The Wren contract

grandjason · August 3, 2016

First let me say I'm new to the board and excited about a new era of athletics at North Texas! Baker has an impressive resume' and from all accounts will reshape athletics here! With all that being said, has his contract been released? I'm assuming we're paying him somewhere in the $500,000/year category? Buyout clause? I'm fine losing him to a P5 school a few years down the line, just curious what the particulars are.

Harry · August 3, 2016

2 minutes ago, grandjason said:

First let me say I'm new to the board and excited about a new era of athletics at North Texas! Baker has an impressive resume' and from all accounts will reshape athletics here! With all that being said, has his contract been released? I'm assuming we're paying him somewhere in the $500,000/year category? Buyout clause? I'm fine losing him to a P5 school a few years down the line, just curious what the particulars are.

First welcome to the site! I do not yet have the particulars on the contract however we know that for the term of the contract guarantee we are talking north of $1 Million since it required BORegents approval. I believe that RV was in the range of $350 which actually not bad when compared to other C-USA level conference AD's. I would be thrilled to see it at the $500K level as that would be a huge step forward for North Texas. I believe President Smatresk is somewhere in the 500-600K range and of course Jackson pulls down more.

Another thing I hope they did was put a clause in his contract that he would be here for a minimum period of time or have to relinquish some of the base compensation. I personally think you need an AD in our situation for at least 3 years hopefully longer. That said, if say a Missouri or p5 comes calling in a couple of years they would easily pay any penalties that we had in the contract anyhow. Personally, I am ok with losing anyone to a p5 as they have resources we don't. I do have a problem when we lose people to other G5's. That should not happen often unless its a rich G5 that has money to burn like SMU.

I know for many of us, these compensation numbers seem crazy but here's the deal. If you want to play in the big leagues you have to pay the money. For FAR too long we have played this game of talking up our commitments when they were in reality just getting us to the delta. Given our size and the importance of athletics in our future we NEED to increase the level of candidates we can attract. This also goes to the athletic staff and coaches. We all know the turnover in the lower-mid level positions there have been atrocious. My hope is that they will reorganize the entire athletic department structure and pay competitively. Quit trying to treat the athletic department like faculty and more like a business. Hire the social media and graphic art folks that can take advantage of our strength in numbers through social media.

Wag Tag · August 3, 2016

14 minutes ago, grandjason said:

First let me say I'm new to the board and excited about a new era of athletics at North Texas! Baker has an impressive resume' and from all accounts will reshape athletics here! With all that being said, has his contract been released? I'm assuming we're paying him somewhere in the $500,000/year category? Buyout clause? I'm fine losing him to a P5 school a few years down the line, just curious what the particulars are.

I would b shocked if it is that high, although ok with it. RV at $300 was in the middle of D1 AD pay! "F" potential GMG

FirefightnRick · August 3, 2016

I'd love to read that his buy out by any P5 requires a 1 for 1 in football.

Rick

Army of Dad · August 3, 2016

49 minutes ago, grandjason said:

First let me say I'm new to the board and excited about a new era of athletics at North Texas! Baker has an impressive resume' and from all accounts will reshape athletics here! With all that being said, has his contract been released? I'm assuming we're paying him somewhere in the $500,000/year category? Buyout clause? I'm fine losing him to a P5 school a few years down the line, just curious what the particulars are.

It will be subject to s FOIA request from Vito at some point soon. We should have the details by late September if it's not official until 8/22.

well that was faster than I thought, 375k.

Edited August 3, 2016 by Army of Dad

grandjason · August 3, 2016

26 minutes ago, Harry said:

First welcome to the site! I do not yet have the particulars on the contract however we know that for the term of the contract guarantee we are talking north of $1 Million since it required BORegents approval. I believe that RV was in the range of $350 which actually not bad when compared to other C-USA level conference AD's. I would be thrilled to see it at the $500K level as that would be a huge step forward for North Texas. I believe President Smatresk is somewhere in the 500-600K range and of course Jackson pulls down more.

Another thing I hope they did was put a clause in his contract that he would be here for a minimum period of time or have to relinquish some of the base compensation. I personally think you need an AD in our situation for at least 3 years hopefully longer. That said, if say a Missouri or p5 comes calling in a couple of years they would easily pay any penalties that we had in the contract anyhow. Personally, I am ok with losing anyone to a p5 as they have resources we don't. I do have a problem when we lose people to other G5's. That should not happen often unless its a rich G5 that has money to burn like SMU.

I know for many of us, these compensation numbers seem crazy but here's the deal. If you want to play in the big leagues you have to pay the money. For FAR too long we have played this game of talking up our commitments when they were in reality just getting us to the delta. Given our size and the importance of athletics in our future we NEED to increase the level of candidates we can attract. This also goes to the athletic staff and coaches. We all know the turnover in the lower-mid level positions there have been atrocious. My hope is that they will reorganize the entire athletic department structure and pay competitively. Quit trying to treat the athletic department like faculty and more like a business. Hire the social media and graphic art folks that can take advantage of our strength in numbers through social media.

I completely agree...If we want quality athletics, we need to pay accordingly! I think President Smatresk is showing that kind of commitment to the University and athletics department. I'm assuming Baker's salary is significantly higher based on the title change. In addition, Baker's salary at Mizzou was $280,000.00.