Sorry, but I have to chime in real quick. IMO, and take it for the little it's worth, I think you guys are just looking for things to argue with here. She clearly said that almost all coaches are "climbers" and it's of her opinion that Mick is one of them. To which she gets a rebuttal that that thought process is ridiculous, blah, blah, blah. Sorry, but didn't she just say that almost all of them were, and aren't you actually in agreement? I could understand debating whether Mick fits into the group of "9" or he's the "1", but correcting her about how everyone does it, when she literally just said that, seems unfair.
Fwiw, I really think all of this talk of Mick leaving is much ado about nothing. 1.) People will throw out just about any name they can run with, I don't think he's their primary target 2.) It's commonplace for a coach to either fuel the flames, or not exactly rush to extinguish them, for leverage purposes. I don't think Cronin is going anywhere. I'm not worried by not hearing from Mick to dispel any rumors.
If, BIG IF, Mick were to demand anyway near the reported 2.1 per, I'd let him walk in a heartbeat. Sorry. This university simply cannot afford that much money. Nor do I think he has he earned anywhere near that. Again, I'm sorry, he did a good job, but that is a TON of money, and I don't want to throw 2 mil at a coach just yet. At least give me another tourney appearance.
And I don't know how many times I've heard how broke we were in counter to why finding his replacement would be so tough, just months ago, but now we can drop 2 mil per? I'd offer him somewhere around 1.1-1.5 total compensation, with a promise to review in two years, or attach performance base incentives to the contract. I think this would be more than fair. If someone else wants to overpay for Cronin, and he wants to run for the cash (can't blame him at all) then so be it. I'd personally consider offering the guy at OU and hope that he keeps the program moving forward, and when his contract is up for review hope that our finances are much better the next time around. I just don't think it's feasible to pay upwords of 2 mil to keep a coach with 1 NCAA win, for a program that needs to slowly pulls itself up from the mat.
I think 1.5 mil would be a HELLUVA gesture for this program to make. Like it or not, it wasn't but 8 weeks ago that is future was just a little in doubt. Now, I think he earned a raise, but let's not go nuts just yet. I think Mick understand that we still have a lot of work to do as much as anyone, and I think this contract gets done. The potential for success, both and W's and L's and monetarily, is there. And I think Mick would be nuts to leave for NC ST, when he could command close to the same money by waiting just a little longer here. Our potential > NC ST.
