re: Who declines being the top paid football coach in College Football

Someone who prefers the easy status quo to the challenge of trying to be the greatest

His assistants would leave him in a heartbeat if presented with a 20% raise. And, he would support them, as they likely would support him becoming the highest paid coach. It affects them adversely, but who could really blame him?

Also, his situation at OU is good today, but that is also fluid. All of the loyalty from his AD and the boosters could easily change to criticism if he starts losing games and tarnishing his reputation once they move to the SEC. Entirely plausible.

Completely agree that these are bigger decisions than just money, but you have to be realistic about the volatility of the profession and capitalize when it's on the table. Just my $.02 of course.

Think of it from his perspective, if he gets a raise to 10M plus more money for his assistants does he really need to leave? He’s in a very comfortable spot right now and has very little chance of being fired from OU. If he comes here and doesn’t do well, he knows he could be job hunting again sooner than later. These guys make a lot of decisions not based on money. I seriously doubt he wants to uproot his family if he can’t get close to what is being offered to stay where he is.

i mean, he'd have to live in Baton Rouge, so i get the hesitation

Since he would have that high salary, imagine having the weight of LSU and living up to their expectations. At Norman, Riley has built something special and even if he has an off year or two, OU will still praise Riley. LSU on the other hand, we would expect immediate results and if he has 1-2 off seasons, we would say that he isnt worth the money we are paying him. LSU is a different animal when you are being recruited to come here and immediately have OU results versus staying put, getting a raise and not having the additional stress of immediate results. I know money talks but that would be a tough decision.... I don't think its all about the money with Riley.

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2.5 million a year over 7-8 years

Makes a difference to anyone.


If he coaches until he is in his 50s or 60s, no it doesnt

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I guess I’m not good at math.


If he wins a couple of Nattys at LSU


Do you think that 12.5 million doesn’t escalate tremendously?


And I’m not really good at math


But even 2.5 million per year over 20 years doesn’t matter?


Explain your math


And show your work!

Nice post, Hot Carl...if we did go after Riley and wiffed, you have to think it was a mistake we should have seen coming, assuming we also lose out on our Plan B lower tier candidate...

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coaches to get is job security, and Riley has tons of that. 9-4 won't ever get him fired at OU, but it could certainly get him fired at LSU. Doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that 10 years at 8 mil a year is better than 4 years at 12 mil a year.

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If he went 9-4 several years in a row at OU he would definitely be on the hot seat.

If he had two years like O has just had, he would be fired just as quickly.

Not many coaches would survive, especially at programs with high expectations.

Great, intuitive point. Only way he declines 8/96 is if he is promised 10/100 plus increases for staff and facility upgrades. At least that’s the way I see it.