Seth Buyout - ideas?

[ipd054]

So if I read the contract correctly Seth gets 100% of salary for his contract if he is terminated. (By winning 7 games he triggered a 100% clause) If termed today it would be approximately $3 million.  It drops about $113,000 a month through January 2024. 

So knowing the cost, what are some ideas to raise $3M to alleviate our pain?  I wonder how much the Lovelace and McNutt families would pay to have their name removed from the IPF at this point.

[denton_days]

I'm curious if the financials are tied up because we are also trying to pay exit fees from C-USA if we're picked up. I have to imagine Wren is busy as hell talking to conferences, finding donors, figuring out what to do with Seth... I know people are talking about how Wren needs to be fired now, but I think he's really getting tested right now. This is the moment where he should rise to the occasion. 

[Side.Show.Joe]

3 minutes ago, denton_days said:

I'm curious if the financials are tied up because we are also trying to pay exit fees from C-USA if we're picked up. I have to imagine Wren is busy as hell talking to conferences, finding donors, figuring out what to do with Seth... I know people are talking about how Wren needs to be fired now, but I think he's really getting tested right now. This is the moment where he should rise to the occasion. 

Wren made this mess. It is his job to fix it. He better find the money or we need a different leader.

[Pavlovs Eagle]

35 minutes ago, denton_days said:

I have to imagine Wren is busy as hell talking to conferences, finding donors...

People on this board always make claims like this but I'm incredibly skeptical how much anyone at the AD's office is ever out there dialing for dollars.  I've given enough over the years that they might expect that I'd chip in a $1k to $5k for a good cause.  I realize my dollars are small in comparison to the Lovelace family and the rest of the suite owners at Apogee, but I'm shocked they don't seem to ever go out there and cold call a few thousand MGSF and UNT donors hoping to get $1k each.

I guess the big dog donors are so substantial that they don't even both with the second/third/fourth tier donors?  I can't imagine donations are really that plentiful.  I guarantee the number of donors between a $1m Lovelace donation and me giving $5k or even $1k is pathetically small.

[peanuts104]

[denton_days]

1 hour ago, Side.Show.Joe said:

Wren made this mess. It is his job to fix it. He better find the money or we need a different leader.

He's working on it, lol he's not god

[tmjerm]

55 minutes ago, Pavlovs Eagle said:

People on this board always make claims like this but I'm incredibly skeptical how much anyone at the AD's office is ever out there dialing for dollars.  I've given enough over the years that they might expect that I'd chip in a $1k to $5k for a good cause.  I realize my dollars are small in comparison to the Lovelace family and the rest of the suite owners at Apogee, but I'm shocked they don't seem to ever go out there and cold call a few thousand MGSF and UNT donors hoping to get $1k each.

I guess the big dog donors are so substantial that they don't even both with the second/third/fourth tier donors?  I can't imagine donations are really that plentiful.  I guarantee the number of donors between a $1m Lovelace donation and me giving $5k or even $1k is pathetically small.

I get phone calls and emails all the time for money.  Usually a student athlete calling rather than Wren.  You don’t get those calls?  

[xyresic]

This isn’t a money issue, I know that for a fact. Our AD has told all the major donors he is not a proponent of firing coaches in season. He also said this after Benford was not renewed. He thinks the stats show that nothing is gained by getting an interim coach. So the effort is better spent lining up the next coach and working on conference affiliation. People can clamor all the want but this is going to be what happens.

Edited October 16, 2021 by xyresic

[tmjerm]

16 minutes ago, xyresic said:

This isn’t a money issue, I know that for a fact. Our AD has told all the major donors he is not a proponent of firing coaches in season. He also said this after Benford was not renewed. He thinks the stats show that nothing is gained by getting an interim coach and effort is better spent lining up the next coach and working on conference affiliation. People can clamor all the want but this is going to be what happens.

Good post.  I’m so impatient and anxious for it to happen, but you’re right.  Just need to prepare our hearts for no relief until the season is over and then wait all off season for excitement and wins. 

[UNT Texas Hooligan]

17 minutes ago, xyresic said:

This isn’t a money issue, I know that for a fact. Our AD has told all the major donors he is not a proponent of firing coaches in season. He also said this after Benford was not renewed. He thinks the stats show that nothing is gained by getting an interim coach and effort is better spent lining up the next coach and working on conference affiliation. People can clamor all the want but this is going to be what happens.

Makes sense, but the flip side is fans getting fed and abandoning this program like many already have. This program already has a stigma of not caring and keeping coaches on because it is "easier", and something like this doesn't help. We real fans know that moves won't happen until the season is over but average Joe will probably look at it as carelessness and lack of ambition from the school and athletic department. Just look at some of the stuff being posted on the team's social media sites.

[Wag Tag]

If he should get hired as an P5 OC this salary would offset some of the buy out. I thought him getting a P5 OC job would be a slam dunk. Not so sure now.

[Udomann]

2 minutes ago, Wag Tag said:

If he should get hired as an P5 OC this salary would offset some of the buy out. I thought him getting a P5 OC job would be a slam dunk. Not so sure now.

There's no FBS school looking at him as a good hire. FCS maybe. Or high school...

[TripleGrad]

55 minutes ago, Udomann said:

There's no FBS school looking at him as a good hire. FCS maybe. Or high school...

And not the top high schools.

[NorthTexan95]

7 hours ago, UNT Texas Hooligan said:

Makes sense, but the flip side is fans getting fed and abandoning this program like many already have. This program already has a stigma of not caring and keeping coaches on because it is "easier", and something like this doesn't help. We real fans know that moves won't happen until the season is over but average Joe will probably look at it as carelessness and lack of ambition from the school and athletic department. Just look at some of the stuff being posted on the team's social media sites.

Don't worry about Average Joe fan.  They won't be any happier with an interim head coach.  Waiting till the end of the season won't change public opinion.  For anyone claiming a lack of ambition from the school has not noted the salaries of our coaches and our facility upgrades.  I agree with Wren that unless the head coach is having a huge negative impact on the kids on and off the field, it's probably best not to fire him.  

[southsideguy]

When did Wren say that?   That gives me hope SL won't be here next year.

[NorthTexasSportsNetwork]

9 hours ago, xyresic said:

This isn’t a money issue, I know that for a fact. Our AD has told all the major donors he is not a proponent of firing coaches in season. He also said this after Benford was not renewed. He thinks the stats show that nothing is gained by getting an interim coach. So the effort is better spent lining up the next coach and working on conference affiliation. People can clamor all the want but this is going to be what happens.

Well I think Wren is going to re-think those words if we continue to play like this

[Pavlovs Eagle]

10 hours ago, tmjerm said:

I get phone calls and emails all the time for money.  Usually a student athlete calling rather than Wren.  You don’t get those calls?  

1 call a few years ago thanking me for some money I'd donated outside of my required amount for CL season tix.

[97and03]

If we can’t afford to buyout coaches then we have no business talking about moving up conferences. 

[PlummMeanGreen]

3 hours ago, 97and03 said:

If we can’t afford to buyout coaches then we have no business talking about moving up conferences. 

But we can buyout this coach.  Remember RV’s 17 contributors & then add another 2 or 3 with the big buck$ to that group. 

It’s just a matter of UNT powers that be finally accepting our present predicament & then pulling the trigger to buy him out.  

Apparently, waiting until December 1 (per the contract terms) would save UNT some major money, but waiting probably forfeits this year’s recruiting cycle (if that’s not been done already).  

[Side.Show.Joe]

18 hours ago, xyresic said:

This isn’t a money issue, I know that for a fact. Our AD has told all the major donors he is not a proponent of firing coaches in season. He also said this after Benford was not renewed. He thinks the stats show that nothing is gained by getting an interim coach. So the effort is better spent lining up the next coach and working on conference affiliation. People can clamor all the want but this is going to be what happens.

The clamoring will not stop until Littrell is gone. If that is going to be a pain in Wren neck, than too bad, Wren gets to run the athletic department, not the anger of the fans. We have very different opinions on what is best at this point. Quietly allowing Littrell to finish the season is not in the best interest of our football program. Regardless of what he thinks the stats say.

Our team was absolutely embarrassing against Marshall. There was no discipline. Littrell has lost this team. There is no positive to keeping him for even one more day. The longer Wren allows this to drag out, the worse UNT looks, and the weaker Wren looks.

[Side.Show.Joe]

10 hours ago, NorthTexan95 said:

Don't worry about Average Joe fan.  They won't be any happier with an interim head coach.  Waiting till the end of the season won't change public opinion.  For anyone claiming a lack of ambition from the school has not noted the salaries of our coaches and our facility upgrades.  I agree with Wren that unless the head coach is having a huge negative impact on the kids on and off the field, it's probably best not to fire him.  

Not true. Will an interim coach turn it around and have the team winning? No, but that's not the point of making the change. Replacing Littrell with an interim would change the narrative and allow UNT to sell their national coaching search to the fans and college football community. Most of all it is just a matter of reassigning current coaches. It isn't like we have to bring in someone from the outside. We just need someone else on the sideline for the last 6 games (4 to 6 losses).

And by the way... Littrell is having a huge negative impact on the team. Did you not see the lack of discipline against Marshall? Did you not hear the stories of fans and players cussing each other during the game? Did you not see the crowd in the second half? At this point Littrell has no positive impact on our players or program. He needs to go on Monday. He should not be allowed to step onto the Sideline at Apogee against Liberty.

[MeanGreenDan]

13 hours ago, Wag Tag said:

If he should get hired as an P5 OC this salary would offset some of the buy out. I thought him getting a P5 OC job would be a slam dunk. Not so sure now.

Why would a G5 even want him at OC after this?

[DeepGreen]

1 hour ago, Side.Show.Joe said:

He should not be allowed to step onto the Sideline at Apogee against Liberty.

Can Wren keep Seth from actually being on the sideline the rest of the season?  I like that idea a lot.  I mean, could it get any worse by not having him there?  Put him in the press box as an "offensive analyst". 

[Wag Tag]

1 hour ago, MeanGreenDan said:

Why would a G5 even want him at OC after this?

Up to this year his offense have top producers, he is not a head coach.

[untjim1995]

3 hours ago, PlummMeanGreen said:

But we can buyout this coach.  Remember RV’s 17 contributors & then add another 2 or 3 with the big buck$ to that group. 

It’s just a matter of UNT powers that be finally accepting our present predicament & then pulling the trigger to buy him out.  

Apparently, waiting until December 1 (per the contract terms) would save UNT some major money, but waiting probably forfeits this year’s recruiting cycle (if that’s not been done already).  

The recruiting situation will take care of itself. You lose guys to the portal, but as we have seen, they’ve quit on this place,  so character is showing here. And a new coach hopefully can use the portal just as effectively to get folks playing time here.

But your UNT 20 funding is the potential problem. If—and it’s known the Lovelace’s adore SL, for example—enough of those donors are attached to him, they may not let go of funds to do a buyout. And with budgets being cut everywhere because of the pandemic, asking this university, who has traditionally been apathetic or loathed athletics at the administrative levels, to pay $3 million to buyout SL and other staff, and then pay another $3 million to bring in a new staff seems like a fairy tale to me. They need the UNT 20’s cash…and we have no idea if they are on board with that or if they will give SL one more year to get his last chance…which never works out.