Money Grohs on trees at UVA
posted by LW, Wednesday, November 18, 2009
This is a illustration of what Al Groh's guest bathroom will look like after this season.
It's always fascinating to learn how much schools pay coaches to sit on their rear-ends at home.
As you all know, Clemson paid Tommy Bowden $3.5 million last year (in addition to his salary for the remainder of the year) after school and coach parted ways.
In the midst of Groh's presumed departure from Virginia, Doug Doughty of The Roanoke Times has an interesting piece that reports on just how much money UVA has paid its coaches to do nothing.
(Some Virginia fans would submit that UVA has paid Groh to do nothing for years, but that's another story.)
Littlepage has gone this long without addressing the Groh situation, so what's another 12 days? But he is no stranger to the process, having terminated the contract of four-year men's basketball coach Dave Leitao in March.
Leitao received a $2.1 million settlement. His predecessor, Pete Gillen, received a $2 million buyout in 2005.
Groh's buyout is $4 million. Sounds like a lot, but it might not be as expensive as keeping the guy.
Annual giving is nearly $3 million below goal, season-ticket sales dropped by more than 4,000 this year and attendance is down by more than 7,500 (or 14.1 percent).
Think attendance doesn't matter?
"It's an indicator as to how the fan base is responding to the product," said UVa director of athletics Craig Littlepage said. "Attendance is a by-product of how the program is perceived.
"When you're looking at ticket sales and your ability to raise money, et cetera, these are challenging circumstances."
Littlepage also introduces an interesting term -- "private philanthropy" -- to describe where a lot of this money can come from.
Private philanthropy? Ah, the well-heeled alumnus (or alumna) stroking a seven-figure check.
"I think it's safe to say that you would have philanthropic commitments in place to help handle these sorts of situations," Littlepage said.
Seven-figure check? This is about where the folks at Clemson say: "Must be nice."
The ACC Sports Journal says Groh's departure seems certain.
How bad is Virginia's offense? Bad enough that, after the Cavaliers totaled 298 yards in a close loss to Boston College, Groh said the Cavs had "been working 10 months to have a performance like that."
But what was he thinking? The Cavaliers failed to gain 300 yards for the sixth time in as many ACC games and did not score an offensive touchdown for the second time in their past four conference outings.
Here's the worst part of Groh's final season:
Of the 14 true freshmen he has used this season, only a handful had any business being on the field.
In the Newport News Daily Press, the Cavs say they're playing for pride.
Also in the Daily Press, a piece on C.J. Spiller.
While it may seem like an odd position to be in for a running back who likely won't finish first team All-ACC at his primary position (those honors will likely go to Georgia Tech's Jonathan Dwyer and Virginia Tech's Ryan Williams), it appears Spiller has a chance to live up to the Heisman hype created for him by Clemson's sports-information department. Before the season, Clemson created a life-size poster of him to tout his Heisman candidacy.
"I thought it was a realistic goal," said Spiller, who will graduate in December with a degree in sociology. "I never try to set my goals low… I never thought this would be a bad idea. If I didn't have faith in my ability, I would've never went with the poster."
Clifford appears to have Heather Dinich's Heisman vote.
Guessing Maryland OC James Franklin will be pulling hard for Clemson to win Saturday.
In The Post and Courier, a nice story on Thomas Austin's background.
Both Austin's grandfathers served in the military. His father, Tom Austin, graduated from West Point, where he was captain of the lacrosse and rugby teams. He served with the elite 101st Airborne and 3rd Armored Division, and fought in the first Gulf War. He settled in Camden and become the commandant at the Camden Military Academy.
Camden is listed as Thomas Austin's hometown, but he was born in West Point, where the academy's lessons of fortitude and leadership where passed along from the father to his six children.
"Character, leadership and integrity are the keys," said Tom Austin of the message relayed to his children over and over again.
His daughter is serving in Afghanistan, and two sons-in-law have had tours in Iraq.
At the Austin Ranch in Camden, Clemson's All-ACC guard -- Thomas Adam Austin V -- grew up with listening to stories of Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson, admired "as a leader, a warrior and a strong Christian," by his father.
Who knew Kevin Steele fasts on game days?
Apparently he also doesn't like talking about the division championship Clemson is on the verge of claiming.
Surely, somebody asked Clemson defensive coordinator Kevin Steele, you must be thinking about beating Virginia on Saturday and winning the Atlantic Division championship.
“No,” he said, with an almost derisive tone in his voice. “When you do that, you start getting emotionally invested and that takes away from your focus. You only have to fall off the back of a pickup truck so many times before you understand what’s important.”
Closing on basketball, Oliver Purnell and his gang must love the smell of Flames in the morning.
LW
For questions or comments on this blog entry, please visit The West Zone message board.
Link to this entry - Discuss this entry - Return to Blog Home
This is a illustration of what Al Groh's guest bathroom will look like after this season.
It's always fascinating to learn how much schools pay coaches to sit on their rear-ends at home.
As you all know, Clemson paid Tommy Bowden $3.5 million last year (in addition to his salary for the remainder of the year) after school and coach parted ways.
In the midst of Groh's presumed departure from Virginia, Doug Doughty of The Roanoke Times has an interesting piece that reports on just how much money UVA has paid its coaches to do nothing.
(Some Virginia fans would submit that UVA has paid Groh to do nothing for years, but that's another story.)
Littlepage has gone this long without addressing the Groh situation, so what's another 12 days? But he is no stranger to the process, having terminated the contract of four-year men's basketball coach Dave Leitao in March.
Leitao received a $2.1 million settlement. His predecessor, Pete Gillen, received a $2 million buyout in 2005.
Groh's buyout is $4 million. Sounds like a lot, but it might not be as expensive as keeping the guy.
Annual giving is nearly $3 million below goal, season-ticket sales dropped by more than 4,000 this year and attendance is down by more than 7,500 (or 14.1 percent).
Think attendance doesn't matter?
"It's an indicator as to how the fan base is responding to the product," said UVa director of athletics Craig Littlepage said. "Attendance is a by-product of how the program is perceived.
"When you're looking at ticket sales and your ability to raise money, et cetera, these are challenging circumstances."
Littlepage also introduces an interesting term -- "private philanthropy" -- to describe where a lot of this money can come from.
Private philanthropy? Ah, the well-heeled alumnus (or alumna) stroking a seven-figure check.
"I think it's safe to say that you would have philanthropic commitments in place to help handle these sorts of situations," Littlepage said.
Seven-figure check? This is about where the folks at Clemson say: "Must be nice."
The ACC Sports Journal says Groh's departure seems certain.
How bad is Virginia's offense? Bad enough that, after the Cavaliers totaled 298 yards in a close loss to Boston College, Groh said the Cavs had "been working 10 months to have a performance like that."
But what was he thinking? The Cavaliers failed to gain 300 yards for the sixth time in as many ACC games and did not score an offensive touchdown for the second time in their past four conference outings.
Here's the worst part of Groh's final season:
Of the 14 true freshmen he has used this season, only a handful had any business being on the field.
In the Newport News Daily Press, the Cavs say they're playing for pride.
Also in the Daily Press, a piece on C.J. Spiller.
While it may seem like an odd position to be in for a running back who likely won't finish first team All-ACC at his primary position (those honors will likely go to Georgia Tech's Jonathan Dwyer and Virginia Tech's Ryan Williams), it appears Spiller has a chance to live up to the Heisman hype created for him by Clemson's sports-information department. Before the season, Clemson created a life-size poster of him to tout his Heisman candidacy.
"I thought it was a realistic goal," said Spiller, who will graduate in December with a degree in sociology. "I never try to set my goals low… I never thought this would be a bad idea. If I didn't have faith in my ability, I would've never went with the poster."
Clifford appears to have Heather Dinich's Heisman vote.
Guessing Maryland OC James Franklin will be pulling hard for Clemson to win Saturday.
In The Post and Courier, a nice story on Thomas Austin's background.
Both Austin's grandfathers served in the military. His father, Tom Austin, graduated from West Point, where he was captain of the lacrosse and rugby teams. He served with the elite 101st Airborne and 3rd Armored Division, and fought in the first Gulf War. He settled in Camden and become the commandant at the Camden Military Academy.
Camden is listed as Thomas Austin's hometown, but he was born in West Point, where the academy's lessons of fortitude and leadership where passed along from the father to his six children.
"Character, leadership and integrity are the keys," said Tom Austin of the message relayed to his children over and over again.
His daughter is serving in Afghanistan, and two sons-in-law have had tours in Iraq.
At the Austin Ranch in Camden, Clemson's All-ACC guard -- Thomas Adam Austin V -- grew up with listening to stories of Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson, admired "as a leader, a warrior and a strong Christian," by his father.
Who knew Kevin Steele fasts on game days?
Apparently he also doesn't like talking about the division championship Clemson is on the verge of claiming.
Surely, somebody asked Clemson defensive coordinator Kevin Steele, you must be thinking about beating Virginia on Saturday and winning the Atlantic Division championship.
“No,” he said, with an almost derisive tone in his voice. “When you do that, you start getting emotionally invested and that takes away from your focus. You only have to fall off the back of a pickup truck so many times before you understand what’s important.”
Closing on basketball, Oliver Purnell and his gang must love the smell of Flames in the morning.
LW
For questions or comments on this blog entry, please visit The West Zone message board.
Link to this entry - Discuss this entry - Return to Blog Home
Donnie Patterson. Donnie Patterson is the founder of Patterson Tax Service, located in Easley, S.C. He has been active in tax preparation since 1970, and offers a full range of tax and bookkeeping services.
Larry Williams. Larry has covered the daily beat at Clemson since 2004. Williams, who worked for the Charleston Post & Courier from 2004-08, joined Tigerillustrated.com in November of 2008. He may be reached by email at ldubya08(at)gmail.com. Replace (at) with @.