I talked with Oregon State athletic director Bob De Carolis a day after he fired women’s basketball coach LaVonda Wagner.
The tone was about moving forward for what was best for the university. And of course that means money. Here are the bullet points. The full story will be in Thursday’s GT. Here’s the full story.
The Beavers expect to balance the operating budget this year. That means they’ll be at a $4.0 million deficit that must be paid back to the university.
The plan is to hold out at that level for two years until new TV contracts are worked out and then pay down the debt.
Football ticket sales are doing well. The new Valley View section is nearly sold out. However, donations are still needed.
De Carolis is open to Pac-10 expansion if it brings in significant — he stressed significant — more money to the schools.
Basketball coach Craig Robinson, President Ed Ray and De Carolis are preparing to blitz donors for the major gift donor(s), which is about half the $15 million needed for a practice facility.
They hoped to get that in place to start building by next summer.
The track facility is a little ahead of basketball. Design firms will bid for it this summer with hopeful construction next summer. There are a few potential donors who could finalize the funding.
Several coaching contracts are up July 1, but they are all coming back. They include softball coach Kirk Walker, gymnastics coach Tanya Chaplin and men’s golf coach Brian Watts.
And here’s De Carolis’s response about him getting attack in cyberspace about his decisions about Wagner, her $1.2 million price tag and what took so long:
“There are number of issues from the employment side in the state of Oregon that makes it complicated to go down the (firing) for-cause route,” De Carolis said. “This wasn’t my decision alone with for cause or without cause. This was made with university leaders and legal counsel. While it’s expensive, this could be way more expensive.
“I’m sure theirs a sentiment it should have done a while ago. It’s easy to be a Monday morning quarterback, but it’s not easy. We are just trying to do the best thing for the university.”
16 comments
angrybeaver says:
May 18, 2012
I think Bob D does a good job for the most part. It sucks paying this deadbeat 1.2 million, but it sounds like he exhausted all options and it was either pay it or keep her on a few more years. Under those circumstances paying is the right choice. I can't believe fans care about women's basketball enough to be enraged by this.
http://angrybeavers.wordpress.com
JackBeav says:
Jun 3, 2010
Now, now… I like watching women's hoops about as much as I like watching boys middle school B teams go at it, but I'll always be enraged when our school is presented in a bad light. That it's because of alleged abuse and possible NCAA violations makes it a lot worse.
tradernum1 says:
Jun 2, 2010
BDC deserves the beating he's getting. By ordering a report, then not waiting for the report to make a "cause/without cause" determination, he's at the least rushed a decision.
His "not enough bodies in admin" excuse is horrible and excuse making at it's worst. Reporters have brought forward information that he was personally contacted regarding Wagner's behavior. We have to do better than this.
JuneauJim says:
Jun 2, 2010
I think paying the $1.2 million is a good deal given the alternatives. But the bigger question is exactly how LaVonda Wagner managed to negotiate a contract with such a buyout in the first place. Seems like her contract was written by the same legal counsel that gave us Jay John's contract. Both had no track record of winning as a head coach, and both never did win as a head coach. It was all perceived potential. It took a mass defection by this year's team to finally state the obvious.
ckirkpatrick says:
Jun 3, 2010
These are contracts. They are binding. If someone is hired for a set amount and you decide not to use them, you have to pay them. This is what's happening. Long-term litigation hurts both sides. OSU looked at where it legally stood, and decided to just removed someone and pay the contract. That's what $1.17.
All contracts are the same. Just think, if something Mike Riley did that caused his removal right now, his contract runs through 2019. That's 10 years for about $1 million a year.
JuneauJim says:
Jun 3, 2010
Sorry Cliff, all contracts are not the same. Or at least they don't need to be the same. For example, Mike's contract goes through 2019 and is valued at $1 million a year and he is guaranteed that whether or not he is the coach or not. That seems like a good deal for both sides given that he is a proven winner and has proven to be an excellent fit at Oregon State. The University wants Mike as its head football coach because it is valuable to the University. Because of that, he gets a guaranteed contract.
LaVonda was neither a proven winner nor an excellent fit at Oregon State. Same with Jay John. There are few compelling reasons to agree to a full payout should they be terminated. It would seem a disincentive for the Coach to change their ways. Why would LaVonda be motivated to change her coaching style if she gets paid in full anyway? What does she care if her team defects? She still gets paid.
How about writing a contract that gives an incentive for a coach to do their best? Sure, give them some protection like $100,000 a year if terminated. They should be able to live off of that. But this full price tag garbage for unproven coaches has got to go.
Or how about the University getting a partial refund if the coach gets hired somewhere else? Does Jay John pay us back his Cal salary for his sitting next to Mike Mongtomery? Or does Jay get paid by Cal and OSU?
After all, we are not talking Coach K, Roy Williams, Geno Auriemma or Pat Summitt.
osbeavs says:
Jun 3, 2010
We do get a partial refund if she does find a job ( I don't know about Jay John specifically). I think we owe her something like 400K next year, if she works for 100K next year somewhere else, we only owe her 300K. We really hope she finds a job, its in our best interest.
ckirkpatrick says:
Jun 3, 2010
Contracts may not need to be the same, but they are. What you said about Riley is true. It was true with Jay John and LaVonda Wanger at the beginning. And you'll never sign a decent coach if you don't give them longevity (at least 5 years to start) and a garuntee salary. You just won't.
And OSU does get a refund if Wagner gets another job, and did when John went to Cal. If a coach gets another job and isn't paid as much as before, the university just pays the difference.
JuneauJim says:
Jun 3, 2010
"…you'll never sign a decent coach if you don't give them longevity…" Well, okay, but you're also going to sign some lousy coaches too with long-term full buyout contracts.
And really, at the beginning of the Jay John and LaVonda Wagner eras were they winning and a good fit for the University? They won more games than their predecessors with kids they didn't recruit. Jay John seemed like a better guy and a better fit than Ritchie McKay, but that's not saying much. Same goes for LaVonda and Judy Spoelstra.
I guess we all should have been coaches eh? I could fail at my job miserably, get fired and still get paid. Maybe this all ends when boosters get tired of ponying up while the University buys out bad contracts.
Any idea what the final tally is on the Jay John buyout?
ckirkpatrick says:
Jun 3, 2010
Sports, entertainment or the combo of sports and entertainment is different. You get a contract to make a move, a record, a TV shot, coach a team and there are buyouts and people paying out contracts. It's just the way that world works.
Sometimes a record/movie/show/sports team bombs. You can't predict that.
John, if I remember right, was $400,000 a year for two years left. That's all over with now. And he was paid something at Cal to cut into that.
BeaverDon says:
Jun 3, 2010
"You get a contract to make a move, a record, a TV shot, coach a team" well why isn't lossing "cause" ? Why isn't throwing chairs in locker rooms, which is dangerous to everybody involved "cause". Why isn't forcing players when they are injured "cause"
Exactly what is "cause"?
ckirkpatrick says:
Jun 3, 2010
Coaches push players hard, and players push themselves hard. All players feel they have to keep going to keep their spot. That's nothing new in sports and won't change.
Throwing chairs and stuff happens in the heat of competition. People rip on Mike Riley all the time for not going nuts on the sidelines, which would lead to chair throwing in the locker room. If Wagner attacked someone with a chair, that's cause.
Cause is stealing company money, committing a felony. Failing as a coach is not cause. Nor is being a jerk at times. However, people must be separated from the situation if they fail as a coach too much and become too much of a jerk.
Companies/schools that hire those people take it in the pants for mistakes in hires. And you can't predict them at the time. You always hope you made the best decision.
This is just a little more pricey this time around because the economy is so bad and OSU needs more money to keep up with the Jones.
BeaverDon says:
Jun 3, 2010
So if the GT were to fire you (and boy do I hope that doesn't happen), do they have to have "cause"? How many folks have a contract that requires "cause", how many folks walk away with 1.2 million if there is no "cause"?
ckirkpatrick says:
Jun 3, 2010
I don't have a contract, and neither do most people, so I could be let go with no reason.
People with contracts, have contracts so they they get their money even if fired. And everyone that has a contract who get fired with no cause gets their money. It's just the way the world works.
JoeAvezzano says:
Jun 3, 2010
I highly doubt "felony" is the threshold for a "cause" determination in the event of an illegal act. There are plenty of gross misdemeanors not to mention garden-variety misdemeanors that would without any doubt whatsoever support a "cause" determination. Though I'm leaving room for the possibility you were throwing "felony" out there as just one example.
ckirkpatrick says:
Jun 3, 2010
Yes, that's examples. Every case is different.