In light of the contract extension Oregon head coach Chip Kelly signed, CougCenter took a look at the cost of hiring a new coach in the even Paul Wulff is fired after the year. The lesson: Buying out a head coach and paying a new coach is really expensive, especially for a school with a budget like WSU.
No, I point out Kelly’s contract simply to state a fact: If you do want to replace the coach, you have to, um, replace the coach. That means paying someone, and if that someone is simply an established coach with a history of winning — we’re not even talking about guys like Saban, Meyer or Kelly — you’re almost certainly looking at paying him north of $2 million a year.
Paul Wulff is paid $600,000 a year. Do the math.
($1.2 million to buy Wulff out of his final two years + $2 million a year to bring in an established coach) * Current economic climate / Small donor base = THIS IS WAY MORE COMPLICATED THAN MOST CASUAL FANS WANT TO RECOGNIZE