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Fire Sawvel

OrediggerPoke said:
No. Which is why Burman needs to be held accountable for a 5 year guaranteed contract without a reasonable buyout escape clause. It’s ludicrous that this is the contract he agreed to.
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According to the article you linked, it does make the contract sound like a big mistake by Burman and the UW Athletic Department.

That being said, I could swear I remember other articles that were written around the time Sawvel was hired talking about how the guaranteed portion of Sawvel's contract was in reference to his base salary only.

Maybe I am misremembering. One of us should put a FOI request into UW for Sawvel's contract so that we know exactly what Burman and Sawvel agreed to.
 
TheRealUW said:
According to the article you linked, it does make the contract sound like a big mistake by Burman and the UW Athletic Department.

That being said, I could swear I remember other articles that were written around the time Sawvel was hired talking about how the guaranteed portion of Sawvel's contract was in reference to his base salary only.

Maybe I am misremembering. One of us should put a FOI request into UW for Sawvel's contract so that we know exactly what Burman and Sawvel agreed to.
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Yes it's base salary.
 
TheRealUW said:
According to the article you linked, it does make the contract sound like a big mistake by Burman and the UW Athletic Department.

That being said, I could swear I remember other articles that were written around the time Sawvel was hired talking about how the guaranteed portion of Sawvel's contract was in reference to his base salary only.

Maybe I am misremembering. One of us should put a FOI request into UW for Sawvel's contract so that we know exactly what Burman and Sawvel agreed to.
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I’m unaware of other articles. The only information that I’m aware of indicating that we would only be on the hook for base salary (and not guaranteed salary too) for firing Sawvel was from posts on here and Twitter that lacked any citation.

Article from Thorburn appears to directly address the issue stating “UW would owe Sawvel the remaining base salary AND GUARANTEED COMPENSATION for EACH of the remaining years of the contract if he is fired without cause.”

The mention from Thorburn is so specific that he had to be paraphrasing the contract itself. Otherwise, why is he using those extra words.
 
LanderPoke said:
With sawvel’s resume he should easily be the lowest paid coach
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That is EXACTLY my point. He should have been one of if not the LOWEST paid coach with minimal risk to UW. He had 0 head coaching experience at any level. There was no evidence that he could be a head football coach -- particularly in the MWC. My $750k annual salary doesn't seem so crazy when you look at what the other in experience head coaches are making -- Chang at $600k and Gonzalez at $750k. Given those were the comparable salaries for similar levels of experience. I'm certain he would have just taken it once he saw those salaries.
 
OrediggerPoke said:
In case you forgot - the base salary and additional compensation is GUARANTEED throughout the entire 5 year deal. It isn’t a pay a buyout get out of jail free card contract.

trib.com

Contract details released for new Wyoming Cowboys head coach Jay Sawvel

Jay Sawvel, who will replace Craig Bohl as Wyoming's head coach following the Arizona Bowl, has signed a five-year, $5.8 million contract.
trib.com trib.com
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Getting fired after your only season wouldn’t look too great for future employment would be the only leverage
 
rocket city poke said:
That is EXACTLY my point. He should have been one of if not the LOWEST paid coach with minimal risk to UW. He had 0 head coaching experience at any level. There was no evidence that he could be a head football coach -- particularly in the MWC. My $750k annual salary doesn't seem so crazy when you look at what the other in experience head coaches are making -- Chang at $600k and Gonzalez at $750k. Given those were the comparable salaries for similar levels of experience. I'm certain he would have just taken it once he saw those salaries.
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If UW were paying him 30k...(not 300...30), I would still hate the product. Endless talk about guaranteed money and how much to pay just distracts from the issue.... Wyoming (Burman) consistently gets the wrong guy...that assumes that the head coach is what is holding us back of course.
 
307bball said:
If UW were paying him 30k...(not 300...30), I would still hate the product. Endless talk about guaranteed money and how much to pay just distracts from the issue.... Wyoming (Burman) consistently gets the wrong guy...that assumes that the head coach is what is holding us back of course.
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You're wrong. The buyout and firing would be easier if the contract was better.
 
LanderPoke said:
With sawvel’s resume he should easily be the lowest paid coach
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I was absolutely roasted for this opinion when he was hired. I remember floating 800k + incentives.

Cough cough, not naming names* many said how crazy that is and how stupid I am despite the FACT that it is in line with the lower 3rd of the MWC.
 
ragtimejoe1 said:
You're wrong. The buyout and firing would be easier if the contract was better.
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I'm not making that claim.

I'm pointing out that the central problem is that Wyoming evidently struggles mightily to get the right guy (or gal) at the helm for it's sports programs.

I will grant that it is a problem that UW finds itself contractually tethered in ways that you are pointing out. Nobody is disputing that. However, that problem is downstream of the coach and program going off a competitive cliff. If Sawvell is undefeated right now, nobody cares about compensation. As fans and media, I wish we would just demand a winner. I don't think that the administration likes the fact that people like you are raising a stink in regards to the minutiae of the employment agreements in the football program but they would much prefer we focus on that rather than the competitive drought they are on. When it comes to how to hire/fire and contracts....there are really so many rationalizations and ways to skin the cat. I think the administration is good at having those conversations and deflecting blame. They really can't defend the raw competitive argument though.
 
jwy_poke said:
No I didn't see it on Twitter. Every other UW coach the buyout was base only. Way pay him the incentives if he didn't earn then?
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So - we can just ignore Sawvel’s actual contract that includes ‘guaranteed compensation’ in addition to ‘base salary’ and reports on it because we know what other coaches agreed to in the past?

Ok then…
 
307bball said:
I'm not making that claim.

I'm pointing out that the central problem is that Wyoming evidently struggles mightily to get the right guy (or gal) at the helm for it's sports programs.

I will grant that it is a problem that UW finds itself contractually tethered in ways that you are pointing out. Nobody is disputing that. However, that problem is downstream of the coach and program going off a competitive cliff. If Sawvell is undefeated right now, nobody cares about compensation. As fans and media, I wish we would just demand a winner. I don't think that the administration likes the fact that people like you are raising a stink in regards to the minutiae of the employment agreements in the football program but they would much prefer we focus on that rather than the competitive drought they are on. When it comes to how to hire/fire and contracts....there are really so many rationalizations and ways to skin the cat. I think the administration is good at having those conversations and deflecting blame. They really can't defend the raw competitive argument though.
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If pay was more reasonable and better contract we wouldn't be stuck with this hire for very long which at least gives us a chance. I don't think we're necessarily on different pages.

Other than chief investment officers for the treasure and retirement board, PBJ is the highest paid state employee followed by a few other coaches, then Burman, then the UW prez and the investment officers.
 
laxwyo said:
Getting fired after your only season wouldn’t look too great for future employment would be the only leverage
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Unfortunately- I don’t think we even have that leverage :(

I think we could lose every game 60-0 here on out and we couldn’t afford it right now. Don’t see how we come up with about $4.8 million for the firing and then the money for a new staff until we get that exit fee money June 2026.
 
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