UF Prez Calls for Raise for Meyer — School Slashes Budget by $42M

University of Florida president Bernie Machen has come out stating head football coach Urban Meyer deserves a raise.

“He should be [the SEC's highest-paid coach],” Machen said, according to the Orlando Sentinel. “He’s the best.”

LSU coach Les Miles is currently the highest-paid coach in the SEC, arguably the strongest football conference in the NCAA.

While I do agree with Machen’s idea in principle, of course performance should be rewarded and Meyer is the best coach in the nation right now, this is not the right time for a raise. Why? Because on Tuesday the school announced over $42 million in budget cuts. This is in addition to $69 million that was slashed over the past two years. In the middle of this budget crisis, it doesn’t seem like a raise for the head football coach should be among the school’s top concerns.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m a huge college football fan. I get it – Florida doesn’t want to lose Meyer to a higher bidder that could come calling. However, this should be a decision that the university and Meyer should come to an agreement on so they both come out of it looking good. There are other needs the school has and could use that money for, like things that directly affect its student-athletes, that are more important in the greater scheme of things. Florida and Meyer should both remember, college is an institution for learning first. And yes, football is a huge revenue generator for the school, but even considering that, I think the money that would go toward a Meyer raise could affect many more students if used elsewhere. Waiting and not working out a raise right now will make both the university and Meyer look far better in the eyes of the football community and greater community at-large.

Kentucky BBall Faces Image Problem

I just finished writing a post about John Calipari needing to fix his image due to NCAA allegations made against his former school, Memphis, while he was the head coach. Cal was just named new head coach at Kentucky following the 2009 NCAA tournament.

Then I go to the ESPN homepage and see the following headlines:
Ex-UK coach Gillispie suing school, seeking $6M
UK recruit Wall pleads guilty to misdemeanor

If you’re keeping track at home that’s three, yes three, negative stories involving the Kentucky basketball program (counting the Memphis allegations because of Calipari) to hit in less than 24 hours. This should be a fun time for the Kentucky athletic department’s PR people…..

Another Scar for Coach Cal?

Today I saw the story break on ESPN that Memphis’ basketball program is facing NCAA charges that a former player cheated on his SATs. The player only played for the team for the 2007-2008 season and 2008 tournament.

The story states that if the allegations are proven true, Memphis could have to forfeit its Final Four appearance from that year. Then Memphis coach John Calipari was not named in the NCAA report, but in terms of image that doesn’t really matter. In 1996 Calipari lead UMass to its first Final Four appearance, but the school ended up having to vacate the appearance because of NCAA violations. He’s also been criticized throughout his career for low graduation rates. Due to the past violation by a program under his watch, Calipari will undoubtedly receive criticism for this current Memphis allegation regardless of whether or not the school is convicted. That’s just how image and reputation work. You don’t have to be convicted to tarnish your image.

Coach Cal will now face an uphill battle in his new job as head coach at Kentucky to reverse the negative connotations associated with him. I’m sure the PR people for Kentucky’s PR department will advise Calipari to do some volunteer work in the community, but I think this stigma associated with him is something that will take more time to change. It’s not an easy fix to simply throw out the image of community-friendly Calipari. He’s been involved in the community at past stops – that’s not the issue. This is something bigger that can really only be fixed through improved graduation rates and proper recruitment of stand-up high school seniors. It will be interesting to see what Calipari does at Kentucky.