Executive Summary
Texas Tech cannot afford to pay $7 million per year for a winning, established power five head coach, so how can we get the most value out of the coaching dollars we do have? A head football coach ideally needs to be good at a lot of things. Most have a focus on offense or defense, and are expected to contribute to the other side of the ball to a lesser extent. This normally leads to a team with either an offensive or defensive identity. Even if a coach is great from an Xs and Os standpoint, there is still the major commitment of program administration, recruiting, fundraising, alumni/fan outreach, marketing, etc. It is highly unlikely that any one candidate could excel at all of these things, therefore I am proposing a radical restructuring of what it means to be a head coach and a coordinator. Texas Tech should pay the highest coordinator salaries in the country to attract the best, give them total control of their side of the ball, and make the head coach a lesser paid program ambassador and administrator, without actual coaching duties. This would spread-out the risk of missing on a hire, allowing individual staff members to focus on what they are good at, instead of forcing them into areas where they don't excel.
Issue
Being a head coach is difficult, and very few are cut-out to do it. The current status quo rewards specialization, but promotion brings a widening of that responsibility and with it a high percentage of failure. A person may be an excellent wide receivers coach but not be great at managing the entire offense. Likewise, a defensive coordinator may be the best in the country at keeping opposing offenses at bay, but fail once saddled with responsibility for offense, special teams, fundraising, and administrating an entire program. There is also very little way of telling who will succeed and who will fail other than rolling the dice and hoping for the best.
Some programs can afford to play this game -- they have the prestige, money, and resources that a miss here and there doesn't affect them as adversely. Unfortunately, Texas Tech is not in that position. Another roll of the dice on either a promising young coordinator, a head coach from a smaller program, or a power five coach let go from another school could either end with spectacular success or abject failure. No matter how savvy your athletic director is (and I do consider ours to be one of the best in the country), it's still just a roll of the dice. Let's load those dice and help them land in our favor.
Current State
Under head coach Kliff Kingsbury's current contract, his compensation averages $3.6 million per year, before bonuses. According to Wikipedia, defensive coordinator David Gibbs earns $800,000 per year and offensive coordinator Eric Morris earns $550,000 per year -- a total pool of approximately $5 million per year.
The Lorenzo Plan
Please note that I am not making any recommendation regarding specific individuals for these roles. Any names listed are for illustrative purposes only. This is only a recommendation of a framework, with the Athletic Director vetting and filling with the best possible candidates.
Why does the head coach make between four and seven times as much money as the coordinators? In many cases your head coach is a de facto coordinator for one side of the ball, so in this case you're spending over $4 million on offense and less than $1 million on defense. How can we balance the scale and spread that money around to both sides of the ball? The answer is by redefining the roles and pay structure for these three positions.
Increase coordinator pay to the highest in the country so that you can bring in the best two coordinators in the nation. These coordinators have full control over their side of the ball -- play calling, scholarship offers, hiring of assistants, etc. Find the best and give them the freedom to do what they're good at, without forcing them to spend time and energy on the things that they aren't as good at. In practice (though probably not in title) the coordinators would almost be co-head coaches.
Offset this increase in coordinator salary by significantly limiting the pay and scope of the head coaching role. The head coach in this scenario is a figurehead and "coach" in name only. He has no Xs and Os responsibility, but instead serves as a program ambassador, fundraiser, alumni liaison, recruiter, and program administrator. In practice (though not in title) this person would be almost an associate athletic director.
An example of what this would look like:
Defensive Coordinator
Salary: Up to $2 million
Examples: Jeremy Pruitt, Brent Venables, Pete Kwiatkowski, Mel Tucker
Offensive Coordinator
Salary: Up to $2 million
Examples: Sonny Cumbie, Joe Moorhead, Kevin Wilson, Matt Canada
Head Coach
Salary: Up to $500,000
Examples: Les Miles, Mack Brown, Steve Spurrier, Phil Fulmer, Tommy Tuberville (I know, but he would actually be good at this)
The coordinators should be easy since you're just money-whipping them. Finding the right head coach from a chemistry standpoint is the most difficult and crucial job. This is going to be a big change from what he is used to, so the expectations and limitations must be clearly spelled-out and the correct candidate must be able to manage his ego and avoid conflict with the coordinators. The ideal candidate would be a little older with a lot of experience. Someone with a high Q-Rating -- a "name" if you will. Someone with a National Championship ring, or something approximating it.
The coordinators are evaluating the recruits and choosing who to offer, but this is the person you send to close the deal. Banquets, luncheons, charity events, ticket sales drives, advertising and marketing -- these are the things that should consume the head coach's day. Unlike a traditional head coach, this is a 40 hour per week job, and a very good salary to go along with it.
This structure would also free $500,000 in additional salary that could be used to increase the pay and quality of assistant coaches.
Conclusion
Texas Tech has had historical success when it employs new ideas that leverage its weaknesses into strengths. The spread/air raid allowed Tech to utilize its athletes to create advantages over bigger, faster, and stronger opponents. In that same vein, this system will allow us to leverage our limited coaching salary funds into a final product that is more than the sum of its parts. Texas Tech could have an experienced "head coach" with hardware on the shelf, both of the hottest coordinators in the country, and also one of the best assistant's pools -- while spending no more than we do currently.
This plan also allows Tech to spread-out its risk. Instead of putting all its eggs in one basket with a head coach that probably has the same likelihood of failure as success, Tech can spread that risk between two positions. You can also decrease the probability of failure, since you are able to select your coordinators at will, rather than settling on a traditional head coach that you can afford. You also completely eliminate on the job training, since you are choosing proven coordinators at this level (rather than asking a coordinator to become a head coach, or hoping a smaller division head coach can make the transition to the highest level).
I appreciate the two posters who took the time to read all of this, and will now take your questions, comments, concerns, and hateful GIFs.
Texas Tech cannot afford to pay $7 million per year for a winning, established power five head coach, so how can we get the most value out of the coaching dollars we do have? A head football coach ideally needs to be good at a lot of things. Most have a focus on offense or defense, and are expected to contribute to the other side of the ball to a lesser extent. This normally leads to a team with either an offensive or defensive identity. Even if a coach is great from an Xs and Os standpoint, there is still the major commitment of program administration, recruiting, fundraising, alumni/fan outreach, marketing, etc. It is highly unlikely that any one candidate could excel at all of these things, therefore I am proposing a radical restructuring of what it means to be a head coach and a coordinator. Texas Tech should pay the highest coordinator salaries in the country to attract the best, give them total control of their side of the ball, and make the head coach a lesser paid program ambassador and administrator, without actual coaching duties. This would spread-out the risk of missing on a hire, allowing individual staff members to focus on what they are good at, instead of forcing them into areas where they don't excel.
Issue
Being a head coach is difficult, and very few are cut-out to do it. The current status quo rewards specialization, but promotion brings a widening of that responsibility and with it a high percentage of failure. A person may be an excellent wide receivers coach but not be great at managing the entire offense. Likewise, a defensive coordinator may be the best in the country at keeping opposing offenses at bay, but fail once saddled with responsibility for offense, special teams, fundraising, and administrating an entire program. There is also very little way of telling who will succeed and who will fail other than rolling the dice and hoping for the best.
Some programs can afford to play this game -- they have the prestige, money, and resources that a miss here and there doesn't affect them as adversely. Unfortunately, Texas Tech is not in that position. Another roll of the dice on either a promising young coordinator, a head coach from a smaller program, or a power five coach let go from another school could either end with spectacular success or abject failure. No matter how savvy your athletic director is (and I do consider ours to be one of the best in the country), it's still just a roll of the dice. Let's load those dice and help them land in our favor.
Current State
Under head coach Kliff Kingsbury's current contract, his compensation averages $3.6 million per year, before bonuses. According to Wikipedia, defensive coordinator David Gibbs earns $800,000 per year and offensive coordinator Eric Morris earns $550,000 per year -- a total pool of approximately $5 million per year.
The Lorenzo Plan
Please note that I am not making any recommendation regarding specific individuals for these roles. Any names listed are for illustrative purposes only. This is only a recommendation of a framework, with the Athletic Director vetting and filling with the best possible candidates.
Why does the head coach make between four and seven times as much money as the coordinators? In many cases your head coach is a de facto coordinator for one side of the ball, so in this case you're spending over $4 million on offense and less than $1 million on defense. How can we balance the scale and spread that money around to both sides of the ball? The answer is by redefining the roles and pay structure for these three positions.
Increase coordinator pay to the highest in the country so that you can bring in the best two coordinators in the nation. These coordinators have full control over their side of the ball -- play calling, scholarship offers, hiring of assistants, etc. Find the best and give them the freedom to do what they're good at, without forcing them to spend time and energy on the things that they aren't as good at. In practice (though probably not in title) the coordinators would almost be co-head coaches.
Offset this increase in coordinator salary by significantly limiting the pay and scope of the head coaching role. The head coach in this scenario is a figurehead and "coach" in name only. He has no Xs and Os responsibility, but instead serves as a program ambassador, fundraiser, alumni liaison, recruiter, and program administrator. In practice (though not in title) this person would be almost an associate athletic director.
An example of what this would look like:
Defensive Coordinator
Salary: Up to $2 million
Examples: Jeremy Pruitt, Brent Venables, Pete Kwiatkowski, Mel Tucker
Offensive Coordinator
Salary: Up to $2 million
Examples: Sonny Cumbie, Joe Moorhead, Kevin Wilson, Matt Canada
Head Coach
Salary: Up to $500,000
Examples: Les Miles, Mack Brown, Steve Spurrier, Phil Fulmer, Tommy Tuberville (I know, but he would actually be good at this)
The coordinators should be easy since you're just money-whipping them. Finding the right head coach from a chemistry standpoint is the most difficult and crucial job. This is going to be a big change from what he is used to, so the expectations and limitations must be clearly spelled-out and the correct candidate must be able to manage his ego and avoid conflict with the coordinators. The ideal candidate would be a little older with a lot of experience. Someone with a high Q-Rating -- a "name" if you will. Someone with a National Championship ring, or something approximating it.
The coordinators are evaluating the recruits and choosing who to offer, but this is the person you send to close the deal. Banquets, luncheons, charity events, ticket sales drives, advertising and marketing -- these are the things that should consume the head coach's day. Unlike a traditional head coach, this is a 40 hour per week job, and a very good salary to go along with it.
This structure would also free $500,000 in additional salary that could be used to increase the pay and quality of assistant coaches.
Conclusion
Texas Tech has had historical success when it employs new ideas that leverage its weaknesses into strengths. The spread/air raid allowed Tech to utilize its athletes to create advantages over bigger, faster, and stronger opponents. In that same vein, this system will allow us to leverage our limited coaching salary funds into a final product that is more than the sum of its parts. Texas Tech could have an experienced "head coach" with hardware on the shelf, both of the hottest coordinators in the country, and also one of the best assistant's pools -- while spending no more than we do currently.
This plan also allows Tech to spread-out its risk. Instead of putting all its eggs in one basket with a head coach that probably has the same likelihood of failure as success, Tech can spread that risk between two positions. You can also decrease the probability of failure, since you are able to select your coordinators at will, rather than settling on a traditional head coach that you can afford. You also completely eliminate on the job training, since you are choosing proven coordinators at this level (rather than asking a coordinator to become a head coach, or hoping a smaller division head coach can make the transition to the highest level).
I appreciate the two posters who took the time to read all of this, and will now take your questions, comments, concerns, and hateful GIFs.
