BOL insiders say he’s on campus meeting with Saban. Hopefully they have bad info.
Is Ballou leaving for Alabama?
- Thread starter ElMeson
- Start date
Given how we seem to only give raises by matching competitive offers, Ballou has every reason to kick tires. Don’t panic, Glass, but don’t be complacent either. Write the check.
Just shows that CTA knows how to hire a staff.
Not to worry. Several people have assured us that the fact that Nick Saban interviewed Kevin Peoples means absolutely nothing. Apparently those folks have inside information that Saban thinks it's a great use of his time to bring in people who he would never consider for a job just to provide him entertainment.
In other words, you don't really have any juicy information to pass on to us.
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Well, we did give both Ballou and Rea a pretty big raise last year without them doing anything that I am aware of, so I would not say we, “seem to only give raises by matching competitive offers”
I understood those raises came about because they were offered more money elsewhere and so then IU gave them very healthy pay bumps. If I am wrong, I am wrong.
Exactly. If they leave now, after IU showed faith after 2 losing seasons, then screw them. They are paid well now - maybe they could get more money somewhere, but Ballou is an IU grad. A little loyalty about now would be nice.
I could actually understand going to an NFL team. But to another college team....... that would not be good optics for us.
Not sure it’s bad optics to lose a coach from IU to Alabama. Meaning that’s arguably a top 3 -4 program in country which would mean if poaching fromIU, IU is doing something right!
Hoping he’s not leaving though!
Maybe not by itself, but taken with all the other coaching defections, it doesn't look like a good situation for IU.
It sends the message that IU is a place to prove yourself and move on - not that it's a place to stay and grow your career. What kind of message does that send to recruits?
Close your eyes and you’ll see the hands of Bo McMillen and Branch McCracken reaching palms up and beseeching, “I want mine!”
You mean because one coach left to be a HC, one left to be a DC, one left to be near his family and now one may leave to work for one of the best all time college coaches at a university that gives him a chance to win a NC ? None of those instances reflect poorly on IU, in fact, I would argue just the opposite. Ballou was pursued by more than one NFL team last year and he stayed, at some point , he will end up in the NFL. What all this tells me is that CTA is doing a great job identifying and hiring candidates.
And if IU has another 8 or even 9 win season this year, guess what, people will come after coaches again. One thing about his young Coordinators could be a double edged sword. They probably have some loyalty and want to have continuity in their jobs. But if IU kills it, they will be considered "hot prospects." I'd rather have a cradle of coaching reputation than be a place of last stops for older coaches. (Ex: I'll take DeBoer or DeBord 10 out of 10 times when given the choice, even though he'll be a hot commodity too.)
Hopefully too a mandate of Ballou & Rhea while they are there is to train those who work with or under them so that they can be building their own legacies as well as not leaving IU in a lurch. Maybe their staff has a very "next man up" mentality and with training too?
Again, hoping he doesn't leave and until it's confirmed I'll assume he is not.
Hopefully too a mandate of Ballou & Rhea while they are there is to train those who work with or under them so that they can be building their own legacies as well as not leaving IU in a lurch. Maybe their staff has a very "next man up" mentality and with training too?
Again, hoping he doesn't leave and until it's confirmed I'll assume he is not.
I agree Johnsy. I would want to further myself by going with a quality company and more compensation. The only thing that frustrates me is that IU could offer better compensation to the entire athletic staff because they have the funds from the B10 network money.
I was wondering about "next man up" as well. It has to be more than a 2 man show. I think Ballou being from Indiana and an IU FB player has meaning (Sampson James as an example) and the S&C staff has been a selling point. Will help if "next man up" has a larger than life personality and great back story - if it comes to that.
TomT
While we can always offer more money, Ballou’s decision won’t be about money, it will be about Alabama/Saban , something we cannot offer unfortunately.
A few other sources like Oregon’s S&C coach as the next for Alabama. Says he is from the area and that Saban wants someone who has been in an established and successful program. If that’s true, I like the chances of IU keeping the same S&C staff.
Usually the S&C is run by one guy. We're kind of splitting the salary of one between 2 guys. They're kind of a packag deal, I guess.
Put together, I'd think our S&C leadership gets as much, or more, as any in the nation.
Tom Crean said the same thing about Indiana.
Alabama wasn't Alabama this year and who knows about the future with LSU becoming a major player.
I get it - more prestige. But if that's the case, why did they lose their S&C guy to Georgia?
They came together and were announced as a team. And Rhea makes more than a normal assistant would.
We kind of have a unique situation, so when people say we don't pay for S&C, I don't think that's true - we don't just give the main guy such a huge chunk of the pie.
Do these guys work strictly with the football team, or do they work with any other athletes? (Serious question, not meant as another "football only" joke.)
LOL Perfect place for a 'football only' reference here.
I'm pretty sure they only work with football, but there may be some overlap with other sports. I have no idea, so I don't pretend to know.
Okay, so maybe if they're asked to work with the volleyball team they might be convinced to stay?
Because Cochran wanted an “on field” coaching job, Georgia offered him the special teams coordinator job.
Exactly. The better we get the more coaching turnover we will have. All good programs have that. The fact that Wilson is still at OSU says a lot.
Just about every Big Ten school has used BTN money to increase their ability to service large amounts of debt used to finance improvements, particularly to football facilities. Even Ohio State is paying out about $15 million annually to pay for improvements completed years ago and new projects undertaken recently.
But O$U really has to look for ways to spend )money. It's kind of like the governemnt - if you don't spend it, your budget gets cut.
i think these athletic departments are afraid if they don't spend it, it will go to the University to spend. In IU's case, it's already happened (not that I disapprove of it entirely).
OSU and Alabama both make multi million dollar payments to the general university fund. Saban has been Bosch during a period of spectacular growth in mostly put of state enrollment at UA. Their student body is from all over the country and good students have flocked to Tuscaloosa to take advantage of generous academic based scholarships. Enrollment up from about 20,000 to 38,000 in 20 years.
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