A look at Shaka Smart's Contract (with an eye towards Compensation for Chris Mack)

[boozehound]

There is a big difference between negotiating a deal for a supply of widgets and negotiating a personal services contract for an organization's most high-profile employee. You want to keep that person happy and -- perhaps more importantly -- feeling respected and appreciated.

I also disagree that the mindset you have proposed is the mindset that an AD uses to approach the hiring and retention of a high-profile basketball coach in general, much less a successful, in-demand, rising star alumnus.

I was going to post something along these lines. Once a person gets fed up with being underpaid and goes into 'F-you' mode, it is difficult to get them out of it. Ambitious and talented people are particularly vulnerable to this. Simply waiting until another company (or school) offers them more money and then matching that is a stupid idea if you actually want to keep him as a coach.

I know that on a personal level when I have decided I am 'done' with a company nothing they have done to try to keep me has ever been successful. Even if they match my competing offer, all they are doing is sending the message to me that I have to go out and find another job for them to pay me, and I don't want to work for a company with that compensation philosophy.

I believe that you are better off trying to keep that employee happy so that they don't even look at or entertain other offers if at all possible.

[vee4xu]

I was going to post something along these lines. Once a person gets fed up with being underpaid and goes into 'F-you' mode, it is difficult to get them out of it. Ambitious and talented people are particularly vulnerable to this. Simply waiting until another company (or school) offers them more money and then matching that is a stupid idea if you actually want to keep him as a coach.

I know that on a personal level when I have decided I am 'done' with a company nothing they have done to try to keep me has ever been successful. Even if they match my competing offer, all they are doing is sending the message to me that I have to go out and find another job for them to pay me, and I don't want to work for a company with that compensation philosophy.

I believe that you are better off trying to keep that employee happy so that they don't even look at or entertain other offers if at all possible.

Sure, assuming the new AD feels the same way. He's calling the shots now and it's up to Coach Mack to prove he's worth the price of being a next level coach. Being a good steward to Xavier's bank account includes not paying someone simply because you want someone happy or if he/she is an alum. Don't get me wrong. I love Coach Mack. But when it comes to making the right decision emotional elements must be stripped away from the process. Otherwise that can lead to making a potentially poor decision. Pay forward for anticipated results. With the A-10 that could be extrapolated for Coach Mack in some fashion. It isn't possible to do so in the BE. So back to my point. Coach Mack should have made his move after winning 40 straight home conference games and before Bobo left for GT. Now the stakes have changed.

[XUFan09]

There are no emotional elements involved when concluding that Mack deserves a serious pay raise, based off his performance so far and the amount of money Xavier will now have at its disposal. And yes, you can extrapolate future results from these past seasons as a member of the A10. Let's not act like Xavier is joining the NBA's Eastern Conference. Let's also keep in mind that only half the season is played against conference foes, and Mack has proven his teams' worth against some tough non-conference opponents.

Pay him more, not simply to keep him happy because it feels good. Pay him more because he is a financial asset worth keeping happy.

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[boozehound]

Sure, assuming the new AD feels the same way. He's calling the shots now and it's up to Coach Mack to prove he's worth the price of being a next level coach. Being a good steward to Xavier's bank account includes not paying someone simply because you want someone happy or if he/she is an alum. Don't get me wrong. I love Coach Mack. But when it comes to making the right decision emotional elements must be stripped away from the process. Otherwise that can lead to making a potentially poor decision. Pay forward for anticipated results. With the A-10 that could be extrapolated for Coach Mack in some fashion. It isn't possible to do so in the BE. So back to my point. Coach Mack should have made his move after winning 40 straight home conference games and before Bobo left for GT. Now the stakes have changed.

I don't really think that the stakes have changed that much. He is still a valuable coach and other Universities would probably over him more than we are paying him. Tennessee and North Carolina were both prepared to make him a very wealthy man a few years ago. It's not like nobody outside of Xavier has expressed interest in Mack as a coach.

If we think Chris Mack is on par with the rest of the BE coaches we should be proactive about compensating him as such. If we don't, then why is he our coach?

People pay for anticipated performance all the time. Every time a company hires a new employee or promotes an existing employee they are paying for anticipated performance. If my company promotes me into a new role they are paying me based on anticipated future performance. They are using past performance as a guide when the offer me the job, but they are paying me based on the expectation of performance in my future role. They don't know what I am going to do in the new role, they are going to pay me what the position is worth and then they will fire me if I don't do a good job. That's how I think Xavier should pay their coaches. Pay at a rate comparable with the rest of the conference, then fire them if they don't perform.

[vee4xu]

There are no emotional elements involved when concluding that Mack deserves a serious pay raise, based off his performance so far and the amount of money Xavier will now have at its disposal. And yes, you can extrapolate future results from these past seasons as a member of the A10. Let's not act like Xavier is joining the NBA's Eastern Conference. Let's also keep in mind that only half the season is played against conference foes, and Mack has proven his teams' worth against some tough non-conference opponents.

Pay him more, not simply to keep him happy because it feels good. Pay him more because he is a financial asset worth keeping happy.

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I don't agree, but hey that's fine. We all have our opinions based on our own experiences. Mine lead me to my conclusions and those who disagree with it are doing likewise.

[vee4xu]

I don't really think that the stakes have changed that much. He is still a valuable coach and other Universities would probably over him more than we are paying him. Tennessee and North Carolina were both prepared to make him a very wealthy man a few years ago. It's not like nobody outside of Xavier has expressed interest in Mack as a coach.

If we think Chris Mack is on par with the rest of the BE coaches we should be proactive about compensating him as such. If we don't, then why is he our coach?

People pay for anticipated performance all the time. Every time a company hires a new employee or promotes an existing employee they are paying for anticipated performance. If my company promotes me into a new role they are paying me based on anticipated future performance. They are using past performance as a guide when the offer me the job, but they are paying me based on the expectation of performance in my future role. They don't know what I am going to do in the new role, they are going to pay me what the position is worth and then they will fire me if I don't do a good job. That's how I think Xavier should pay their coaches. Pay at a rate comparable with the rest of the conference, then fire them if they don't perform.

Cool. I appreciate the respectful discourse on the topic. We don't always get that around here.

[LadyMuskie]

I don't really think that the stakes have changed that much. He is still a valuable coach and other Universities would probably over him more than we are paying him. Tennessee and North Carolina were both prepared to make him a very wealthy man a few years ago. It's not like nobody outside of Xavier has expressed interest in Mack as a coach.

If we think Chris Mack is on par with the rest of the BE coaches we should be proactive about compensating him as such. If we don't, then why is he our coach?

People pay for anticipated performance all the time. Every time a company hires a new employee or promotes an existing employee they are paying for anticipated performance. If my company promotes me into a new role they are paying me based on anticipated future performance. They are using past performance as a guide when the offer me the job, but they are paying me based on the expectation of performance in my future role. They don't know what I am going to do in the new role, they are going to pay me what the position is worth and then they will fire me if I don't do a good job. That's how I think Xavier should pay their coaches. Pay at a rate comparable with the rest of the conference, then fire them if they don't perform.

I think this is pretty spot-on.

[boozehound]

Cool. I appreciate the respectful discourse on the topic. We don't always get that around here.

Likewise, Vee.

[Masterofreality]

Do we really think that Mack's compensation doesn't exceed a million dollars per year? He may or may not need to be given a raise considering our new conference, but I can't believe that he doesn't clear 7 figures in compensation. He wouldn't be able to afford that house he's in if he doesn't make a whole truckload of money.

I can assure you that CMack's total current compensation does not exceed $900k. If he makes the NCAA Tournament, depending on the total net payout received by the University, he can get a bonus. There were outside "special considerations" to help with the house, but he didn't get it for free.

He is woefully underpaid as compared to other coaches with similar resumes. His assistants need to be paid more too.

In answer to the question about the USA Today compensation figures, I merely want to once again point out what was posted last October.

Pay the Man.