CML is so funny......

[Loyal Coug]

At about the 2.5 minute mark in the post game interview, talking about Renard Bell;s upbeat nature. "I think I need to hang out with Renard Bell all the time. Next game I think I'm going to room with Renard Bell". Or something close to that. Always with that deadpan delivery, lots of ums and ohs.

Coach has his detractors, but IMHO he is the perfect guy for the Cougs. A lot like Walden was back in the early 80's. Like Price was until he got full of himself in the 90's.

4-0. Another good season, another bowl game coming. We have to remind ourselves of how far we have come. Now a winning record and a minor bowl are not good enough. Now an 8 win season is a disappointment. Geezus. Let's not get that way.

 

[Flatlandcoug]

At about the 2.5 minute mark in the post game interview, talking about Renard Bell;s upbeat nature. "I think I need to hang out with Renard Bell all the time. Next game I think I'm going to room with Renard Bell". Or something close to that. Always with that deadpan delivery, lots of ums and ohs.

Coach has his detractors, but IMHO he is the perfect guy for the Cougs. A lot like Walden was back in the early 80's. Like Price was until he got full of himself in the 90's.

4-0. Another good season, another bowl game coming. We have to remind ourselves of how far we have come. Now a winning record and a minor bowl are not good enough. Now an 8 win season is a disappointment. Geezus. Let's not get that way.

I think we pay Leach too much to look at an 8-5 season with losses to EWU, BSU and Minnesota and say that it was "acceptable" or "good". I guarantee that he holds himself to a higher standard than that. At the same time, we do need to be realistic. Most likely, WSU can not find a coach as good as Leach anytime soon. He makes mistakes and he is far from perfect, but the list of coaches better than Leach is extraordinarily small.

Even though he makes the occasional terrible decision, the fact that we get to see "shallow musings by Mike Leach" on ESPN during college gameday means that WSU gets more positive exposure than most schools just based on him. If we play well and win big games, it's going to get ridiculous.

 

[StormyCOUG42]

I think we pay Leach too much to look at an 8-5 season with losses to EWU, BSU and Minnesota and say that it was "acceptable" or "good".

I disagree. Leach is the SEVENTH highest paid coach in the PAC 12 out of the 11 that we have salaries for. He is likely the 8th. If you base performance on pay, we should expect to finish 7th or 8th in the PAC 12 every year... so 8-5 is exceeding expectations on that measure. It's 2017, not 1997. $2.75 mil for Leach is a discount! If we paid based on performance, we'd have to pay him A LOT more for what we've gotten the last couple years.

 

[ElComanche]

If he gets the cougs to a major bowl, then WSU better up his salary. One of the Florida teams just may want to consider hiring him. I think that Grinch may depart for greener pastures after this year. His defense is looking great this year

 

[Flatlandcoug]

I disagree. Leach is the SEVENTH highest paid coach in the PAC 12 out of the 11 that we have salaries for. He is likely the 8th. If you base performance on pay, we should expect to finish 7th or 8th in the PAC 12 every year... so 8-5 is exceeding expectations on that measure. It's 2017, not 1997. $2.75 mil for Leach is a discount! If we paid based on performance, we'd have to pay him A LOT more for what we've gotten the last couple years.

His salary is currently just over $3 million per year and his base salary is actually higher than Peterson. It's not WSU's fault that they have more fluff money to throw at Peterson.

Washington Employee Salaries

When you consider the percentage of our athletic department salary that goes to Leach, he is likely the highest paid coach in the conference. On top of that, when you factor in cost of living and other factors, his salary is just fine. What's interesting is that Wilcox is getting paid less than $2 million per year at Cal.....how insulted he must be!!!! At least Cal fans can feel good knowing that they are doomed to last place based on salary but it's just the way it is. Now, I agree that as we see increases in our on-field performance, we should not be surprised if his pay increases, and that is the way that it should be. However, to pretend that $3 million plus per year is some bargain basement deal is a big disingenuous. We aren't paying him under $1 million per year like the "good ol' days" under Wulff. He is getting a market salary for a reason and that reason is he is expected to be successful. FWIW, when I say paid too much, I don't mean that his salary is too high. It's too high to accept the status quo.

 

[Loyal Coug]

I disagree. Leach is the SEVENTH highest paid coach in the PAC 12 out of the 11 that we have salaries for. He is likely the 8th. If you base performance on pay, we should expect to finish 7th or 8th in the PAC 12 every year... so 8-5 is exceeding expectations on that measure. It's 2017, not 1997. $2.75 mil for Leach is a discount! If we paid based on performance, we'd have to pay him A LOT more for what we've gotten the last couple years.

To add to my original post - we all want to win 10 games every year and compete for titles. I think we will. I guess my point is that the 8 win seasons and minor bowl games will be average seasons, with a 6-6 record being the disappointing low mark. As opposed to the 3-8, 3-9 that was acceptable every couple of years under former regimes.

 

[Cougatron]

His salary is currently just over $3 million per year and his base salary is actually higher than Peterson. It's not WSU's fault that they have more fluff money to throw at Peterson.

Washington Employee Salaries

When you consider the percentage of our athletic department salary that goes to Leach, he is likely the highest paid coach in the conference. On top of that, when you factor in cost of living and other factors, his salary is just fine. What's interesting is that Wilcox is getting paid less than $2 million per year at Cal.....how insulted he must be!!!! At least Cal fans can feel good knowing that they are doomed to last place based on salary but it's just the way it is. Now, I agree that as we see increases in our on-field performance, we should not be surprised if his pay increases, and that is the way that it should be. However, to pretend that $3 million plus per year is some bargain basement deal is a big disingenuous. We aren't paying him under $1 million per year like the "good ol' days" under Wulff. He is getting a market salary for a reason and that reason is he is expected to be successful. FWIW, when I say paid too much, I don't mean that his salary is too high. It's too high to accept the status quo.

Wilcox had ZERO head coaching experience.

We hired the Big XII coach of the year who coached a team to a Number 2 BCS rating, 10 bowl games, beat the number 1 team in the nation, and holds god knows how many NCAA records and accolades....

For CHEAP.

Your assumption is that percentage wise based on the budget of WSU he is paid a lot.

But, when we hired Wulff and was paying him nothing we got.... exactly what we paid for.... Garbage.

Football helps to market a University in a big way, and we've had WAY more exposure because of Leach and that should be factored into his salary for what he has done.


Jim Harbaugh is paid 9 million dollars a year at Michigan. 9 MILLION.

Saban who has won a ton of championships... 7 million.

Urban Meyer..... 6 million.


To show you how much of a steal we are getting with Leach.

Kliff Kingsbury who now coaches Texas Tech makes 3.3 million... Leach makes 2.9

And Texas Tech hasn't had as good of a record SINCE he was fired....

When Mark Helfrich was at Oregon he was getting paid 3.30 million.

So Oregon paid 400k more than us for a guy who had never been a HC who they fired after 4 years.

USC paid how much to fire Sark?

UCLA is paying Mora 500k more than Leach.

Mora is making 500k more than Leach

But what's crazier is that Texas A&M is paying Sumlin 5 million dollars.

5 million dollars to a guy who has one of the best recruiting based in the country, exclusive SEC stakes in the state, 100k+ stadium and collapses against MORA...

For a team that hasn't had this good of a start in 16 years...
that is on pace to go to a bowl for the 3rd time in 3 years in 16 years...

It's a steal. A tremendous steal.

If you want a Harbaugh, Urban Meyer, or a Nick Saban it will cost you at LEAST 7-9 million per year AND.... this is a big AND...they would want to come to Pullman.

Our stadium barely holds 40k people, we had been to a total of 9 bowls game in 100 years, we are in one of the most remote locations for a major conference team...

And we are #18 in the Nation currently, 4-0, been to a bowl game the last two years, beaten every team in the conference at least once under this coach during his tenure, and were 1 game away from being in the conference championship last year...

Are we overachieving for what the status quo is for our school's history in the sport. ABSOLUTELY.

Mike Price's tenure was NOT the norm for us. We went through a lot of hell to get somewhere close now, and we definitely are getting a bargain at it.

People can whine and cry about coaches salaries, but I ask any of you this simple question.

If you could get your place of work to achieve something it hasn't done in 16 years,
beaten every major competitor over the course of the past 6 years in sales at least once,
develop a brand identity that is talked about on television for FREE in advertising in the press every single week at the highest level.
be ranked in the top 20 in the COUNTRY in your field,
have 40k plus people actually get off their ass to come and see you live every week and millions more tune in to watch your product
And did it all with a staff of just 18-22 year old boys

What kind of salary would YOU want?

How much is that to you?

How much do you think a corporation would be willing to pay for those results?

 

[M-I-Coug]

Tron, you get the post of the month. Great reply.

 

[Flatlandcoug]

I never said that we aren't getting a good deal. I'm saying that at $3 million, he is getting paid the right amount for our situation and that we have a right to expect him to do a good job. We should absolutely be disappointed if we have a losing season (it will happen at some point BTW) but we shouldn't lose our minds unless it became an annual thing. If we make the Alamo Bowl this year....he should get a pay raise. If we go to the Las Vegas Bowl.....he should get his normal one year extension.

Mike Leach gets an incredible amount of freedom as our coach and he can be himself. You mention Alabama, Michigan, Ohio State and schools like that....but you know damned well that he would get fired from any of those schools within a couple years because of his insane decision making. Going for it on 4th and 2 from his own 45 and then losing on the field goal that the opponent scores after taking over on downs would get him canned. At WSU, we say, "Oh Mike, you so crazy!" and laugh it off.

You ask me about what kind of compensation would I expect if I set all those records? Mike's quirky nature is the equivalent to a guy showing up to my job wearing beach shorts and sandals when the expected dress code is business casual. That's the trade off. We pay him pretty well and he is financially set for the rest of his life. He gets personal freedom and finishing with 8 wins is considered a good season. Sounds like a cherry freakin' job to me.

 

[StormyCOUG42]

I never said that we aren't getting a good deal. I'm saying that at $3 million, he is getting paid the right amount for our situation and that we have a right to expect him to do a good job.

That's fine. But that's not what you said. You said we shouldn't view our 8-5 season (with who we lost to) as good because of how much we are paying Leach. If that's not what you meant, then okay. Its very hard to win at WSU. Leach has found a way to win here with less talent than many other teams in the PAC 12. That's not easy to do and I think its worth the extra money we pay him.

 

[GrayOnGray]

Let's just say we beat USC Friday. That would put Leach at 34-34 (by my quick calculation). Since 1942, of all the coaches that have stayed longer than two years, WSU has had one with a winning record. One. Leach would be the second. 1942. 9-40.

 

[Flatlandcoug]

That's fine. But that's not what you said. You said we shouldn't view our 8-5 season (with who we lost to) as good because of how much we are paying Leach. If that's not what you meant, then okay. Its very hard to win at WSU. Leach has found a way to win here with less talent than many other teams in the PAC 12. That's not easy to do and I think its worth the extra money we pay him.

What I was meaning was that given that we pay Leach $3 million per year (which is a good market raise salary regardless of any contrary comments by others above), we should be disappointed in an 8 win season that featured a loss to an FCS team and a BSU team that is clearly not the team it used to, and to a Minnesota team that was widely regarded as inferior to us. Leach himself knows that 8-5 was an underachievement by the team we had. To be fair, that is most definitely a statement of the job that Leach has done. Feel free to note that I have never made a comment about last season suggesting that Leach needs to be fired because of those games. I've never said we could find a better coach. You guys want to argue and that's ok, but I still stick with the idea that we should never think that a loss to EWU is acceptable and we should always expect better. I still say that the loss to BSU is more insulting every single day and I don't think anybody walked out of the Holiday Bowl feeling that our team played a good game. In all of those games, we should expect more and I guarantee that Leach expected more out of his teams.

There's a difference between expecting consistent effort and thinking we need a new head coach. For some reason, some of you seem to think that if someone says something negative, they are suggesting that we need to fire Leach. That's not the case.

 

[Coug1990]

What I was meaning was that given that we pay Leach $3 million per year (which is a good market raise salary regardless of any contrary comments by others above), we should be disappointed in an 8 win season that featured a loss to an FCS team and a BSU team that is clearly not the team it used to, and to a Minnesota team that was widely regarded as inferior to us. Leach himself knows that 8-5 was an underachievement by the team we had. To be fair, that is most definitely a statement of the job that Leach has done. Feel free to note that I have never made a comment about last season suggesting that Leach needs to be fired because of those games. I've never said we could find a better coach. You guys want to argue and that's ok, but I still stick with the idea that we should never think that a loss to EWU is acceptable and we should always expect better. I still say that the loss to BSU is more insulting every single day and I don't think anybody walked out of the Holiday Bowl feeling that our team played a good game. In all of those games, we should expect more and I guarantee that Leach expected more out of his teams.

There's a difference between expecting consistent effort and thinking we need a new head coach. For some reason, some of you seem to think that if someone says something negative, they are suggesting that we need to fire Leach. That's not the case.

I have followed Cougar football long enough to know that we should never be upset with an 8-5 season.

 

[dgibbons]

I never said that we aren't getting a good deal. I'm saying that at $3 million, he is getting paid the right amount for our situation and that we have a right to expect him to do a good job. We should absolutely be disappointed if we have a losing season (it will happen at some point BTW) but we shouldn't lose our minds unless it became an annual thing. If we make the Alamo Bowl this year....he should get a pay raise. If we go to the Las Vegas Bowl.....he should get his normal one year extension.

Mike Leach gets an incredible amount of freedom as our coach and he can be himself. You mention Alabama, Michigan, Ohio State and schools like that....but you know damned well that he would get fired from any of those schools within a couple years because of his insane decision making. Going for it on 4th and 2 from his own 45 and then losing on the field goal that the opponent scores after taking over on downs would get him canned. At WSU, we say, "Oh Mike, you so crazy!" and laugh it off.

You ask me about what kind of compensation would I expect if I set all those records? Mike's quirky nature is the equivalent to a guy showing up to my job wearing beach shorts and sandals when the expected dress code is business casual. That's the trade off. We pay him pretty well and he is financially set for the rest of his life. He gets personal freedom and finishing with 8 wins is considered a good season. Sounds like a cherry freakin' job to me.

Leach will always be aggressive, but if he had Ohio State, BAMA, Michigan level talent, why do you think he wouldn't have more confidence in the defense?

 

[Flatlandcoug]

Leach will always be aggressive, but if he had Ohio State, BAMA, Michigan level talent, why do you think he wouldn't have more confidence in the defense?

He would have more confidence in the defense.....and occasionally, he'd be wrong. You gotta remember at 8-5, I look at our schedule and say, "man, we should have done better" and that's it. At the big schools, 9-3 two years in a row and you gotta think about firing them.

 

[Flatlandcoug]

I have followed Cougar football long enough to know that we should never be upset with an 8-5 season.

Your comment illustrates the problem with the internet. I never said that I was "upset". I do look back and see that we left opportunities on the field and that we could have had a much better record. I'm confident that Leach went over last season with the team and talked with them about the chances missed and the need to be better in the future. Hell, we won 45-7 last night and the comments made in the post-game interview made it obvious that he told the team after the game that they shouldn't be feeling all that good about themselves.

 

[Coug1990]

Your comment illustrates the problem with the internet. I never said that I was "upset". I do look back and see that we left opportunities on the field and that we could have had a much better record. I'm confident that Leach went over last season with the team and talked with them about the chances missed and the need to be better in the future. Hell, we won 45-7 last night and the comments made in the post-game interview made it obvious that he told the team after the game that they shouldn't be feeling all that good about themselves.

Ok. You are bitching about an 8-5 season. Feel better now?

I think I understand what you are trying to say. But, you are doing a horrible job doing it. We always want the team to play better. Leach, the coaches, the players and the fans always want the team to play better. But, there is a reason why the play the game on the field and not on paper. Upsets happen. Injuries happen. The ball bounces funny directions. Don't ever forget that these are mostly 18-22 year old players that do make mistakes and don't always play to their best abilities. Heck, that even happens in the pros with grown men.

I will always want more. But, I have been a fan of the Cougars, Seahawks, and Mariners long enough not to take any winning season for granted.

 

[StormyCOUG42]

We had a soft middle portion of our schedule last year that made us look better than we were. The EWU loss was a stinker, but they were one of the best FCS schools in the country. BSU was a good team last year and it was a tough road game. I agree about our bowl game... not sure what happened there. Leach should ALWAYS expect more from our guys. Overall I thought 8-5 was about where we belonged.

 

[Flatlandcoug]

Ok. You are bitching about an 8-5 season. Feel better now?

I think I understand what you are trying to say. But, you are doing a horrible job doing it. We always want the team to play better. Leach, the coaches, the players and the fans always want the team to play better. But, there is a reason why the play the game on the field and not on paper. Upsets happen. Injuries happen. The ball bounces funny directions. Don't ever forget that these are mostly 18-22 year old player that do make mistakes and don't always play to their best abilities. Heck, that even happens in the pros with grown men.

I will always want more. But, I have been a fan of the Cougars, Seahawks, and Mariners long enough not to take any winning season for granted.

I am undoubtedly not doing a great job. The problem with the internet is you get 20 different people who are bored on a Sunday and try to play grammar cop about upset, bitchin' or whatever and then assigning their own opinions about a person to what they are saying.....even when they never said it. Even you are assuming that I'm "taking Leach for granted". In my first post, I said that WSU wasn't likely to be able to find a better coach.

Then you get the people that try to make it meaningful that Leach gets paid about $3 million by WSU which is less than the $3.3 million that some of the other coaches get paid......like that is suddenly the difference between Mike Leach making it between paychecks or not. I don't care what the highest salaries in the countries are, because every single one of you knows that there is no way that Mike Leach EVER leaves for one of those. And even if he did........there's absolutely dick that we could have done about it. If there is one thing that Leach proved at Texas Tech is that he doesn't leave for money.

Leach is the best man for our job. We all get that. That doesn't mean that we should be happy about paying thousands of dollars to go to the Holiday Bowl and watch a half-assed effort and say, "Hey, at least he isn't Wulff". F that. It doesn't mean that losing to FCS schools should be ok. We pay him enough to expect better than that.

EDIT: what's ironic about this thread is that the university says, "JOIN the team!", "Donate", "Come to the games", and other things because they want support from fans. When someone says, "last year was ok, but I wouldn't call it good because we choked away our opener and didn't show up for the bowl game".....the tone (at least here) changes to "Hey, shut your f'ing mouth and enjoy whatever we give you".

 

[CougEd]

To add to my original post - we all want to win 10 games every year and compete for titles. I think we will. I guess my point is that the 8 win seasons and minor bowl games will be average seasons, with a 6-6 record being the disappointing low mark. As opposed to the 3-8, 3-9 that was acceptable every couple of years under former regimes.

Well if he beats UW he is in the title game. Even though he was 8-5 he was in the conversation for the title. Sure it has better looking optics if you are 10-1 or whatever, but they were playing for the north title the last game of the regular season. That alone is the Viagra to the Erictile Dysfunction.

 

[Flatlandcoug]

Well if he beats UW he is in the title game. Even though he was 8-5 he was in the conversation for the title. Sure it has better looking optics if you are 10-1 or whatever, but they were playing for the north title the last game of the regular season. That alone is the Viagra to the Erictile Dysfunction.

Even though I only rate last season as "OK" because of the gack against EWU and the turd dropped in the Holiday Bowl, the thing about Leach is that you can always see the potential for greatness. We were achingly close to an 11 win season last year. In 2008, that 11-1 record was impressive when you consider it included wins over Nebraska, O-State and Texas....all of whom finished with 9+ wins. If not for Oklahoma turning into a video game offense that year, Tech might have been playing for a national championship. Even though his special brand of insanity hurts us occasionally, there's no doubt that it also makes us dangerous.

And you have to appreciate the shallow musings that he brings to the table.