At least we can agree we never had Gable as our head coach to lose as we did Sanderson. IF the tape story is true, it's sad, but I suspect it's just more of a good story and Gable more likely left because he was promised he could become the head coach much sooner at Iowa as Nichols wasn't considering retirement anytime soon at ISU. And Cael probably did think he had a better chance to win national titles at Penn State with their great facilities and strong commitment to wrestling, why wouldn't he. He was also watching losing coaches like GMac and Chiz getting extensions and bigger raises than his whole salary while they ran their programs into the ground, why wouldn't he feel slighted? And if comments by you and Veloclone are indicative of what the administration thinks about wrestling, no wonder he left. Again I know the company spin, just not buying all of it. And I see in the register that Fred's salary is #8 out of 10 Big 12 coaches, and that has to change drastically. Keep telling yourself that Fred loves Ames (which he no doubt does) and the money isn't that big a deal to him, but he's got a heart condition and a young family to think of and you need to use whatever influence you have in administration to make sure we don't lose another one of our legends.
Never claimed Gable was our head coach. And Gable did leave ISU because he was given a job as an assistant coach with the promise that Kurdlemeier would be retiring soon. The tape story is just an example of how Gable was being treated by ISU at the time. Nichols gave no hint that he was planning to retire soon. And Gable took the sure thing. Especially since he was not even being offered an Assistant Coaching job.
As far as Cael goes, he was competing and was given the resources he asked for as far as we know. It is not apparent that he asked for any of the things from ISU. Cael saw an opportunity to move to a hotbed of wrestling talent with No Big Name Rival in state to compete with. And to a school that had an Athletic Department Budget that dwarfed ISU's budget. So the fact remains, Cael thought it would be easier to win a National Championship at Penn State. A reason which he told Pollard was his reason for leaving.
As far as Fred, Fred makes a very good salary in looking at things nationwide and considering his experience and also results thus far. Most of the coaches in the Big 12 are much, much older and have been at their schools for much longer. And Fred is within a couple of hundred thousand of most. And with bonuses, could surpass some in any given year. I really don't think we are far off on the money and am not opposed to some further tweaking of his contract along with a raise and an extension. In exchange, I would like a bigger buyout concerning the NBA, since we are definitely increasing our investment in Fred. He is our man and I would like the same commitment from him that we are giving him.
And if Fred does make the Final Four? He gets a $250,000 bonus. In addition to the $50,000 for winning Big 12 Tourney. Plus $50,000 for making NCAA Tourney. Plus $25,000 for each NCAA Tourney victory.
So if Fred makes the Final Four he gets an additional $450,000 in bonus money. Not exactly chump change.
