Is the Frenzy of Buyouts Sustainable for Schools?
Just three weeks into the college football season, UCLA's DeShaun Foster and Virginia Tech's Brent Pry lost their jobs. Seven weeks later, several more coaches were dismissed midseason, including prominent figures. A quarter of the SEC's coaches who began the season were gone, such as Arkansas' Sam Pittman, who was fired in September. Longtime coaches James Franklin of Penn State and Oklahoma State's Mike Gundy were also among those relieved of their duties.
Firing coaches is not a simple matter of an awkward conversation and starting a search for a replacement. Universities face millions of dollars in buyouts for coaches they no longer employ. By Week 10, buyout costs for assistant and head coaches reached about $185 million. This raises concerns about whether athletic departments can afford to spend their way out of problems, especially as higher education funding becomes more strained and schools must share millions of dollars in revenue with athletes for the first time.
"It's not a sustainable pattern," said Michael LeRoy, a labor and employment relations expert at the University of Illinois. "Even without revenue sharing, it would be challenging. These figures have been growing exponentially over the past five to 10 years. Power conference coaching contracts are in this escalating spiral that involves larger buyouts, longer terms and more restrictions on terminating contracts."
As costs climb, expectations for performance continue to rise, creating a challenging financial landscape for college athletic programs.
Summary
Rising buyouts and escalating coaching contracts in college sports create financial strain and reveal an unsustainable path amid tighter education budgets and growing athlete revenue sharing demands.
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