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johnb
09-18-2013, 10:51 AM
I was wondering about the conclusion reached by Barry Jacobs (born 1950) that coaches who are about his age are continuing to coach for the money. That may be the case, but the roster includes people like ol' Roy, Coach K, Jim Boeheim, and Rick Pitino, who have all been making some serious coin for a long time (and also live in places where it is a little tough to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars per month (as opposed to NYC, where such income can be swallowed up without a visible burp; though I'd guess racehorses would be one way if you live in Louisville). Perhaps other guys in their age bracket (Jim Larranaga and Leonard Hamilton) are still piling up retirement money, but I'd think the big 4 aren't really worried about accruing cash beyond its usefulness as a marker for financial success/freedom/whatever. I'd be curious about the motivation, but I doubt they'd reveal much that wouldn't be crafted for effect. I'd guess more along the lines of addiction to the dopamine reward center of the brain. Yeah, the sidelines are stressful, but all four of them have reached the pinnacle of the sport--thereby feeling an intensity of achievement and adulation that would be hard to match outside of sport--while getting to mold some of the best athletes ever to have sprinted onto a game field, which would be exciting in and of itself (hmmm... I think I'd like to watch Jabari lob a pass to Semi to see if he can dunk over Rodney... well, that was fun. let's do it again... hmmm. I wonder whether Matt can guard Quinn, whether Nate still has the oomph to guard Amile... yes, that would make for a good morning). And while we can bemoan recruiting, coaching at a top-tier program allows all of them to live very comfortably even when they're flying out to watch a 16 year old play a high school game (and where all eyes turn to the coaches when they walk into the gym). And the recruiting becomes a little easier when you can basically edit your own list down to perhaps 10 or 12 elite players (from which you can feel fairly confident that half would attend if offered) rather than hope to snare anyone from the top 150. And if they host an off-season charity golf tournament or visit a hospital, they get press coverage and applauded (in contrast, say, to the people who actually work in the hospital or, more importantly, to former coaches--who, immediately upon retirement, become superfluous B list celebrities who hope to sign on with espn or maybe just fade into the woodwork). As long as they're healthy and have the resources to live in luxury even while recruiting and to stock their coaching staff with multiple guys who are capable of being head coaches (thereby making the job more like being a CEO than an Army sergeant), and if they find it continuously meaningful (we should all be so lucky), and if they keep winning without scandal (big if), why should they ever quit?

Edouble
09-18-2013, 08:29 PM
I was wondering about the conclusion reached by Barry Jacobs (born 1950) that coaches who are about his age are continuing to coach for the money. That may be the case, but the roster includes people like ol' Roy, Coach K, Jim Boeheim, and Rick Pitino, who have all been making some serious coin for a long time (and also live in places where it is a little tough to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars per month (as opposed to NYC, where such income can be swallowed up without a visible burp; though I'd guess racehorses would be one way if you live in Louisville). Perhaps other guys in their age bracket (Jim Larranaga and Leonard Hamilton) are still piling up retirement money, but I'd think the big 4 aren't really worried about accruing cash beyond its usefulness as a marker for financial success/freedom/whatever. I'd be curious about the motivation, but I doubt they'd reveal much that wouldn't be crafted for effect. I'd guess more along the lines of addiction to the dopamine reward center of the brain. Yeah, the sidelines are stressful, but all four of them have reached the pinnacle of the sport--thereby feeling an intensity of achievement and adulation that would be hard to match outside of sport--while getting to mold some of the best athletes ever to have sprinted onto a game field, which would be exciting in and of itself (hmmm... I think I'd like to watch Jabari lob a pass to Semi to see if he can dunk over Rodney... well, that was fun. let's do it again... hmmm. I wonder whether Matt can guard Quinn, whether Nate still has the oomph to guard Amile... yes, that would make for a good morning). And while we can bemoan recruiting, coaching at a top-tier program allows all of them to live very comfortably even when they're flying out to watch a 16 year old play a high school game (and where all eyes turn to the coaches when they walk into the gym). And the recruiting becomes a little easier when you can basically edit your own list down to perhaps 10 or 12 elite players (from which you can feel fairly confident that half would attend if offered) rather than hope to snare anyone from the top 150. And if they host an off-season charity golf tournament or visit a hospital, they get press coverage and applauded (in contrast, say, to the people who actually work in the hospital or, more importantly, to former coaches--who, immediately upon retirement, become superfluous B list celebrities who hope to sign on with espn or maybe just fade into the woodwork). As long as they're healthy and have the resources to live in luxury even while recruiting and to stock their coaching staff with multiple guys who are capable of being head coaches (thereby making the job more like being a CEO than an Army sergeant), and if they find it continuously meaningful (we should all be so lucky), and if they keep winning without scandal (big if), why should they ever quit?

I tried to read this and gave up. Try breaking things up into paragraphs please. The small, long lines of text are a bear.

JasonEvans
09-19-2013, 08:42 AM
Though I too found the initial post to be borderline unreadable I share his disbelief that K, Roy, Boeheim, and Pitino are still coaching, "for the money." If that were true, K (and Roy, if you believe his own hype) would have bolted to an even more lucrative job in the NBA many years ago.

What I find crazy is the notion that someone who is in the low-mid 60s would be anywhere close to retirement. Sure, some people start to break down at that age, but most folks maintain their physical and mental faculties more than well enough to continue to be successful in their career well beyond the 65 year old retirement age...

...at least that is what I hope seeing as I am just a few months from turning 47 and I don't want to think that 65 is old!

-Jason "my father is 83 and he still knows basketball better than most other folks in the stands at the games we attend" Evans

Dev11
09-19-2013, 08:59 AM
Though I too found the initial post to be borderline unreadable I share his disbelief that K, Roy, Boeheim, and Pitino are still coaching, "for the money." If that were true, K (and Roy, if you believe his own hype) would have bolted to an even more lucrative job in the NBA many years ago.

What I find crazy is the notion that someone who is in the low-mid 60s would be anywhere close to retirement. Sure, some people start to break down at that age, but most folks maintain their physical and mental faculties more than well enough to continue to be successful in their career well beyond the 65 year old retirement age...

...at least that is what I hope seeing as I am just a few months from turning 47 and I don't want to think that 65 is old!

-Jason "my father is 83 and he still knows basketball better than most other folks in the stands at the games we attend" Evans

Also, if you're making that much money, I can only assume that you're doing more than the average 65-year-old to maintain your health so you can stay active longer. Coach K has been coaching on new hips for a while now, right?

johnb
09-19-2013, 11:22 AM
I tried to read this and gave up. Try breaking things up into paragraphs please. The small, long lines of text are a bear.

consider it done:

I was wondering about the conclusion reached by Barry Jacobs (born 1950) that coaches who are about his age are continuing to coach for the money. That may be the case, but the roster includes people like ol' Roy, Coach K, Jim Boeheim, and Rick Pitino, who have all been making some serious coin for a long time. They also live in places where it is a little tough to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars per month (as opposed to NYC, where such income can be swallowed up without a visible burp; though I'd guess racehorses would be one way if you live in Louisville).

Perhaps other guys in their age bracket (Jim Larranaga and Leonard Hamilton) are still piling up retirement money, but I'd think the big 4 aren't really worried about accruing cash beyond its usefulness as a marker for financial success/freedom/whatever.

I'd be curious about the motivation, but I doubt they'd reveal much that wouldn't be crafted for effect. I'd guess more along the lines of addiction to the dopamine reward center of the brain. Yeah, the sidelines are stressful, but all four of them have reached the pinnacle of the sport--thereby feeling an intensity of achievement and adulation that would be hard to match outside of sport--while getting to mold some of the best athletes ever to have sprinted onto a game field, which would be exciting in and of itself (hmmm... I think I'd like to watch Jabari lob a pass to Semi to see if he can dunk over Rodney... well, that was fun. let's do it again... hmmm. I wonder whether Matt can guard Quinn, whether Nate still has the oomph to guard Amile... yes, that would make for a good morning).

And while we can bemoan recruiting, coaching at a top-tier program allows all of them to live very comfortably even when they're flying out to watch a 16 year old play a high school game (and where all eyes turn to the coaches when they walk into the gym). And the recruiting becomes a little easier when you can basically edit your own list down to perhaps 10 or 12 elite players (from which you can feel fairly confident that half would attend if offered) rather than hope to snare anyone from the top 150.

And if they host an off-season charity golf tournament or visit a hospital, they get press coverage and applauded (in contrast, say, to the people who actually work in the hospital or, more importantly, to former coaches--who, immediately upon retirement, become superfluous B list celebrities who hope to sign on with espn or maybe just fade into the woodwork).

As long as they're healthy and have the resources to live in luxury even while recruiting and to stock their coaching staff with multiple guys who are capable of being head coaches (thereby making the job more like being a CEO than an Army sergeant), and if they find it continuously meaningful (we should all be so lucky), and if they keep winning without scandal (big if), why should they ever quit?

flyingdutchdevil
09-19-2013, 11:44 AM
As long as they're healthy and have the resources to live in luxury even while recruiting and to stock their coaching staff with multiple guys who are capable of being head coaches (thereby making the job more like being a CEO than an Army sergeant), and if they find it continuously meaningful (we should all be so lucky), and if they keep winning without scandal (big if), why should they ever quit?

This. Coaches are CEOs. Even Coach K says that during his yearly talk to the Fuqua second years. It's a job that requires a helluva lot of strategic planning, ability to successfully interact with media analysts, and a tight, functioning executive board (assistant coaches, admin, etc).

The $ is also very similar to CEOs. Most coaches were under paid for the majority of their careers (assistant coaches don't pay that well, especially for not blue chip programs), and this is the opportunity to cash out. More importantly, your compensation should reflect your status / success in comparison to other coaches (just like CEOs).