Was money REALLY a factor in Odom leaving?

[Rosegreen1]

Given what we are paying Mullen (Believe me we got an upgrade at HC).

It’s not inconceivable that unlv could have offered Odom 4 million a season. Given that amount I asked Grok for a rough estimate on the take home pay for 4 million (Nevada) and 6 million (Indiana).

Grok gave a rough estimate of all the taxes and filings. Basically the take home pay for staying at unlv is:

Take-Home Pay: Around $2,596,874


At Purdue:

- Take-Home Pay: Approximately $3,489,074

Obviously Odom pays state income tax in Indiana and is pushed into a higher federal tax bracket with the higher salary.

All told the difference is about $892k. Again a very rough estimate. I remember the narrative of everyone saying that Odom is getting generational wealth and life changing wealth etc. But is he really? 890k difference to bolt UNLV? Does that really make sense to anyone?

I thought he chased the bag myself, made total sense to me but once the numbers were crunched it tells a different story to me. Odom bolted because he didn’t like Las Vegas, was never going to be here long term and it was a quick turnaround job. He was always eyeballing a return to the south or Midwest, interviewed and held talks with Purdue while UNLV was in the mix for the conference championship. The fact his son went back to Arkansas was an early missed sign, imo.

That’s fine, that’s his choice obviously but it feels like he passed up an opportunity to be a legend at unlv, one of those guys that get a statue or a field named after him. I feel like he will later regret it and just chose a route to be just another coach somewhere else because of location and community values etc.

 

[Rod_the_Rebel]

He will make a few million and get fired in 3 years. His legacy ended with us.

 

[LocoRebel]

He will make a few million and get fired in 3 years. His legacy ended with us.

Cmon now, don't be hyperbolic...

Purdue can't afford that buyout!

Actually, I think he will be fine there. Not what he did here, but fine by Purdue standard. I'd guess money was the living factor, but it achieved the goal of coaching in the big 10. High dollar value helped

 

[Rod_the_Rebel]

Cmon now, don't be hyperbolic...

Purdue can't afford that buyout!

Actually, I think he will be fine there. Not what he did here, but fine by Purdue standard. I'd guess money was the living factor, but it achieved the goal of coaching in the big 10. High dollar value helped

Look at Purdue’s history with coaches - if he isn’t fired in three years he will be poached

 

[RebelinWA]

Given what we are paying Mullen (Believe me we got an upgrade at HC).

It’s not inconceivable that unlv could have offered Odom 4 million a season. Given that amount I asked Grok for a rough estimate on the take home pay for 4 million (Nevada) and 6 million (Indiana).

Grok gave a rough estimate of all the taxes and filings. Basically the take home pay for staying at unlv is:

Take-Home Pay: Around $2,596,874


At Purdue:

- Take-Home Pay: Approximately $3,489,074

Obviously Odom pays state income tax in Indiana and is pushed into a higher federal tax bracket with the higher salary.

All told the difference is about $892k. Again a very rough estimate. I remember the narrative of everyone saying that Odom is getting generational wealth and life changing wealth etc. But is he really? 890k difference to bolt UNLV? Does that really make sense to anyone?

I thought he chased the bag myself, made total sense to me but once the numbers were crunched it tells a different story to me. Odom bolted because he didn’t like Las Vegas, was never going to be here long term and it was a quick turnaround job. He was always eyeballing a return to the south or Midwest, interviewed and held talks with Purdue while UNLV was in the mix for the conference championship. The fact his son went back to Arkansas was an early missed sign, imo.

That’s fine, that’s his choice obviously but it feels like he passed up an opportunity to be a legend at unlv, one of those guys that get a statue or a field named after him. I feel like he will later regret it and just chose a route to be just another coach somewhere else because of location and community values etc.

Man, I wish I was in a position to say no to 892k.

 

[Bullmastiff 1]

Given what we are paying Mullen (Believe me we got an upgrade at HC).

It’s not inconceivable that unlv could have offered Odom 4 million a season. Given that amount I asked Grok for a rough estimate on the take home pay for 4 million (Nevada) and 6 million (Indiana).

Grok gave a rough estimate of all the taxes and filings. Basically the take home pay for staying at unlv is:

Take-Home Pay: Around $2,596,874


At Purdue:

- Take-Home Pay: Approximately $3,489,074

Obviously Odom pays state income tax in Indiana and is pushed into a higher federal tax bracket with the higher salary.

All told the difference is about $892k. Again a very rough estimate. I remember the narrative of everyone saying that Odom is getting generational wealth and life changing wealth etc. But is he really? 890k difference to bolt UNLV? Does that really make sense to anyone?

I thought he chased the bag myself, made total sense to me but once the numbers were crunched it tells a different story to me. Odom bolted because he didn’t like Las Vegas, was never going to be here long term and it was a quick turnaround job. He was always eyeballing a return to the south or Midwest, interviewed and held talks with Purdue while UNLV was in the mix for the conference championship. The fact his son went back to Arkansas was an early missed sign, imo.

That’s fine, that’s his choice obviously but it feels like he passed up an opportunity to be a legend at unlv, one of those guys that get a statue or a field named after him. I feel like he will later regret it and just chose a route to be just another coach somewhere else because of location and community values etc.

800k over 5 years is another 4 million dollars. I'd qualify that as generational.

Basically every single one of Odom's kids can start their adult years with a house and zero mortgage payment..Think of the head start that is in life.

 

[Rosegreen1]

Man, I wish I was in a position to say no to 892k.

I understand, but it’s not generational money he got. My point is, there’s not going to be any fields or statues erected in his name. He’s just another journeyman coach.

Given the way he left at Mizzou and Arkansas, it doesn’t seem like anyone misses him at either school. Nobody cares about his tenure as he was replaced with someone that was almost better than what he did. If Mullen really rock n rolls here and gets things going while Odom is getting creamed in the BigTen, was it really worth it? I don’t know, doesn’t make a lot of sense unless Odom really disliked Vegas.

 

[RebelinWA]

I understand, but it’s not generational money he got. My point is, there’s not going to be any fields or statues erected in his name. He’s just another journeyman coach.

Given the way he left at Mizzou and Arkansas, it doesn’t seem like anyone misses him at either school. Nobody cares about his tenure as he was replaced with someone that was almost better than what he did. If Mullen really rock n rolls here and gets things going while Odom is getting creamed in the BigTen, was it really worth it? I don’t know, doesn’t make a lot of sense unless Odom really disliked Vegas.

Definitely he’s a mixed bag among other fanbases. It was his job to lose at Mizzou, and he lost it after getting groomed for it.

Arkansas on the other hand was split. Pittman loved him, fans were lukewarm. Though, I do believe Arkansas would take a shot at him at HC once Pittman retires.

 

[InZoneU]

Odom could have stayed here another 2 years, pulled off a few more 10-win seasons and landed a much better job than freaking Purdue with a better salary.

 

[Masked_rebel]

I don't think it was anything specific about Las Vegas. I think he's a Midwest guy with Midwest roots who moved half his family to the west while the other half went back and forth. Coaches with those full Midwest or east coast roots aren't Long for the West.
As for money, he took the job because of the money. He can say all the coach speak he wants, but I won't believe a word of it after that. Purdue wasn't a good job to take, but it sure offered him opportunity back to Midwest and more money...

 

[Rosegreen1]

Definitely he’s a mixed bag among other fanbases. It was his job to lose at Mizzou, and he lost it after getting groomed for it.

Arkansas on the other hand was split. Pittman loved him, fans were lukewarm. Though, I do believe Arkansas would take a shot at him at HC once Pittman retires.

He’s still bitter about the Mizzou canning, the fact he was crying about it in one of his last pressers at unlv was very weird to me. Just illustrating where his thinking was during championship week, his head didn’t seem to be with Boise clearly.

But the point of this thread is that unlv most likely made a damn good offer to keep him. The one year extension he received in the summer last year was also very weird and probably was a sign to Harper that Odom wasn’t sticking around long term.

Jumping to a bottom feeder BigTen program because the values the community has aligns with Odoms? Coaches generally don’t give a shit about that. I don’t know the whole thing smells off to me, it wasn’t about money, that I can tell you.

 

[Alexger]

The biggest factor remains what income reaches the players.

 

[UNLVINMD]

Purdue is not easy place to win, good luck to him. If he can win 7 a yr they will be happy

 

[Couev]

Given what we are paying Mullen (Believe me we got an upgrade at HC).

It’s not inconceivable that unlv could have offered Odom 4 million a season. Given that amount I asked Grok for a rough estimate on the take home pay for 4 million (Nevada) and 6 million (Indiana).

Grok gave a rough estimate of all the taxes and filings. Basically the take home pay for staying at unlv is:

Take-Home Pay: Around $2,596,874


At Purdue:

- Take-Home Pay: Approximately $3,489,074

Obviously Odom pays state income tax in Indiana and is pushed into a higher federal tax bracket with the higher salary.

All told the difference is about $892k. Again a very rough estimate. I remember the narrative of everyone saying that Odom is getting generational wealth and life changing wealth etc. But is he really? 890k difference to bolt UNLV? Does that really make sense to anyone?

I thought he chased the bag myself, made total sense to me but once the numbers were crunched it tells a different story to me. Odom bolted because he didn’t like Las Vegas, was never going to be here long term and it was a quick turnaround job. He was always eyeballing a return to the south or Midwest, interviewed and held talks with Purdue while UNLV was in the mix for the conference championship. The fact his son went back to Arkansas was an early missed sign, imo.

That’s fine, that’s his choice obviously but it feels like he passed up an opportunity to be a legend at unlv, one of those guys that get a statue or a field named after him. I feel like he will later regret it and just chose a route to be just another coach somewhere else because of location and community values etc.

Some interesting analysis here but you're sort of ignoring a few things.

1. Odom's contract starts at 6 million for the first 2 years, but then goes up 250k a year for two years, then jumps 500k, then another 250k a year finishes at 7.5 million

2. His contract includes 75% guarantee for firing without cause (way above the national norm of 50%).

3. His contract buyout is only 6 million dollars, and decreases by 1 million each year after the first. Meaning he becomes much more reasonable to poach for a bigger budget. This is also SUPER coach friendly and not language I've ever seen in another BIG program's contract

4. Indiana will have both state and county taxes, but the cost of living in West Lafayette is about 38% 19%, man I don't know how I misread that lower, so you if further adjust the salary after estimating take home to include buying power his numbers are much different as well. It changes by quite a bit.

Year 1: 1.230 million adjust buying power
Year 2: 1.230
Year 3 1.389
Year 4: 1.589
Year 5: 1.989
Year 6: 2.189
Year 7: 2.389

With no other incentives that's 12 million more over the 7 years, which if he's got a good agent (which this contract I think shows he does) is going to be what you're going to have to beat--not even including the fact that you're now in one of the top 2 athletic conferences, closer to your more midwestern roots, and playing on EST when most of the world is watching.

I just don't have the heart to do that math again, i screwed up based on a bad data point so I'm just going to abandon ship haha

 

[hrz702]

Given what we are paying Mullen (Believe me we got an upgrade at HC).

It’s not inconceivable that unlv could have offered Odom 4 million a season. Given that amount I asked Grok for a rough estimate on the take home pay for 4 million (Nevada) and 6 million (Indiana).

Grok gave a rough estimate of all the taxes and filings. Basically the take home pay for staying at unlv is:

Take-Home Pay: Around $2,596,874


At Purdue:

- Take-Home Pay: Approximately $3,489,074

Obviously Odom pays state income tax in Indiana and is pushed into a higher federal tax bracket with the higher salary.

All told the difference is about $892k. Again a very rough estimate. I remember the narrative of everyone saying that Odom is getting generational wealth and life changing wealth etc. But is he really? 890k difference to bolt UNLV? Does that really make sense to anyone?

I thought he chased the bag myself, made total sense to me but once the numbers were crunched it tells a different story to me. Odom bolted because he didn’t like Las Vegas, was never going to be here long term and it was a quick turnaround job. He was always eyeballing a return to the south or Midwest, interviewed and held talks with Purdue while UNLV was in the mix for the conference championship. The fact his son went back to Arkansas was an early missed sign, imo.

That’s fine, that’s his choice obviously but it feels like he passed up an opportunity to be a legend at unlv, one of those guys that get a statue or a field named after him. I feel like he will later regret it and just chose a route to be just another coach somewhere else because of location and community values etc.

Money, conference prestige, midwestern roots. I’m sure a lot played into it

 

[dcut03]

I personally don't think it was "just the money".

He got into a top 2 conference. He is at the highest level. He "failed" at that previously and he wants redemption.

The money helps, that is for sure.

Indiana proved that almost any job in the B10 can make the playoffs. Sure it was a unique circumstance, but it still happened. You don't have to win that conference, you just need to be top 4.

 

[InZoneU]

I personally don't think it was "just the money".

He got into a top 2 conference. He is at the highest level. He "failed" at that previously and he wants redemption.

The money helps, that is for sure.

Indiana proved that almost any job in the B10 can make the playoffs. Sure it was a unique circumstance, but it still happened. You don't have to win that conference, you just need to be top 4.

UNLV & Boise also proved that any job in the MWC can make the playoffs. Except MWC path is a fckton easier to get there than Purdue's.

 

[dcut03]

UNLV & Boise also proved that any job in the MWC can make the playoffs. Except MWC path is a fckton easier to get there than Purdue's.

The new MW?

We can go undefeated and still be left behind.

Being the absolute best out of 5 conferences worth of teams. Or the top 4 out of 1 conference worth of teams?

I am not so sure.

 

[Boston Rebel 2]

Odom could have stayed here another 2 years, pulled off a few more 10-win seasons and landed a much better job than freaking Purdue with a better salary.

I think so too one more year like this or make the CFP and he would get much better offers.

 

[RebelScrub]

How many people total went with him and Scherer?

 

[Mojo702]

Let it go, boys. Stop pining for your ex.

 

[rebel5280]

Let it go, boys. Stop pining for your ex.

Lol

 

[RebelScrub]

The only deciding factor..