(08-10-2021 04:58 PM)Jerry Weaver Wrote:  

(08-10-2021 08:52 AM)emu79 Wrote:  For better or worse CC has been the face of EMU athletics for several years now. I can't think of any recent EMU coach that is so widely respected by his peers his players and by EMU students and,
fans.

I wholeheartedly agree with all of "79's comments! Creighton is and has been a gem.

I really dislike comparing his situation to that of Murphy. Rob had a better W-L record, was a superior recruiter and was not a horrible coach. Murph, however, never adopted EMU as his home, after all he was "recruiting to Afghanistan". His performance was respectable, but after 10 years, I think a change served both the coach and the University. Rob is talented, he will end up just fine.

CC by contrast, has invested himself into the University as a marketer of the program as well as deeply associating himself with EMU and Ypsilanti. Rob and Chris had different approaches, I much prefer that of CC and am willing to compensate him for that.

As far as a contract extension, I would be cautionary as to the dollar amount and length. Dan makes a great point, Chris would be a fool to turn down a Power 5 offer, Buffalo extended and made Nate Oats a 7 figure coach only to see their coach leave for Alabama for a much bigger 7 figures. CMU, by contrast, extended clueless Keno and fortunately had donors ready to open their wallets and negate that mistake.

I would suggest a modest pay bump as Creighton has not won or truly competed for a MAC championship and the money is truly not an issue. EMU is NOT going to compete with Vanderbilt, Kansas St, Nebraska etc...

No need for a beyond 2 year additional commitment either. I know it allegedly helps in recruiting but I will always remember what Lance Leopold said when he was coaching football at Buffalo. "When we were losing, competitors advised recruits that I would be fired and when we started winning, they insisted that I was heading off to a bigger program". The MAC is what it is.

According to USA Today, CC's contract is the 9th in the MAC, with only Akron, Ball State, and Kent behind him. And with the word of the Kent extension but no details, CC could quite possibly have moved to 10th. The question that needs to be asked is, "Is CC the 9th or 10th best coach in the MAC?" If you answer no, then where does he fit in? If you think he is top 5, then his contract should exceed $620k. If you think he deserves to be compensated in the range of Western or Central, you're looking at the $800k range.

https://sports.usatoday.com/ncaa/salaries/