P6
Where do we stand to hire a coach as of today?
IMO, and that of about everyone except our own fanbase it seems, we're in a very strong position and if we don't even ATTEMPT to make a strong move now then our leadership is telling the fans it wont ever do so again. If this happens then what is the point for fans to pour financial resources into the program? It's my strong opinion that this will be one of the most important decisions in deciding the future of our program. The wrong move here and you will lose fans to apathy, they will put less money into the program, and AD will risk losing a lot of fans from younger generations that have never gotten to experience great TN football.*
Why the TN job is attractive and we're in good position to make a strong move:
Money Hyams made a lot of incorrect statements about the money situation just to get clicks and posting "$25M" is definitely click bait, if he believes what he wrote then I'd hate to see his financial situation because he doesn't understand money. The total buy-out of Butch and staff will be around $10M. Shoop has no buy-out and everyone's buy-out is off-set by any jobs they may take. If we hire a sitting HC then him and his staff will have a buy-out (lets say $2-$5M). So total UPFRONT costs would be around $12-$15M. It doesn't matter what they make down the line, for one their cost is off-set by what we would have paid Butch for the same period, and nobody gets their salary paid upfront in a lump sum. The same is actually done for the buy-out, we count them as upfront costs here but in reality they are paid over incrementally over time.
Further, TN is not poor. Yes, reserves aren't where we want them. No.2 in the COUNTRY in revenues we obviously have one of the strongest support bases in the country. Revenues are tied to merchandise sales with Nike, winning = more sales. Big bowl games give bonuses ($2M for Sugar Bowl for example). We could do a full financial analysis to examine why winning big in football helps both the AD and academic side of the University but to sum it up, it has been proven at numerous schools, spending money on a top coach that wins big is a financial boon for the school. TN has gotten greedy because the fans have supported the University just as much but without the success. This business model can't last forever and we are starting to see those cracks. If TN doesn't commit financially then the fanbase will stop doing the same.
Weak east: as discussed previously, a good coach is smart enough to put himself in a good situation. Think long and hard, has the East ever been so ripe for domination? The SEC is the best conference with the most money, and the historically weak east provides a clear path for a great coach to dominate and reap all the rewards that will come from playing in SECCG's and premier bowls (money, recruiting, prestige, etc)
Talented roster: Strong balked because of our roster, that won't happen this time. Butch has done a good job of getting talent on campus and has a strong class lined-up. There will be attrition with a change both in the incoming class and on the current roster but a great coach should have no issues holding it together. With a projected 14-15 starters returning, we will have talent for a good coach to challenge for the east on day one.
-Recruiting: The life blood of any program. In-state talent gets stronger by the year. With moderate success Butch has proven TN, like it always has, can still recruit with the best in the country. Win big and TN can pull to 5 and 10 classes, been proven time and again.
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Brand: Butch, again, has done a good job os re-establishing the brand of TN. It will never go away, we are one of the strongest, most recognizable brands in college football. That hasn't changed but due to increased recent success by Butch, the perception of TN football is that we are close to being good. Everyone sees we've had the opportunity to be the best team in the east the past 3 seasons, we're on the cusp and if the fans and media see that then a good coach does too. It's an opportunity.