The real question is what does Steve Watson and the Administration think? If they believe Drew is the guy they can get some pretty good money if they want. Drew has some good qualities. He runs a clean program the University is proud of, the kids are still graduating, we have a good Culture, the interactions that I have seen between Steve, and rest of the people in the building, show a genuine affection both ways, and we are winning. If we win the A10 Tourney and get to the Dance, it would be a no brainer to tear up the contract and extend him. Remember, we are not exactly destitute in what we can pay a Coach. We were set to give Porter 2 million and Cubs Skybox (don’t know if that was because Rickets had a personal relationship with Porter or not). SO assuming at 32 that Drew is not hell bent on leaving yet…we could pay him well enough to keep for a few years. My fear is Michigan State with Izzo getting ready to retire. Would they overpay Drew to come on as the Assistant Head Coach for a year with the agreement he takes over when Izzo is gone in 2 years?
We need to proactive and bury a poison pill in the contract, say a 5 million buy-out. It won’t deter a big P5, but for some other down on their luck programs, but potentially it could.
FYI: See the link with coaches salaries below the list of A10 Coaches:
1. Travis Ford 2.1 Million
2. Archie Miller 2 Million
3. Anthony Grant 1.83 Million
4. Mark Schimdt 1.8 Million
5. Frank Martin 1.65 Million
6. Mike Rhoads 1.5 Million
7. DREW VALENTINE 1.1 Million
8. Chris Mooney 1.1 Million
9. Keith Dambrot 1 Million
10. Kim English 925 Thousand
11. Fran Dumphy 724 Thousand
12. Matt McKillop 600 Thousand
Rest Unavailable: Keith Urgo, Billy Lange, Chris Caputo
https://theresourcenexus.com/coaches-salary/For a young Coach, Drew is paid pretty good, but kicking him up the ladder a little wouldn’t hurt. Also, you can see De Paul was paying Stubblefield 1.5 Million.
Crazy…at the start of the year we were thinking it might be a long year and many questions were swirling around Drew’s job security. We start winning, we fight our way into a three way tie for 1st, we start landing highly ranked recruits and now we are worried about losing Drew!
Fun times!