There has been some discussion on both boards about the financial implications of firing our coach and hiring a "Big Name" coach to lead the program.
Firing KK and signing a successful name coach would take a minimum $ 6,000,000 upfront just between the first year salary, new assistants, and fulfilling KK's contract. ( Source - Review Journal contract posting)
I'm using Frank Martin as an example for the above number. He is a name coach. He was hired by UMASS this year at $ 1,700,000 for 5 years. ( Source - UMASS WIKI) This is on the value side for a NAME coach because Martin was fired from South Carolina. But luring a successful NAME coach would be a huge outlay. As an example, Beard signed at Texas for $ 5 Million a year.( Source - UT WEBSITE)
I don't believe any coach could fill the T&M for every game short of an undefeated National Title run. Except for a few programs, basketball attendance is down across the nation. Plus there is much more competition for sports dollars in this town. So I chose to use Dave Rice's 2013 year ( Second Round NCAA appearance - ranked 18th Nationally) as an example of where we could go. That year we averaged 15000 a game for our home games. ( Source - UNLV web page) This year to date we are averaging 5553 per game ( Source - ESPN box scores) (( as a side comment - Firing Dave Rice was stupid beyond comprehension))
So, if a new coach could raise attendance by 10,000 what would that mean financially? ( I'm using ticket prices only because I couldn't obtain info on concession revenue) The average price of a ticket at a Game is $ 62 ( Combined prices of walkup tickets for the T&M - UNLVTICKETS.com) 10,000 additional seats x 19 home games x $62 = $11,780,000.
So if we ASSUME a new Name coach could fill the MACK to 80% capacity it's a no-brainer to hire him. But the assumption is potentially flawed because not every NAME coach is successful fast enough to cover the contract outlay.
Frank Martin is leading UMASS to next to last place in the conference. Some coaches do very well at a new location - others, as seen by Martin, Howland - not so much. We can all go look at new hires that have been successful right away and say "Why not us?" But there are also those who have been mediocre, took several years to be a success, or failed completely.
IMO, it's a huge financial gamble to hire an expensive coach IF you do not have loads of excess Football revenue to cover you if you fail, or you have a Daddy Warbucks who can finance you. Paying big money and winning would be fantastic for the entire UNLV sports program. But losing could cripple all our sports.
