🏈 Putting a price tag on Coach Saban's worth to Alabama

[LBS]

http://www.al.com/sports/index.ssf/2012/01/how_do_you_put_a_price_tag_on.html

I do not wish in any way to short CNS and his value to Alabama, but there are three points that I want to make in response to this article.

First, I'm not sure that a price tag can be set on his worth. The writer gives a noble effort but only scratched the surface with respects to way that the University has benfitted. Contributions to the academic aspects of the University increase when the football team succeeds. Success leads to more TV games, which opens the door for gifted students from colder regions to see fans not wearing parkas in November, which leads to drawing from new areas (Remember the "Pipeline" effect we covet in Football recruiting? Well it can happen in academics too.)

Second, Coaches salaries could vary well have risen without CNS' $4MM contract. Coaches are not valued because CNS is back in the game. Bama just stepped up and became the school who first started paying what coaches are worth.

Third, CNS came to Alabama because Bama was special before he arrived. The writer noted the expansion of BDS to over 100K. The truth is that the TidePride waiting list before its construction was ~7 years long and hefty enough to fill that upper deck while still having people waiting. Truth is that Shula expanded the stadium as much as Saban, or should I say the fans expanded the stadium twice regardless of the coach. (BTW, the waiting list is still ~7 years long.)

I'm huge fan of CNS and believe that he is worth the pay he receives, but what he is worth can't be calculated. KEEP THE MAN HAPPY COACH MOORE! KEEP HIM HAPPY!

 

[TerryP]

http://www.al.com/sports/index.ssf/2012/01/how_do_you_put_a_price_tag_on.html

I do not wish in any way to short CNS and his value to Alabama, but there are three points that I want to make in response to this article.

First, I'm not sure that a price tag can be set on his worth. The writer gives a noble effort but only scratched the surface with respects to way that the University has benfitted. Contributions to the academic aspects of the University increase when the football team succeeds. Success leads to more TV games, which opens the door for gifted students from colder regions to see fans not wearing parkas in November, which leads to drawing from new areas (Remember the "Pipeline" effect we covet in Football recruiting? Well it can happen in academics too.)

Second, Coaches salaries could vary well have risen without CNS' $4MM contract. Coaches are not valued because CNS is back in the game. Bama just stepped up and became the school who first started paying what coaches are worth.

Third, CNS came to Alabama because Bama was special before he arrived. The writer noted the expansion of BDS to over 100K. The truth is that the TidePride waiting list before its construction was ~7 years long and hefty enough to fill that upper deck while still having people waiting. Truth is that Shula expanded the stadium as much as Saban, or should I say the fans expanded the stadium twice regardless of the coach. (BTW, the waiting list is still ~7 years long.)

I'm huge fan of CNS and believe that he is worth the pay he receives, but what he is worth can't be calculated. KEEP THE MAN HAPPY COACH MOORE! KEEP HIM HAPPY!

FWIW, I think the waiting list before the S endzone expansion was over 10 years and it's now at seven.

A few side notes on this, notes consistently ignored by media.

Saban didn't make 4MM his first year. It was about 250K less than that. At that time there were four other coaches—that I can recall off the top of my head—that were over the 3MM mark: Stoops, Meyer, Ferentz, Miles, and I believe one other but I can't recall whom. (FWIW, if ANYONE thinks Pete Carroll wasn't making over 3MM at USC then? Right. The only reason we don't know, for sure, is USC is a private institution. It's like Weiss, we don't know what he was being paid at ND either.)