1 million is far fetched for us now. I really don't.

[Mean Green 93-98]

I don't have anymore information than any of the rest of us. Just saying that we could approach tripling and be in the 1 million range which would be 2.5 times his current salary. I just don't think 900K to 1 million is far fetched for us now. I really don't.

According to the USA Today database, his salary is $500k base.  If I'm reading it right, he has another $287k of potential bonuses on top of that.

He has a salary of guaranteed $300,000 per year for four years. We could easily double, or triple that.

My point is that even as small as we are in the FBS world, we have a lot more money than GSU.

If they wanted to keep him badly enough, I have a feeling they could find the money.

Not sure where you're getting $300k.

[GrayEagle]

Wouldn't we also have to buy out the remainder of Fritz' contract?  That would be around $1.2 million in itself.  It seems as if tripling his salary would be out of the question but maybe doubling his salary is possible.  

This hire has to be right.  I'm sure Smatresk understands this as well and will do whatever he can toward success without jeopardizing UNT's well-being.  

I believe that Willie Fritz and Houston Nutt (if he has the fire in his belly) are the two best possibilities to get it right.  If we had had a so-so record and just looking for improvement then I'd prefer an up-and-coming coordinator.  But, I believe that it's too big a gamble for this particular hire.  

 

[ValleyBoy]

As a fan of Georgia Southern I know like many other GS fans that other schools will come  looking at Fritz as HC for there school.  It is what it is.  When that times comes I know our AD will make a counter offer such as was made when Army hired our former HC.

[MeanGreenTexan]

Wouldn't we also have to buy out the remainder of Fritz' contract?  That would be around $1.2 million in itself.  It seems as if tripling his salary would be out of the question but maybe doubling his salary is possible.  

This hire has to be right.  I'm sure Smatresk understands this as well and will do whatever he can toward success without jeopardizing UNT's well-being.  

I believe that Willie Fritz and Houston Nutt (if he has the fire in his belly) are the two best possibilities to get it right.  If we had had a so-so record and just looking for improvement then I'd prefer an up-and-coming coordinator.  But, I believe that it's too big a gamble for this particular hire.  

 

That kind of buyout isn't the same as termination.  
Usually, there is a buyout for the coach if they take a different job... something like 1 year of their base salary.  
The coach is on the hook for it, but most times, the team hiring said coach pays it for him.
I'd still like to know what that amount is for Fritz.

[Cerebus]

He has a salary of guaranteed $300,000 per year for four years. We could easily double, or triple that.

My point is that even as small as we are in the FBS world, we have a lot more money than GSU.

Out of the candidates bandied about Fritz is probably my favorite.  The reason i have doubts about him coming here is that he has already checked off the "winning HC at a g5 school" box.

He's a college coach.  College coaches want the money and fame from coaching at a big P5 school.  There are many different ways to get there, and Fritz is well on his way.  He has built a successful program where he is.  Yes, NT can offer him more money in the short term, but there is a big risk.  

He can stay where he is and continue to win, a P5 slot will open for him sooner or later.  Or he can jump to NT and take the chance of being next in a long line of head coaches who were fired here and never head coached anywhere again.   

Can we offer Fritz enough money to come here and take that risk, when he just has to stay doing what he is doing to get a P5 job?  Maybe, but I guess it would take $1.2M or so for that risk to be worth it to him.

[UNTFan23]

What's always so much fun to watch with any coaching hire is that fans have their list of favorites.  However, many times a completely different coach is hired.  I don't bother with stuff like this as I have never ever picked the winning horse in these races.

[Mean Green 93-98]

He can stay where he is and continue to win, a P5 slot will open for him sooner or later.  

I agree 100% with everything else in your post, but I'm not so sure about this.  He is 55 years old.  How often do P5's hire coaches in their upper 50's and up who have never coached at the P5 level before?  He would make a very good candidate at the end of this year, but it seems to me that his odds of going to a P5 drop significantly every following year, almost regardless of how he does.

[Eagle-96]

Fritz gets $300K base salary and $200K in radio/TV. He also has incentive bonuses as well.

[Cerebus]

  He is 55 years old.  How often do P5's hire coaches in their upper 50's and up who have never coached at the P5 level before?

That's a good point, it does happen but it is rare.  The truth of the matter is I think he will most likely get a lower end P5 job offer this year.   

However even if he doesn't what is his best move to get to that P5 level?  Stay at GaSo where he has built a program, a staff, and relationships with area HS coaches, or go to NT where many HC's have failed before?  We would need to bury him in money in order for him to overcome the desire to stay.

[Eagle-96]

$100K according to the Newsday base. He would get those extra incentives anywhere.

They bumped his radio and TV money up to $200K after last season.

http://savannahnow.com/sports/2015-02-26/georgia-southern-coach-willie-fritz-receive-100000-raise

[ValleyBoy]

$300k is base salary from the University system, which is a one year contract.  The additional pay and 3 years is from other sources from Georgia Southern.  His 3 year contract from other souces rolls back to 3 each year as long as the Eagles meet APR and win 7 games each year.

[foutsrouts]

Really? He is always on the sidelines wanting to be the coach. He has made this job a coaching graveyard. Like others have said, it will be extremely hard to get Fritz to come here. Having the architect of a coaching graveyard will absolutely affect whether a candidate like Fritz comes here or not.

Will it affect a 34 year old's coordinator's decision? Of course not.

But that isn't who Willie Fritz is. 

We were a coaching graveyard when he was still wetting the bed. Assuming he still doesn't of course.

He is a proven winner! I am for hiring a guy that has successful HC EXPERIENCE. The downside is name recognition and age. Also has he been out of the Texas recruiting to long?

He looks solid!

I don't see 55 as an issue unless we're looking for a Joe Paterno (cough, cough) like tenure. I'll take a nice 5 from anyone who can get us out of the gutter.

[Eagle-96]

That kind of buyout isn't the same as termination.  Usually, there is a buyout for the coach if they take a different job... something like 1 year of their base salary.  
The coach is on the hook for it, but most times, the team hiring said coach pays it for him.
I'd still like to know what that amount is for Fritz.

Quote from Georgia Southern AD:

“If Willie Fritz comes in here and he wins a million games and somebody comes and offers him a million dollars and he decides to leave this institution, at whatever point he decides that, he owes us the remainder of the university contract,” Kleinlein said.

 

The University contract is one year at $300K. The Georgia Southern University Athletic Foundation covers the remaining 3 years.

[untjim1995]

I think the two real questions from this thread are:

1.) Would Chuck Mangione have had as much success as the last four coaches here and can we afford him?

2.) Would we get sellouts at Apogee, finally, with a head coach that would gain the attention of the Music fans in Denton?

[MeanGreenTexan]

Quote from Georgia Southern AD:

“If Willie Fritz comes in here and he wins a million games and somebody comes and offers him a million dollars and he decides to leave this institution, at whatever point he decides that, he owes us the remainder of the university contract,” Kleinlein said.

 

The University contract is one year at $300K. The Georgia Southern University Athletic Foundation covers the remaining 3 years.

Should be do-able then to offer him in the neighborhood of $1mil/yr and have one (or a few) of our very generous donors fork over the $300k to GASo... if he's interested and he's indeed our #1 man.

[Eagle-96]

I think the two real questions from this thread are:

1.) Would Chuck Mangione have had as much success as the last four coaches here and can we afford him?

2.) Would we get sellouts at Apogee, finally, with a head coach that would gain the attention of the Music fans in Denton?

1. Hell Yes

2. Probably. wait, wait, wait, Hell Yes!

[ValleyBoy]

Should be do-able then to offer him in the neighborhood of $1mil/yr and have one (or a few) of our very generous donors fork over the $300k to GASo... if he's interested and he's indeed our #1 man.

Plus an additional $600k or $900  to the  Georgia Southern University Athletic Foundation.  Fritz has a contract with them also that has a buyout clause.

[EagleMBA]

I think the two real questions from this thread are:

1.) Would Chuck Mangione have had as much success as the last four coaches here and can we afford him?

2.) Would we get sellouts at Apogee, finally, with a head coach that would gain the attention of the Music fans in Denton?

Yes and Yes, because he can blow it with the best that ever played. 

[Ben Gooding]

apogee stadium and the facilities are not as big as a recruiting advantage as this fanbase and administration thinks.  It can break a tie vs a school with a stadium like fouts, but it isn't a deciding factor at all.

I agree but it's nothing but advantageous. At the end of the day, coaches recruit and not facilities. However, when bringing  in a coach facilities is a bigger draw than you think because it's a recruiting tool and is used as such. That is why Miami is not looked at as a "premiere" job because their facilities are either 1) not located anywhere close to campus or 2) the campus facilities they do have are nowhere close to par. Facilities matter with the right coach while making the right pitch to the recruit that has options. 

[foutsrouts]

I agree but it's nothing but advantageous. At the end of the day, coaches recruit and not facilities. However, when bringing  in a coach facilities is a bigger draw than you think because it's a recruiting tool and is used as such. That is why Miami is not looked at as a "premiere" job because their facilities are either 1) not located anywhere close to campus or 2) the campus facilities they do have are nowhere close to par. Facilities matter with the right coach while making the right pitch to the recruit that has options. 

I'm all for moving back to Fouts if it'll give us 5 national championships.

[Ben Gooding]

I'm all for moving back to Fouts if it'll give us 5 national championships.

And since the arms race began or the current age group (millennials) becoming college aged facilities are mattering more and more. Miami can't recruit their own backyard anywhere close to what they use to be able to do and that is the issue with the drop off of their program. Until they get their facilities up to par they will never win another ship again. 

[EagleGreen]

I won't pretend I know everything about the coaching world, so I'm hoping some of you can shine some light on the Willie Fritz obsession on this board. I get that he's had some success at other levels of college football, but how is he our #1 option? If he was so amazing, wouldn't he have already been hired by a P5 program? The guy is 55 years old, so he's not new to coaching, but we're acting like he's the next big thing.

 

They just lost to Appalachian State, pretty handily, 

[Harry]

They just lost to Appalachian State, pretty handily, 

maybe we consider the App state coach?