Bicknell Contract Extension Articles

[DogsWin]

Louisiana Tech's Bicknell gets five-year extension
Friday, December 17, 1999

RUSTON, Louisiana -- After leading Louisiana Tech to an 8-3 record in his first season as coach, the school today rewarded Jack Bicknell III with a five-year contract extension.

Bicknell compiled the winningest season among first-year coaches in Division I-A. He replaced Gary Crowton, who left before the season to become offensive coordinator of the Chicago Bears.

"I want to thank the Tech administration for showing their support and appreciation," Bicknell said. "I am excited about the long-term opportunity to stay and build this program into a major Division I-A power. With the membership into the WAC, this program is on the verge of exploding onto the nationalscene."

[DogsWin]

Note the end of this article from last year!

Tech's Bicknell in limbo after meeting
Scott Beder December 2, 2003
Jack Bicknell just concluded his fifth season as Louisiana Tech's football coach, but whether he gets the opportunity to return for a sixth is still murky.

Bicknell met with school president Dan Reneau and athletics director Jim Oakes on Monday afternoon for more than an hour to discuss his future and the program's progress. After the meeting, Oakes was non-committal about Bicknell's status.

"We just visited about the direction of the program and discussed the season," Oakes said. "It's all part of a process to evaluate where we are with the football program and where we want to go. We discussed the good and the bad. We hope to have a clear statement about our direction soon."

Bicknell's future came into question following the Bulldogs' second consecutive losing season. Tech finished the 2003 season with a dismal 49-14 loss to Rice, which left the Bulldogs with a 5-7 overall record and sixth-place finish in the WAC after finishing 4-8 in 2002.

"We had high hopes for this season and with this senior team we thought we could reach a bowl and that obviously didn't happen and we're all disappointed by that," Oakes said. "We continue to have high expectations for the program and continue to strive to have a football program that has an annual goal to participate in bowl games."...

After Monday's meeting, Bicknell said he would be surprised if he were not allowed to return, but that the decision was out of his hands. "I do, I really do (feel like I will return)," Bicknell said.

Bicknell's popular support began to erode last season when Tech lost three of its last four games. The Bulldogs got off to a promising start this year, starting 2-1 with a scintillating come-from-behind win over Michigan State. However, Tech lost three of its next four - all to WAC opponents - which decided the season's fate.

Like last season, the Bulldogs closed the year losing three of four, including a 48-18 loss at Tulsa and the season-ending loss to Rice before a season-low crowd of 8,752. In that game, Tech surrendered a school-record 672 yards on the ground...

"I was certainly hoping we could end on a high note and take some positives to build on for the off-season," Oakes said. "That clearly didn't happen and we have to examine what happened."

If Tech decides to let Bicknell go, it would be obligated to pay $450,000 to buy out the remaining three years on his contract.

Bicknell signed a five-year contract extension after winning the WAC in 2001 that pays him a base salary of $150,000 per season.

[HogDawg]

That mean's we'll still owe Bicknell $300,000 after the Rice game this week.

Sounds damn cheap to me.

HD

[DogsWin]

That mean's we'll still owe Bicknell $300,000 after the Rice game this week. Sounds damn cheap to me.
HD

No, it means we owe Bicknell at the absolute MOST $300k. There is a slim ray of hope (or perhaps nievity) that Jim and Dan got that significantly reduced as a condition for keeping him around in 2004.

Either way you are right, HD- $300k is DAMN CHEAP considering what it's costing us.

[TechDawgFan]

I just want to say OFFICIALLY that I about had a heart attack when I read the subject of this thread. I thought we were talking about a NEW contract extension!!!

TDF

[oledawg66]

Ditto TDF. I almost didn't even read the thread.

[OLDBLUE]

"......build this program into a major Division I-A power. With the membership into the WAC, this program is on the verge of exploding onto the nationalscene!"

Okay, you read it. I don't want to hear another word about the schedule being the problem. Mr. Oakes is only responsible for forwarding the program. Mr. Bicknell expressed his goal of becoming a "major", and HIM building it!!!