Tag: Contracts

Kyle Ringo, sports writer for the Boulder Daily Camera, recently wrote an intriguing editorial on the local football scene, “McElwain Deal Could Pave Way for Raise for Embree” (December 14, 2011).

A short replay for those not familiar with the situation…

Jon Embree was hired to rebuild the University of Colorado football program at an annual salary of $725,000, plus on-field incentives. This is the lowest salary in the PAC-12. Embree bleeds Black and Gold and is well qualified despite his lack of experience as a head coach. He has surrounded himself with a qualified team of assistant coaches and has rekindled enthusiasm for the sport, CU Athletics, the university, and fundraising efforts.

Jim McElwain was recently hired to coach the Colorado State Rams, a school that was successful in a weak conference under Sonny Lubick. McElwain will be paid $1.3 million to try to put CSU back on the football map.

Now for the intriguing part of Ringo’s editorial…
McElwain has a $200,000 incentive in his contract related to his players’ academic performance.

The focus of the editorial was $$ and it did not address the specifics of McElwain’s academic performance incentive nor did it look at some of the questions surrounding the concept. Some questions that might be posed are presented below.
• Participation on a D1 athletic team is time consuming. As a result, athletes have access to tutors and in some cases are required to use them. Given that level of support is it is appropriate for an academic incentive to be offered?
• Most special groups, including athletic teams, include students who perform above the average in the classroom. If that is the case, then why is an academic performance incentive necessary?
• Are academic performance incentives based on a student’s improvement or his grades? This question is relevant because some athletics lack strong academic backgrounds for socioeconomic or other reasons.
• Former CU basketball Coach Jeff Bzdelik stated publicly it was difficult to produce a quality basketball team at CU given the universities high academic standards. f this is the case, how do you establish an appropriate academic standard for football and basketball?
• Would an academic performance incentive require students to perform at a certain level in meaningful classes that develop knowledge and skills that will allow the student-athletes to get a job when they graduate?
• How many coaches in Colorado’s colleges and universities have a clause in their contract that awards them for their students’ performance in the classroom?
• Does Embree have a academic incentive for the classroom performance of his players? If not, then why? If so, then why wasn’t it discussed in Ringo’s article?
• Do physics or accounting professors have similar performance  incentives for their students? This is a rhetorical question. Grade inflation has become so rampant in some universities, CU included, that policies have been set in certain disciplines, such as the Leeds School, that establish quotas that limit the number of A’s and B’s in a class.
• Is an academic performance incentive meaningful, or is it just a clause placed in the contract to pacify the “jock-haters.”

Both athletics and academics are important to our colleges and universities. It is truly an interesting challenge to find a balance between the two.