Don’t know for certain but covid loans and lawsuit payouts come to mind.
DeVries tanking for Iowa?
- Thread starter Cyinthenorth
- Start date
Not weird at all, their baseball coach was the exact same way, coaching at EIU was his dream job, and once it was offered he jumped at the chance. Funny thing is they could have hired him 10 years before when he was at UNI, and they passed.
Coaches at this level all think they are going to be successful and I am sure that DeVries thinks that he can elevate EIU into a strong program in the B10, the money will be as much as he is making at WV or Creighton and it gets him back home. If he gets it and it works out, no reason he could not coach there for 20 years and retire from their much like Bluder did.
Everybody has COVID loans. Paying those loans back would only be a problem if you're not bring much money in or you're letting way too much go out the door for some reason.
Big 12 schools receive $32 million per year in TV money (including WVU).
Big Ten schools are more like $70 million plus the bias towards them in playoff TV money.
Yeah they've probably had to pay out a few million here or there in lawsuit settlements.
...but where the **** would $40+ million per year be going they have and ISU/WVU do not?
If Fran is done and wants to take a reduced buyout and DeVries wants out at WVU, then it’s going to happen at the end of this year. Iowa will do whatever it takes to get him there and if it’s truly DeVries dream job, it’s a no-brainer.
The B10 money is just starting to roll in this season, and EIU has a lot of debt on the books and they are supporting a lot of programs with that money. Like any college they only have two sports in the black, MBB and football, everything else is losing money, and they are pumping a lot of money into WBB and wrestling to have strong programs. Neither sports is going to make money when its all counted up.
EIU has had good MBB attendance in the past and I would wager that if a new coach gets them winning again, gets them past the first weekend of the tournament that their MBB program would be a plus not a negative it is now.
Fran was a weird record at EIU, he generally finishes 3rd to 6th in the league, always has been able to beat the top of the league teams from time to time, but does nothing when it comes to crutch time. One B10 tournament championship, never made it out of the first weekend in the NCAA tournament, and his lack of defense has really turned off their fan base, they are ready for a change, no matter if that means getting rid of their all time wins in the sport.
Seriously, it's weird.
Comparing Heller is nothing close to the same. Indiana State is a good baseball program, but Heller is making almost 3x what Indiana State's coach is.
Comparing that to either leaving WVU or not working to go to Creighton vs. holding out for Iowa is not at all the same, or even similar.
Edit: a quick check and it looks like Heller's salary his last year at Indiana State was $63,000 and his first year at Iowa was $187,000.
So yeah a guy going from the MVC to the Big 10 while tripling his salary isn't exactly a good example of a guy's fandom being the driver. Had he zero connection to Iowa, he's probably making that same jump.
Iowa might throw tons of cash at Devries to leave WVU. And of course he'd probably consider it and maybe take it. That's not really the point. The point is people are thinking a coach is going to go to extreme lengths (tanking even?) that could damage his career to go to a below average program because he was a fan of the program as a kid. Sorry, that's just dumb.
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A lot/most schools are simply spending more from the extra revenues. I call it "keeping up with the Joneses". I thought I read the Iowa AD was profitable last year, but not by much and they were still in debt from prior years
EIU has more sports and the money is going out as fast as its coming in. Compare them to ISU, both schools needed a basketball practice facility, ISU was offered some land, out to the west and built a stand alone facility for a fraction as what EIU paid to build their because they did theirs and new wrestling facility right beside Carver. Its the reason why ISU did not build ours beside Hilton, was going to double if not triple the costs. ISU did the South end zone, EIU did the both end zones over that time, and theirs was going to cost more as they do not have the room in the foot print to build out, so they were forced to build up, which costs them more.
EIU baseball program was in the dumps when Heller was hired, and he has made them one of the strongest programs in the conference. His original salary was not 3X what it he was making before, it is now, but he would have taken the job for the same as he was making at Indiana St, he just wanted the job.
When you dream job opens up, you are not thinking about money, both jobs will make you wealthy, you are thinking about fulfilling a dream, the money will be there in the end.
See edit. Yes, he nearly tripled his salary going from Indiana State to Iowa. between 2013 and 2014.
Again, he would have taken the EIU job now matter what, his wife at the time he took the EIU job was making more than he was. Heller was not worried about money, he wanted the EIU job and had wanted it for years. It was his dream job.
Man, I think that job is a tough sell right now, unless you just have a dyed in the wool Hawkeye who wants it. No momentum, no crowd support. Definitely can't see leaving another high-major for that job, but who knows.
Sounds like the perfect Hawk fan, then.
Money actually is an issue. Large debt to university and potentially other buyouts coming up.
See above.
I'll believe you that Heller would've taken the job had the money been the same, but it wasn't, so the example is a guy took a job with a 3x pay increase, and at a salary level where that means a TON. So basically he did something damn near everybody would've done, whether EIU was his dream job or not.
So I guess I'm still looking for a close example of a coach taking a worse job, and being willing to do something as extreme as tanking because of childhood fandom.
What percentage of coaches grew up as fans of a team, have no playing or coaching at the school, then end up going to coach for them? That percentage is probably fairly small. Now, how many of them turn down better jobs to coach there? Then take it a step further, how many would leave money on the table to do so? Finally how many mail it in or tank to work down buyouts to get there? I'm guessing that last number is 0.
I'm not saying Devries wouldn't prefer to coach at Iowa over WVU or even Creighton, or that he would even take less money to do so. But people are putting a hell of a lot of weight on him being a hawk fan as a kid that he's going to do something as dumb as tank to make the buyouts work.
Sorry, that's really dumb.
Why would MadFran consider a reduced buyout?
Agreed lol I don’t see why he would. I was just saying “if” because that seems like the only way. I guess maybe big donors step in and pull the strings to make it happen?
I do not believe DeVries is tanking and have never stated he was, its a silly idea. But I think you are really downplaying the idea that either the Drake coach or DeVries will not jump at the chance to take the EIU job. Now if he was forced to choose between EIU and Creighton I could see that would be a difficult choice for him, but EIU and WV, nope. if offered, he will jump at the chance.
