Contracts. The Good, The Bad and the Unusual.

We've debated about coaching... about Gms... about 2010... the Oilers... Brady's infidelity... but there's another topic I think we should take another look at... contracts.

I was listening to 'The Team' (Sporer, you should put down the James Blunt and take a listen one day) and it was discussing Mike Leach of the Texas Tech Red Raiders. He is their head football coach and is looking for a contract extension from his 5yr/$10mil current deal. First, here is a list of accomplishments over Mike Leach's career (since clearly, none of you know who we are talking about)...

9 consecutive winning seasons
9 consecutive bowl appearances
5 bowl wins (most by any individual coach in the history of the program)
4 seasons completed with team ranked in the Top 25
18–9 record against in-state conference rivals Baylor, Texas, and Texas A&M
47–10 record at home
2008 Big 12 Coach of the Year
Coached 1 Best Wide Receiver winner: Michael Crabtree (two-time winner)
Coached 1 Best Senior Quarterback winner: Graham Harrell
Coached 1 Best Kick Returner winner: Wes Welker
Coached 3 Outstanding Quarterback winners: Kliff Kingsbury, B.J. Symons, and Graham Harrell
More than 150 NCAA, Big 12 and school records broken as Texas Tech's head coach
Four NCAA, 42 SEC, and 116 school records broken as Kentucky's offensive coordinator

Ok, who isn't looking for more job security, but what was interesting to me were the terms of the deal, outside of the money talks. The center of the deal was around the 5yr/$12.7mil term that they offered (because, we all know money rules the world), but this contract had two main, interesting details included...

#1 – he wanted a 'percentage of revenue'; whether it be from: daily ticket sales, athletic apparel, books sales, luxury boxes etc... Basically, any way the university is able to make money, he wants a piece of the pie.

#2 – he also wanted to be able to interview for other jobs and not have the fear of being fired.

Ballsy.

It's interesting to see what kind of term a contract can contain... Major League Baseball is notorious for such unusual clauses like: interpreters for foreign players' families, hotel suites on road trips, 1st class round-trip plane tickets and movie premiere tickets. In fact, in A-Rod's $252mil deal, he was guaranteed a $150,000 bonus for being the MVP of the division series.

There is no MVP for the division series.

But those clauses are more minor and are used to entice the player and make them more comfortable, they don't give the player full-power over their future. That's more like, a no-trade-clause.

So, I guess I'm asking, if a college coach can get this much power, when is going to happen in the professional leagues? Brian Burke already has full-control-decision-making over the Maple Leafs, but what if he wanted a share of their revenue and profits? Or, what if the only way to get Pat Quinn to coach your team, would be to give him free reign to interview for another job, while still coaching your team in a playoff race? It's an interesting scenario. Personally, this is how I thought a hypothetical head coaching search would go down...

You're the GM of a sports team: any league, any level. You have a head coaching vacancy and nine candidates are available, but not all are interested. It's your job to weed out the 'perfect' head coach...

1 – You're a non-postseason team, seven years running...

You've just lost one-third of your options. I mean, not every coach wants to pick up the pieces of a broken franchise and start from scratch. Six left.

2 – With your teams non-success, you have more rookies/prospects then veterans...

How many coaches can take young potential and mold it into a finished product? Better yet, how many coaches would PREFER raw products over polished ones? Not many. Five left.

3 – You've decided to retain all of your assistants from last season...

Well, you lose two candidates at this level. One because he wants to fire everyone and hire his own staff and two because he doesn't want to work with 'losers' who couldn't produce a winning product. Four left.

4 – If it's a pro team you've chosen, let's say you have next-to-no cap room for the off-season. And if it's a college teams, let's say you have next-to-no scholarships to offer or limited recruiting resources...

It takes a talented man to work with his back against the wall, no wiggle room to breathe and knowing that no new talent is going to come in. Three left.

5 – Just for shits & giggles, let's throw in a pre-madonna star with a crappy attitude and a no-movement clause...

Any idea how may coaches are successful with one of 'those' on their team? Yashin/NYI, Jagr/Washington, TO/Phili, Marbury/NYK, A-Rod/Texas, Beckham/LA Galaxy... Get the picture? Two left.

6 – And since, family is always an important thing, let's throw those 'intangibles' in there too...

Mike Shanahan, Mike Holmgren & Bill Cowher all left their teams for family reasons, and that's just the NFL elite. One left.

One left. One coach. He fits the mold. He fits the description. He is the chosen prodigal son to lead your team from the desert back to the oasis. So, wouldn't you do whatever it took to make sure this coach was behind the bench for the up-coming season? If it takes extra money or special privileges or more power, isn't it all worth it in the end? Or, does that go over the top? Should there be a 'cap' for contract incentives?

You know, these are all incentives for a head coach, but what's to keep a once-in-a-life-time superstar (Crosby, A-Rod, Manning, LeBron) for asking for team revenue? Or, better yet, how about input to future team transactions (trading players, signing coaches)? Will we ever see a contract clause go that far in a professional league? I guess, sometimes, it isn't just about the dollars and cents...

Cheers.
-Smith

p.s. Who is the best head coach? My pick, Joe Torre.