Kim/Leon vs. Spoon.
March 29.
Dallas.
Why don't we just go ahead and book it.
Louisiana Tech University
Flagship of the University of Louisiana System
I would fly up for that.
What do most coaches do to improve their lot in their profession? They move on to bigger opportunities until they max out. People on this board have called KM some awful names for leaving Tech. I just hope that if Spoon succeeds at Tech as we hope she does, that she will not suffer the same fate if she attracts and accepts another offer for big, big bucks. If she is content to stay as Leon did, then so be it.
I never intended to infer that Leon was a dummy for staying, but I have often wondered why he did. But I was trying to say that it would be smart of Spoon to accept an opportunity to double, triple or even quadruple her salary and enjoy many more perks than Tech can pay. Worked well for KM and probably would do likewise for Spoon.
Leon is certainly no dummy. He knew first hand how difficult the challenge was becoming for Tech to continue to compete on the big stage. He retired at the right time to protect his enviable won/loss percentage. Had he stayed longer it would have begun to deteriorate.
The comparison doesn't work. There are no feelings like Tech fans have for Kim (pro and con) like they do about other Asst. Coaches that have left. She didn't leave because of money. She left angry. There is a difference.
We need to kill this thread. I hate I ever started it. We have an awesome coach and she is doing what needed to be done about 5 years ago. Let's celebrate that and try not to post about all of this. I really do hate that I drug it up. I keep trying to ignore the thread and won't post on it again. Hope others do the same.
It is idiotic to begrudge a coach doubling or trippling salary (hundreds thousands of dollars) to take a job at another university that also has the financial ability to spend millions on the program. I dare say there are but a few on this board wealthy enough to resist doing cartwheels if offered a million a year to change jobs. I hope our program grows to the point where we do not face the prospect of being frequently raided of successful head coaches. We aren't even close to that level.
This thread will die when replies cease. Fortunately you can't dictate when that will happen.
Why do you choose to separate the motives of money and anger? Both were in play, and both were appropriate and acceptable and perfectly normal on her part.
Perhaps there was another as well. DISAPPOINTMENT! After having served as an assistant coach for 17 years, she must have experienced gross disappointment that her trivial request for a five year contract was rejected.
Then probably came the anger. But in the end she already had in her purse the offer from Baylor for considerably more money than she ever expected from Tech (her BATANS). She had a hole card. Reneau and Oakes had nothing. Thus Leon was forced to terminate his retirement (one of the shortest on record) and save their butts.
Then came the money motive and away she went to bigger and better things. Her anger probably subsided rather quickly. Money, and lots of it, has a way of doing that, and because she has told the world that leaving Tech was the best thing that ever happened to her, the disappointment probably subsided soon after arriving in Waco.
Prior to negotiating, one should have a BATANS (Best Alternative to a Negotiated Settlement). Kim had hers, but Reneau and Oakes did not. She was prepared in case of rejection. They were not. They probably thought she would capitulate to their demands. She shocked them. I wonder what other emotions they experienced. Stupidity is not an emotion.
Now I am also through with this thread, but others are free to chip in their two bits.