close
close

Apre-salomemanzo

Breaking: Beyond Headlines!

    • What would Purdue owe if the coach was fired?
    aecifo

    What would Purdue owe if the coach was fired?

    Umito Posted on

    play

    INDIANAPOLIS — Nine straight losses, most of them non-competitive, have intensified scrutiny of the situation. purdue football leadership of the program under coach Ryan Walters.

    The on-field product has arguably hit rock bottom, ranking among the worst FBS teams in many offensive and defensive metrics. Unlike an NFL team suffering from a losing season, Boilermakers fans can’t expect the competitive fix of getting a high draft pick.

    INSIDER: Ryan Walters is not up to his primary head coaching job

    DOYEL: Purdue football is bad, folks. How much? Maybe desperate.

    Quite the contrary. Purdue’s already poorly ranked 2025 class is hemorrhaging and his four-star quarterback 2026 also reconsider his commitment.

    The call for change among alumni and fans grows louder each week. However, the current economic environment of college sports makes firing a second-year football coach impractical at best – and potentially unrealistic.

    What is Ryan Walters’ redemption?

    Coaching contracts stipulate terms for firing coaches “for cause” – think NCAA violations, legal issues, violation of university rules of conduct, etc. – or “without reason”, generally in the event of loss. Typically, schools don’t owe coaches anything when they fire them for cause.

    However, firing Walters without cause would require a significant buyout at the same time the athletic department is working. prepares for revenue sharing with athletes and other increased expenses.

    Under the terms of the contract, Purdue would owe Walters 75 percent of his base pay if it fired him without cause. Walters is projected to earn $4.1 million in 2025, $4.15 million in 2026 and $4.2 million in 2027. He would need a $9.3375 million buyout for the remaining three years if he was terminated after this season.

    This amount is paid in equal monthly installments until the contract end date of December 31, 2027. This still represents a significant expense on the books for an athletic program that is still figuring out how to pay more than $20 million per year in revenue sharing.

    What should Purdue have for assistant coaches?

    The 10 “countable” assistant coaches by the NCAA definition are entitled to 100 percent of their remaining contracts. Most of these contracts expire on December 31. If Walters remains head coach, he will have to make personnel changes. These expiring contracts make this process cleaner and cheaper.

    For now, Purdue must pay $1 million for the third and final year of former offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach Graham Harrell’s contract, who Walters shot on September 30. However, his contract was contingent on .Walters’ continued employment. If Walters is fired, Purdue only owes Harrell 90 days of base salary and benefits from the day the head coach is fired, or about $250,000.

    The same goes for defensive coordinator Kevin Kane ($850,000 contract for 2025) and special teams coordinator Chris Petrilli ($250,000) – the only “countable coaches” in NCAA parlance under contract this season. next. Purdue would owe them about $275,000 total.

    Director of football strength and conditioning Kiero Small’s contract ($500,000) does not contain this head coach termination provision or any other mitigating provision.

    The total owed to Walters and those four staff members, if they are let go after the season, is about $10.36 million. This number might be slightly higher because contract clauses were not immediately available to all analysts, quality control coaches, and other staff.

    Can Purdue afford to pay two coaches?

    Next comes another major expense, difficult to estimate with certainty.

    Purdue would have to hire a new staff. This could require a paid buyout of the new head coach and possibly some assistants.

    The last time Purdue found itself in this position was in the third year of Darrell Hazell’s tenure. At that time, money was not the main stumbling block.

    To the contrary, the school’s board of trustees did not act quickly enough to establish a succession plan for the late Morgan Burke. Having already hired and fired Danny Hope, Burke could not realistically be the athletic director who would also fire Hazell and hire the successor.

    In February 2016, Burke announced his intention to retire by July 2017. Purdue hired Mike Bobinski to replace him on August 9, 2016. He fired Hazell 68 days later, with Purdue facing a 4.45 million buyout of dollars.

    At the time, Purdue could recruit donors to absorb that one-time hit, if necessary. Today, he’s already asking those donors to support the name, image and likeness efforts needed to put a competitive team on the field. This is in addition to the philanthropy these individuals give to the university.

    At the same time, no Big Ten sports program can compete financially in all sports if its football program sits in the basement.

    Purdue’s best result? A competitive turnaround that stabilizes the program — quickly. Otherwise, only uncomfortable options await you in December.

    Follow IndyStar Purdue Insider Nathan Baird on X at @nwbaird.

    Umito
    View all posts

    You Might Also Like