Just saw a tweet that Houston may be a candidate for the position at ULL.

(12-04-2017 11:00 AM)DukeDogNation Wrote:  Just saw a tweet that Houston may be a candidate for the position at ULL.

I just can’t see him going there. They do pay as former coach was over a million, but I just don’t see it.

ULL hahahahahahaha.

yesterday the Rice board said Houston to Rice was a done deal. If we lose Houston it's going to be back-filling a secondary opening (Memphis? Wake Forest?) once some of these current openings are filled like Tennessee. Rice or ULL? no chance.

(12-04-2017 11:00 AM)DukeDogNation Wrote:  Just saw a tweet that Houston may be a candidate for the position at ULL.

He's going to get a lot of mentions and considerations, but I hope he is thinking like we are that his turf today (meaning it will expand) is primarily VA, NC, and SC. He could reach a little further into GA, TN, MD, WV, and KY. I personally believe Memphis is too far west for him at the moment and the Kentucky schools are a stretch. This will change and his contacts will expand, but today, for a great chance of success, he should stick with those three primary states and I believe to be the number one reason GA Southern was not a huge consideration. He needs his assistants and coaches as he uses them better than any head coach I have ever witnessed. Getting the right people in place is not an easy task to accomplish and putting together the right mix to go to Statesboro would not have been easy for him. I'm not putting down Statesboro at all, but his circle is not that far reaching right now.

(12-04-2017 10:57 AM)Wear Purple Wrote:  Well, when you have Bud Foster willing to stay on (apparently until he retires), it makes the decision to hire an "offensive-minded" guy even easier. I think a condition of employment for any new HC in Blacksburg starts with "are you willing to accept Bud Foster as your DC?"...if no, then forget 'em.

I think this is an overblown sentiment - Foster really wanted the head coaching gig and I believe interviewed for the job, but I think he and Fuente really clicked upon meeting for the first time. Babcock said upon hiring Fuente that keeping Bud wasn't a requirement of the job, but you better have a really good DC coming with you if you're not going to hire Bud.

I know Bud loves living in the NRV, but I think the man does have an ego and he'd probably take a job elsewhere if he were passed over for a second time.

ULL and Rice are not much further up the relevancy spectrum than GSU. Rice may actually be below gsu at this point.

(12-04-2017 11:29 AM)DBJMU2006 Wrote:  yesterday the Rice board said Houston to Rice was a done deal. If we lose Houston it's going to be back-filling a secondary opening (Memphis? Wake Forest?) once some of these current openings are filled like Tennessee. Rice or ULL? no chance.

Been reading up on that. Most of the pundits I read said JMU is a better program than Rice (but money talks) and they can't see MH going there.

I think another factor may be the Withers Syndrome. I think MH has that in the back of his mind when he considers any move.

Also, doesn't Rice have a buyout for Bailiff? He had a six-year contract extension through about 2020 for over a million a year. Pretty tough pill to swallow for a school with an athletic budget a little over half of ours.

I know BDK thinks it is laughable, but if we can offer Coach Houston what he is worth, and I don't see why we can't, he will be with us for years. That's my dream and I'm sticking to it!

(12-04-2017 01:32 PM)Purple Wrote:  Also, doesn't Rice have a buyout for Bailiff? He had a six-year contract extension through about 2020 for over a million a year. Pretty tough pill to swallow for a school with an athletic budget a little over half of ours.

Rice is an exceptionally rich school. They have a $5.6B endowment, which is 23rd biggest in the country. For reference, that's bigger than Southern Cal, Penn State, Ohio State, UNC, Wisconsin, Michigan State, UCLA, Oklahoma, Florida, TCU, Alabama, AND University of Texas Longhorns.

If Rice wants to invest in their athletics (i.e. coaches), the money is there. It's just a matter of priorities for them.

(12-04-2017 01:32 PM)Purple Wrote:  I know BDK thinks it is laughable, but if we can offer Coach Houston what he is worth, and I don't see why we can't, he will be with us for years. That's my dream and I'm sticking to it!

i think you're probably twisting BDK's words. i'm sure he didn't say, "we shouldn't pay Houston what he's worth". IIRC, however, you seem to think we can/should pay him $1M/year. correct me if i'm wrong. but if that's what you're saying, you're out of your friggin' mind. i'd be all for it if that were even remotely possible. it's not and you know it's not. you can't just counter everything with, "but we should." that argument is just silly. it's really not an argument at all, actually. i SHOULD have X-ray vision but i don't.

(12-04-2017 01:32 PM)Purple Wrote:  

(12-04-2017 11:29 AM)DBJMU2006 Wrote:  yesterday the Rice board said Houston to Rice was a done deal. If we lose Houston it's going to be back-filling a secondary opening (Memphis? Wake Forest?) once some of these current openings are filled like Tennessee. Rice or ULL? no chance.

Been reading up on that. Most of the pundits I read said JMU is a better program than Rice (but money talks) and they can't see MH going there.

I think another factor may be the Withers Syndrome. I think MH has that in the back of his mind when he considers any move.

Also, doesn't Rice have a buyout for Bailiff? He had a six-year contract extension through about 2020 for over a million a year. Pretty tough pill to swallow for a school with an athletic budget a little over half of ours.

I know BDK thinks it is laughable, but if we can offer Coach Houston what he is worth, and I don't see why we can't, he will be with us for years. That's my dream and I'm sticking to it!

Who cares what Roce’s athletic budget is on paper?
One, comparing non VA schools athletic budgets to VA schools is an apples to oranges comparison because of different state accounting rules. It’s been said on here before that a large chunk of JMU's athletic budget is stuff many other schools don't count, like debt services & other infrastructure related costs, band, spirit groups, services paid by the athletic dept to the univ for various stuff, etc.

2ndly, we’re talking football here, so why would you want to compare entire athletic budgets as opposed to just football budgets?

There is ZERO chance of JMU offering MH a million a year for up to a 5 year contract. (Could be more like a possible 1.2 to 1.3 million with incentives). Also if you double or close to triple MH’s salary, you’d giving huge raises to the whole staff..For I-AA Ball. Not going to happen.

(12-04-2017 02:44 PM)Jay M. Youix Wrote:  

(12-04-2017 01:32 PM)Purple Wrote:  I know BDK thinks it is laughable, but if we can offer Coach Houston what he is worth, and I don't see why we can't, he will be with us for years. That's my dream and I'm sticking to it!

i think you're probably twisting BDK's words. i'm sure he didn't say, "we shouldn't pay Houston what he's worth". IIRC, however, you seem to think we can/should pay him $1M/year. correct me if i'm wrong. but if that's what you're saying, you're out of your friggin' mind. i'd be all for it if that were even remotely possible. it's not and you know it's not. you can't just counter everything with, "but we should." that argument is just silly. it's really not an argument at all, actually. i SHOULD have X-ray vision but i don't.

Thank you.

(12-04-2017 02:44 PM)Jay M. Youix Wrote:  

(12-04-2017 01:32 PM)Purple Wrote:  I know BDK thinks it is laughable, but if we can offer Coach Houston what he is worth, and I don't see why we can't, he will be with us for years. That's my dream and I'm sticking to it!

i think you're probably twisting BDK's words. i'm sure he didn't say, "we shouldn't pay Houston what he's worth". IIRC, however, you seem to think we can/should pay him $1M/year. correct me if i'm wrong. but if that's what you're saying, you're out of your friggin' mind. i'd be all for it if that were even remotely possible. it's not and you know it's not. you can't just counter everything with, "but we should." that argument is just silly. it's really not an argument at all, actually. i SHOULD have X-ray vision but i don't.

I have no problem with making sure he's at the top of FCS and competitive with many G5's. I'm pretty sure we are close to most MAC head coaches and probably half of the Sunbelt coaches, maybe even a few of the CUSA schools. Don't miss quote me, I said competitive and if we are within $100K of USA and ULM, with his total package, then we're competitive. I want to make sure he doesn't have to think twice about turning down G5 programs who we could beat on the gridiron. Thinking back to Lou Campanella's decision to leave us for Cal, we wished him nothing but the best. Though it was a sad moment, there were no insulting counter's and he instantly turned Cal into winners. We followed his success and then his struggles that lead to his leaving the coaching profession.

Head Coach Mike Houston can be selective. If he gets offered an opportunity that he favors over JMU it isn't going to come down to a couple hundred thousand dollars. So honestly the most we'd probably have to compensate him would be in the $500k-$600k range. I seriously doubt we'd have to match a $750k SB/CUSA offer dollar for dollar. Beyond that it's going to be an upper G5/lower P5 coming in with $1mm+ and an opportunity for him to blossom that lures him away.

It's probably even more about the opportunity itself than the money. From a timing perspective, if he's ready for his next challenge there's nothing we can do unless that next opportunity is us moving up and he finds the idea of building up the program at the next level appealing.

(12-04-2017 04:50 PM)2Buck Wrote:  Head Coach Mike Houston can be selective. If he gets offered an opportunity that he favors over JMU it isn't going to come down to a couple hundred thousand dollars. So honestly the most we'd probably have to compensate him would be in the $500k-$600k range. I seriously doubt we'd have to match a $750k SB/CUSA offer dollar for dollar. Beyond that it's going to be an upper G5/lower P5 coming in with $1mm+ and an opportunity for him to blossom that lures him away.

It's probably even more about the opportunity itself than the money. From a timing perspective, if he's ready for his next challenge there's nothing we can do unless that next opportunity is us moving up and he finds the idea of building up the program at the next level appealing.

This is asburd, he's not a billionaire. If he increases his salary by $300K annually, and only lasts 3 years at his new gig, manages said funds properly, which I'd have to assume he would, that is life changing money. I agree that he doesn't appear to be a guy that would bolt just for cash's sake, but look at his resume, he doesn't typically doesn't stay put long. Also, when someone can put $1M in their pocket, they usually do.

I will suggest that JMU could afford to pay MH somewhere in the range of $750K/year. The money could be there. I am not suggesting it will ever happen, but it is in the realm of possibility. There are donors who would allot additional funds directly for that purpose to fill in any budget gaps if we were to win b2b championships and have reason to expect further championships. Again, I am only discussing feasibility, not actually proposing it will ever, ever happen.

(12-04-2017 05:39 PM)JMU_Degenerate Wrote:  I will suggest that JMU could afford to pay MH somewhere in the range of $750K/year. The money could be there. I am not suggesting it will ever happen, but it is in the realm of possibility. There are donors who would allot additional funds directly for that purpose to fill in any budget gaps if we were to win b2b championships and have reason to expect further championships. Again, I am only discussing feasibility, not actually proposing it will ever, ever happen.

Don’t forget if you double MH’s base from 375k to 750k, then you’re also giving big increases to the entire double digit staff. So you’re probably increasing total yearly compensation costs upwards of the million dollar range..

(12-04-2017 04:55 PM)Dadgum Wrote:  

(12-04-2017 04:50 PM)2Buck Wrote:  Head Coach Mike Houston can be selective. If he gets offered an opportunity that he favors over JMU it isn't going to come down to a couple hundred thousand dollars. So honestly the most we'd probably have to compensate him would be in the $500k-$600k range. I seriously doubt we'd have to match a $750k SB/CUSA offer dollar for dollar. Beyond that it's going to be an upper G5/lower P5 coming in with $1mm+ and an opportunity for him to blossom that lures him away.

It's probably even more about the opportunity itself than the money. From a timing perspective, if he's ready for his next challenge there's nothing we can do unless that next opportunity is us moving up and he finds the idea of building up the program at the next level appealing.

This is asburd, he's not a billionaire. If he increases his salary by $300K annually, and only lasts 3 years at his new gig, manages said funds properly, which I'd have to assume he would, that is life changing money. I agree that he doesn't appear to be a guy that would bolt just for cash's sake, but look at his resume, he doesn't typically doesn't stay put long. Also, when someone can put $1M in their pocket, they usually do.

Dadgum, 2Buck clearly stated $500K to $600K and clearly stated that if offered $1M plus then there's not much JMU could do but wish him well. That's exactly what you just stated yet you call his post absurd? Sure, he gets a nice offer where he believes success is there for the taking, he's gone, we all know this.

(12-04-2017 02:36 PM)chicagoduke Wrote:  

(12-04-2017 01:32 PM)Purple Wrote:  Also, doesn't Rice have a buyout for Bailiff? He had a six-year contract extension through about 2020 for over a million a year. Pretty tough pill to swallow for a school with an athletic budget a little over half of ours.

Rice is an exceptionally rich school. They have a $5.6B endowment, which is 23rd biggest in the country. For reference, that's bigger than Southern Cal, Penn State, Ohio State, UNC, Wisconsin, Michigan State, UCLA, Oklahoma, Florida, TCU, Alabama, AND University of Texas Longhorns.

If Rice wants to invest in their athletics (i.e. coaches), the money is there. It's just a matter of priorities for them.

You're a bit off regarding the U. of Texas endowment, but carry on. By the way, the wikipedia entry (which you likely referenced that says UT endowment is $3.7 billion misplaced a decimal point). The UT endowment is roughly $37 billion, second only to Harvard and Yale.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/...s-iu478xaj

(12-04-2017 03:25 PM)BDKJMU Wrote:  

(12-04-2017 01:32 PM)Purple Wrote:  

(12-04-2017 11:29 AM)DBJMU2006 Wrote:  yesterday the Rice board said Houston to Rice was a done deal. If we lose Houston it's going to be back-filling a secondary opening (Memphis? Wake Forest?) once some of these current openings are filled like Tennessee. Rice or ULL? no chance.

Been reading up on that. Most of the pundits I read said JMU is a better program than Rice (but money talks) and they can't see MH going there.

I think another factor may be the Withers Syndrome. I think MH has that in the back of his mind when he considers any move.

Also, doesn't Rice have a buyout for Bailiff? He had a six-year contract extension through about 2020 for over a million a year. Pretty tough pill to swallow for a school with an athletic budget a little over half of ours.

I know BDK thinks it is laughable, but if we can offer Coach Houston what he is worth, and I don't see why we can't, he will be with us for years. That's my dream and I'm sticking to it!

Who cares what Roce’s athletic budget is on paper?
One, comparing non VA schools athletic budgets to VA schools is an apples to oranges comparison because of different state accounting rules. It’s been said on here before that a large chunk of JMU's athletic budget is stuff many other schools don't count, like debt services & other infrastructure related costs, band, spirit groups, services paid by the athletic dept to the univ for various stuff, etc.

2ndly, we’re talking football here, so why would you want to compare entire athletic budgets as opposed to just football budgets?

There is ZERO chance of JMU offering MH a million a year for up to a 5 year contract. (Could be more like a possible 1.2 to 1.3 million with incentives). Also if you double or close to triple MH’s salary, you’d giving huge raises to the whole staff..For I-AA Ball. Not going to happen.

Read more carefully! I did not compare Rice's athletic budget to JMU's. I referenced Rice's budget in regard to a probable buyout of Bailiff's contract, and how Rice may not be able to offer Houston the same money they paid Bailiff, putting us in a favorable position to keep him. That was my meaning.

I mentioned JMU's athletic budget only as a measuring stick to show how it would be tough for Rice to cough up a $3 million buyout of Bailiff, which represents 10% of their entire athletic budget. There was no comparison whatsoever. I was talking about Bailiff's buyout. JMU's athletic budget has ZERO to do with Bailiff's buyout.