We already know the price of success in college football is steep.  But it seems the price of failure is on the rise as well.
The University of Arizona recently fired head coach Mike Stoops after a 1-5 start to the season.  Along with his termination notice, Stoops was also given a check for $1.4 million as partial payment for the two and one-half years remaining on his contract.  
Going back to last season, Stoops is 1-10 in his team’s last 11 starts, making the “why” of Stoops’ termination self explanatory.  However, the timing of his dismissal isn’t quite so clear.  Why now, when the university will have to hire – and pay – another coach to lead the Wildcats for the remainder of this season?  Surely the coach for 2012 and beyond won’t be hired until after the season, when the university will have a larger pool of potential candidates to fill the position.  So why the rush to usher Stoops out the door?  
Apparently, the decision not to bring Stoops back for next year had already been made.  Better to make the move now rather than have the team go on a winning streak and run the risk that Stoops supporters, of which there are few in Tucson at the moment, would raise a ruckus if their man was canned.    
Fred DuVal, chairman of the Board of Regents, defended the timing of the announcement when he told the Arizona Republic, “The amount of revenue involved in a winning program vs. a losing program is so enormous that we’ve made the determination that the overall net financial case for making the change (now) is compelling.”  That news is surely comforting to the “amateur” student-athletes who are struggling to make ends meet while carrying a full class load and spending 50-60 hours per week on team activities – practice, weight training, meetings, travel, games, etc.  
Stoops’ parting gift should forever put to rest the argument that universities do not have the financial wherewithal to fill the gap between the amount of a student-athlete’s scholarship and the actual cost of a year of higher education.  A recent study pegged that number at an average of $3,222 per year for the 120 BCS schools.  With 85 scholarships allowed by the NCAA, the total scholarship deficiency is approximately $275,000/year/school.  In U of A’s case, Stoops’ termination pay would cover the scholarship gap for five years.
Stoops, at $1.1 million per year, wasn’t anywhere near the top of the pay scale for his profession.  In fact, he was below the average for a BCS football coach.  And Stoops was a veritable pauper compared to the likes of Nick Saban at Alabama, Mack Brown at Texas, and his older brother Bob at Oklahoma, all of whom pull down in excess of $5 million per year.  That number is before contract bonuses and non-university income.  Of course, all of the aforementioned coaches, not to mention most of the other head coaches in the BCS, have been more successful than Mike Stoops has been during the past few years.     
Stoops was the first, but he won’t be the last, BCS coach canned this season.  And something else you can count on.  Stoops’ successor at the U of A will earn more than he did. Think at least twice and perhaps three times more.  That’s just how the system works.  If you want to keep up with the Joneses, i.e., win enough football games to receive an invite to a BCS bowl game, you have to pay the going rate for a big-name coach.  
Don’t feel sorry for Arizona.  The University won’t be at a loss for revenue to pay its next coach, whoever he may be.  All Pac 12 Conference members, including Arizona, will begin receiving an additional $15 million per year in 2012 as a result of a new TV deal.  
While the escalation in coaches’ salaries seemingly has no end, the student-athletes play for free.  Forget the argument that they receive a free education.  Less than half of BCS football players graduate with a degree in anything and a significant number of those who do earn a degree are unemployable.
As for Mike Stoops, he has his termination pay and a job offer from brother Bob at Oklahoma, from whence he came.     
          

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