Well, it is the obvious question.
KNIGHT COMMISSION'S WORK, RICHT'S RAISE: WHAT GIVES?
As a member of the Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics, Michael F. Adams deals in ideas and ideals.
As president of the University of Georgia, Adams must contend with other facets of college athletics: avid boosters and the vagaries of the marketplace.
The Knight Commission and the real world of college sports are not mutually exclusive, but they do not necessarily co-exist peacefully either.
On Wednesday, Adams and the University of Georgia announced that Bulldogs football coach Mark Richt had been awarded a new contract.
Richt's deal is worth a reported $16 million over eight years, with incentives that could add $400,000 more to his reward
…In three or four years, coaches elsewhere undoubtedly will have contracts worth $3 million per year. Georgia will have to redo this deal to bring Richt's salary in line with those or face the prospect of losing him to Texas or Southern Cal or Michigan or whatever school has taken leave of its senses.
…If the Knight Commission wants to see athletics take on some semblance of sanity, the first step would be to recommend that institutions take a reasonable approach to the contracts granted to coaches.
College football and basketball programs are engaged in an ever-escalating economic battle over coaches, often at the expense of the athletes.
Colleges are adamant that offering financial rewards to players above a scholarship is beyond their means. Yet Georgia found an extra $500,000 per year for Richt and will give his assistants salary increases, as well. Virginia Tech and Virginia had no problem finding more money for Frank Beamer, Al Groh and their assistants.
Richt's contract also is eight times as long as the contract given to any college athlete. Athletic scholarships are renewable on an annual basis.
Most schools honor scholarships for five seasons. But that is not required.
Ideally, the Knight Commission would address that issue. But as Adams and every Knight Commission member knows, the difference between the ideal college athletic world and the actual college athletic world can be vast.
Richmond Times Dispatch
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