Tom Brady to join Fox Sports when playing career ends

 

Report: NFL teams reached out to Mel Tucker before signing massive deal at Michigan State

 

Tyler Fangman | 2 days ago

 

The coaching carousel has been wild in college football this season. Many athletic directors rushed to give their successful coaches big-time contract extensions to keep their coaches from moving on to greener pastures.

 

That was a big theme in the B1G as both Penn State head coach James Franklin and head coach Mel Tucker got 10-year contracts that were 75 million and 95 million guaranteed respectively.

 

There were rumors that Michigan State’s Mel Tucker might be thinking about taking the LSU job that had opened this fall.

No one knew that Tucker was getting looks from the next level in the NFL until now.

“Before Mel Tucker and his agent Neil Cornrich negotiated a 10-year, fully-guaranteed $95 million extension with MSU that included more guaranteed money than any other college HC, NFL teams inquired to see if Tucker would have any interest in moving to the next level,” per source, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter.

 

Michigan State has a hell of a football coach and is lucky they are keeping Tucker for the foreseeable future.

 

Michigan State ended the season 10-2 and 7-2 in the B1G, and the Spartans await their bowl game destination.

 

Why Trey Flowers’ Patriots tenure won’t extend beyond 2018

With an aggressive agent and a skyrocketing league salary cap, Trey Flowers is as good as gone.

By Brian Phillips
December 13, 2018

Like clockwork, the tide of the NFL’s salary cap is set to rise again — this time to a reported $187-191.1 million in 2019.

In accordance with the popular aphorism, it’s supposed to “lift all boats” — an analogy that comes up short with regard to today’s NFL, as all but a select few “boats” remain tied firmly to their contractual “docks” each year. But, this coming March, as that annual salary cap tide rolls in, NFL super agent Neil Cornich — the man who represents Patriots star edge defender Trey Flowers — will be pulling into the free agency marina armed with a sturdy pair of rope-cutting shears.

The salary cap increase — which will be narrowed down to an exact figure and reported at some point after the 2018 season concludes in February — will mean that since 2016, the league salary cap has increased by no less than 20.4%, and by as much as 23.1% (not too shabby for a “failing” league). In addition to this explosion, teams are rolling over more unused cap space than ever before. The league is also entering its third year of the four-year, 89% cash spending window — a provision in the CBA that forces teams to spend at least 89% of the four-year league cap total in cash from 2017 through 2020.

All of this is very, very good news for Neil Cornrich.

If his name sounds familiar, it could be because the Cleveland-based lawyer and Ohio State alum has represented quite a few New England Patriots over the years; names like Tom Tupa, Mike Vrabel, Adam Vinatieri, Rex Burkhead, current “consultant to the head coach” Bret Bielema, and — perhaps the prize of his portfolio — the head coach himself, Bill Belichick.

Cornrich’s client list also boasts player names like Marshall Yanda, Riley Reiff, Brandon Scherff, Avery Williamson, and Ted Ginn Jr., as well as a few NFL general managers. But, he is as highly-regarded, if not more so, for his representation of head coaches like Barry Alvarez, Bo Pelini, Todd Graham, the Stoops brothers, Kirk Ferentz, Glen Mason, and the aforementioned Bielema and Belichick — just to name a few.

According to a 2010 piece by Bill Reiter of the Kansas City Star, Belichick referred Ferentz to Cornrich in the wake of the Browns’ organizational dismantling. Ferentz was surprised by the recommendation, as the agent had an “unprintable” nickname in the halls of the Browns facilities — a moniker reportedly derived from his unrelenting negotiating style.

It’s that very same style that has made Cornrich such a success in his field. He successfully negotiated large, multi-million dollar buyouts for poorly performing coaches like Ron Prince at Kansas State and Mark Mangino at Kansas. He also has a knack for setting precedent, as he inked contract extensions for former guard Mike Wahle and tight end Dallas Clark, making each the highest paid player at his respective position.

“His passion is negotiating,” Kirk Ferentz told Bill Reiter, “He is always on the cutting edge. Back in ’93 when free-agency began, he understood the way (it) was going to work and the bylaws of the NFL probably better than a lot of coaches and NFL executives did.”

With that, we circle back to Trey Flowers — who could actually have very little competition at the top of the 2019 free agent market.

The presumption is that DeMarcus Lawrence will be extended in Dallas, and that Jadeveon Clowney will either get Houston’s franchise tag or also be extended this offseason. In Seattle, Frank Clark has put together a dominant 11-sack season and developed into a core component of the Seahawks’ defense — also making himself a prime candidate for an extension or the franchise tag.

Perhaps the best edge defender on the market this spring will be Brandon Graham. The former Michigan Wolverine will certainly garner a lot of interest, but turning 31 in April certainly limits his opportunity to sign a high-dollar, five-year contract — although Calais Campbell’s market in the spring of 2017 yielded the 30-year-old a deal worth $15 million per year. There is also Ziggy Ansah, whose career once looked so promising in Detroit, but has since been stymied by ankle, knee, and shoulder injuries for the past two seasons. He was just put on IR this week, and he also turns 30 in May.

The likelihood is high that Trey Flowers could conceivably hit free agency with Kansas City’s Dee Ford as his primary competition. Ford, who turns 28 in March, has shown flashes of brilliance intertwined with patches of mediocrity in his first five seasons with the Chiefs. But, as Pro Football Focus’ seventh-highest graded edge defender this season, he has amassed 11 sacks in 13 contests, as well as six forced fumbles — more than enough to warrant a hefty deal from one of the many cap space-rich organizations looking to add some punch to their defensive front-sevens.

Flowers, who doesn’t turn 26 until the middle of August, is Pro Football Focus’ eighth-highest graded edge defender in 2018. He plays everywhere on the line of scrimmage with equal effectiveness at each spot, and is as consistent against the run as he is in creating pressure on the quarterback.

Here’s how the young careers of each player have stacked up in the stats department, according to Pro Football Reference:

Dee Ford
• 64 games played in five seasons, 38 starts
• 1.05 QB hits per game
• .45 sacks per game
• .48 tackles for loss per game

Trey Flowers
• 43 games played in four seasons, 34 starts
• 1.28 QB hits per game
• .47 sacks per game
• .56 tackles for loss per game

So what kind of deal is Trey Flowers likely to get on the open market, and where does all of this leave the Patriots?

When looking for comparable players and contracts for which to draw parallels to Flowers and his current situation, look no further than Olivier Vernon. Vernon hit the open market in March of 2016 at the age of 25 after four strong seasons in Miami in which he put up numbers very similar to Flowers:
• 1.15 QB hits per game
• .67 tackles for loss per game
• .45 sacks per game

Stylistically, the two players are very similar. They are both excellent run defenders in addition to their prowess as pass rushers. They share a similar body type — 6’2” and weighing around 265 pounds — with Flowers actually edging out Vernon in arm length by about 1.25” according to the NFL’s Combine website. And interestingly enough, when you search for Trey Flowers on MockDraftable.com, Olivier Vernon is the fourth name to pop up in the comparable athletic profile section.

The deal Vernon signed in 2016 was worth a total of $85 million over five years, with $40 million guaranteed at signing and another $12.5 million becoming guaranteed at the start of the 2018 league year. Remember, the league salary cap was $155.27 million in 2016 when his deal was signed. Here’s what the figures would look like if they were extrapolated and signed against the 2019 league cap range reported on Tuesday:

Against a $187 million 2019 League Salary Cap
• $102,370,065 total value over five years
• $20,474,013 average per year
• $48,174,148 guaranteed at signing

Against a $191.1 million 2019 League Salary Cap
• $104,614,542 total value over five years
• $20,922,908 average per year
• $49,230,372 guaranteed at signing

Will Flowers touch $20 million per season? It’s not likely. The Giants clearly jumped the gun in 2016. But, it does prove how wild things can get on the open market. And, in an offseason with the factors mentioned above that will have agents licking their chops, it’s not an impossibility.

Realistically, Flowers’ deal will probably come in somewhere in the $17 million per year range, with players like DeMarcus Lawrence and Jadeveon Clowney projected to ink extensions around $20 million per year now that Khalil Mack and Aaron Donald have set the bar at $23.5 million and $22.5 million per year respectively. But, on the open market, with multiple teams bidding for Flowers’ services, anything can happen.

For the Patriots, things don’t look so hot with regard to keeping the former Arkansas Razorback. The organization’s history of paying top-dollar for pass rushers is well-documented, and according to Miguel Benzan of The Boston Sports Journal, the Patriots are only projected to have around $19.4 million in 2019 cap space. That’s before taking into account the signing of the 2019 draft class, and the $4-7 million that is typically used for in-season operating costs. The franchise tag for Flowers will be well north of $17 million next season, so it certainly wouldn’t be surprising to see the Patriots take that option off the table.

However, if there is one wildcard in this whole process, it’s Neil Cornrich. Given his role as a representative of the player and the GM in the Flowers negotiation process, the paths of communication on both sides couldn’t possibly be more open.

Anthony Gonzalez, former Ohio State University football star, planning congressional run

In this 2007 file photo, Anthony Gonzalez announces at a news conference that he is entering the NFL draft rather than returning to Ohio State University to play for his senior season. Gonzalez, an Avon Lake native, is seriously considering running for Ohio's 16th Congressional District in 2018, according to Republican sources following the race.(Kiichiro Sato, Associated Press)

By Andrew J. Tobias
August 9, 2017

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Anthony Gonzalez, the St. Ignatius and Ohio State University alum and former NFL player, is considering tackling a second career in politics.

Gonzalez, 32, is holding meetings as he eyes Ohio's 16th Congressional District, currently represented by Republican U.S. Rep. Jim Renacci, according to Republican sources following the race. The unusually shaped 16th District includes Wayne County, and portions of several others, stretching from rural suburbs east of Akron and up to Cuyahoga County's western suburbs. The seat is expected to be free next year because Renacci, a businessman and former Wadsworth mayor, is running for governor rather than seeking re-election.

Gonzalez recently met with the National Republican Congressional Committee, the GOP's congressional campaign arm, and expressed his interest in running for office. Although Gonzalez has not publicly discussed the race, a Republican source close to him said he is seriously considering a run, and is close to making a decision. Other GOP candidates who have announced they're running in the May primary for the Republican-leaning district include Stark County State Rep. Christina Hagan and Strongsville State Rep. Tom Patton.

Gonzalez has transitioned into a business career since retiring from the NFL in 2012. He received his MBA from Stanford University in 2014, and in June left his job as chief operating officer of Chalk Schools, an education technology firm in San Francisco, according to his LinkedIn profile. He recently moved to Westlake, which is in the 16th District, and not far from Avon Lake, where he grew up.

Gonzalez played football for St. Ignatius High School in Cleveland before going on to play for Ohio State University. He had a decorated career there on and off the field, and was named an Academic All-American. He played for five seasons for the Indianapolis Colts, which drafted him in the first round of the 2007 NFL draft, before his football career was cut short due to injuries.

Gonzalez studied philosophy at OSU, but was not known during his athletic career as being outspoken about politics. He hails from a family of Cuban-American immigrants who fled Cuba after Fidel Castro came to power, according to a 2016 WKYC interview with his father, the president of a Cleveland metal services company.

Gonzalez did not respond to a request for comment left with Neil Cornrich, a Beachwood-based sports agent who represented him during his NFL career.

Everybody wins as Le'Veon Bell holds out of training camp - Steelers included

By Jeff Diamond
August 8, 2017

Player holdouts are the scourge for NFL execs and coaches, but some holdouts hurt a lot less than others.

Case in point: Le'Veon Bell and his contract negotiations with the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Speaking from personal experience, I have a strong feeling that the Steelers’ hierarchy — team owner Art Rooney, general manager Kevin Colbert and coach Mike Tomlin — will be just fine with Bell reporting and signing his one-year franchise tender around Aug. 27, two weeks before the regular-season opener at Cleveland.

If Bell were a rookie, there would be a much higher level of concern over his missing any OTAs and more than a day or two of training camp. But for a four-year veteran who knows the system and can get up to speed in a hurry, the only worry for the team is whether he will be in reasonably good shape when he reports. And Bell is letting the Steelers and everybody else know through his social media postings that he is the working out in South Florida.

Unlike two other high-profile NFL vet holdouts in the Rams' Aaron Donald and the Raiders' Donald Penn, Bell is not obligated to be at Steelers training camp since he is not under contract. So he's not subject to the $40,000-per-day fines Donald and Penn could face if their respective teams enforce the penalty.

The Steelers’ relative patience with Bell is all about knowing his injury history — three games missed in his rookie season with a sprained foot; the final eight games of 2015 lost to a knee injury; he was knocked out of last January's AFC title game loss to the Patriots with a groin injury that resulted in offseason surgery.

I believe the Steelers secretly are welcoming his delayed presence, just like I did with Vikings running back Robert Smith during my GM days in Minnesota.

Smith had a couple ACL injuries early in his career that cost him significant time, and I knew he wanted to avoid the extra hits taken in training camp and preseason if at all possible. So after his rookie contract ended, Smith always sought one-year deals and would not agree to terms until about two weeks before the regular-season opener.

I was quietly ok with that, as I was happy to keep him out of harm's way until late in the preseason. I knew he would be in great shape when he signed and reported. And I knew he was too smart to ever give up a regular-season paycheck.

So Robert, his agent Neil Cornrich and I had an unspoken understanding on when he would sign. That lasted until he became a transition player in 1998, when I had to match a five-year, $25 million offer from Seattle. He then had to come to camp on time.

A couple weeks was all Smith needed to get tuned up and in sync with his offensive teammates while getting his timing down. Similarly, that's all the time Bell needs, and there is no doubt that he will report before the regular season.

As a franchise player who did not reach agreement on a long-term deal by the July 17 deadline, Bell cannot negotiate again until after the current season. He is required by CBA rule to play this season under the one-year, $12.1 million franchise amount for running backs. He's stuck for now — if that's what you want to call his $712,000-per-week paycheck over the 17-week regular season. He'll be there when it counts, which is the regular season, not the preseason (when players are only paid a modest per diem).

The Bell contract situation is interesting on several levels. He turned down a multi-year offer from Pittsburgh that was reportedly worth over $12 million per year, with $30 million over the first two years. The NFL's current highest-paid back is Buffalo's LeSean McCoy at $8 million per year, so the Steelers' offer to Bell was 50 percent higher on a yearly basis.

So what is Bell's problem with that seemingly lucrative offer?

The guaranteed money component, with supposedly little or nothing guaranteed beyond the first year, apparently is an issue for Bell. From the Steelers’ standpoint, there surely are concerns about Bell's three-game suspension at the start of last season for allegedly skipping a drug test after a previous league suspension of two games (down from four on appeal) in 2015 for a DUI and marijuana possession arrest.

The Steelers also could be hedging their bet because of Bell's injury history. They likely want to see a suspension-less and injury-free season in 2017 before they crank up the guaranteed money in their offer. The total compensation over a new long-term deal is unlikely to change, except perhaps marginally.

Then there is Bell's claim that he should be paid closer to top wide receiver money as the best runner-receiver in the game. The Steelers’ offer, at least in total dollars if not guarantees, seems to indicate that the team agrees — he's the best combination running back and receiver out of the backfield or in the slot.

Bell’s numbers over 12 regular-season games last year were outstanding: 1,268 rushing yards with an impressive 4.9 yard average and 75 catches for 616 yards. He exploded in the first two rounds of last year's playoffs with rushing totals of 167 yards against Miami and 170 yards against Kansas City.

The two-time Pro Bowler surely wants to get closer to teammate Antonio Brown's $17 million-per-year deal that tops wide receivers. But now that can't happen until February, and even then, he's not getting close to top receiver pay because he's first and foremost a running back.

And running backs — even great, multi-purpose backs like Bell — are not going to get paid receiver money in today's quarterback- and passing-driven NFL. But $12 million per year is nothing to sneeze at for any running back, much less one with Bell's off-field transgressions and on-field health issues.

As is the case in the ongoing Kirk Cousins-Redskins contract battle, the Bell-Steelers negotiations will resume after the season, with the Steelers holding the hammer of another franchise tag. But that would come at a pricey $14.5 million (120 percent of this year's number) unless Bell and his agent can negotiate a deal that negates the right for the Steelers to franchise him again in 2018. And it's highly doubtful that Pittsburgh would give up that right.

Meanwhile, look for Bell to walk into the Steelers’ facility after the third preseason game and into the lineup as usual on opening day against the Browns.

One of the biggest NFL agents is based in Beachwood, Ohio

June 18, 2017
By Scott Pennyman

BEACHWOOD, OH (WOIO) -

Due to movies like "Jerry Maguire" people may have a distorted view of what a pro football agent goes through on a daily basis. Cleveland 19 sat down with NFL "Super Agent" Neil Cornrich based in Beachwood, to get the inside story on what the daily grind is like for him as one of the top agents in sports today.

He has a strong client list that includes heavy hitters like Bill Belichick, Bill O'Brien, Ted Ginn Jr. Marshal Yanda and Brandon Scherff and top college coaches like Bob Stoops, Brett Bielema, and Kirk Ferentz.

WATCH: Neil Cornrich Interview

Green Bay Packers Add Lance Kendricks to Tight End Brew

A day after signing Martellus Bennett, Packers GM Ted Thompson struck again at tight end by adding Milwaukee native Lance Kendricks.

By Bill Huber

March 11, 2017

Growing up in Milwaukee, Lance Kendricks bled green and gold.

“I definitely grew up a Packers fan, so it was fun to see them win the Super Bowl,” Kendricks said at the 2011 Scouting Combine.

Now, he’ll play for his childhood team.

Green Bay Packers general manager Ted Thompson struck again, adding the veteran tight end on Saturday. A day earlier, he pulled the stunning tight end switcheroo by yanking an offer from Jared Cook and signing Martellus Bennett.

“They’re excited,” Kendricks said of his family in an interview with Packers.com's Wes Hodkiewicz. “It means a lot since I grew up watching the Packers, and my family and friends, they’re all big Packers fans. It means a lot to be able to represent Green Bay and this community and this culture, and everything it stands for.”

According to agent Neil Cornrich, there was "significant" interest around the league in the former Wisconsin standout but Green Bay was Kendricks' first choice.

"It's a dream come true" for Kendricks, Cornrich said.

Kendricks and Cook were teammates with the Rams from 2013 through 2015. With Cook in Green Bay last year, Kendricks flourished in a full-time role with a career-high 50 catches. He turned those into 499 yards (10.0-yard average) and two touchdowns.

That was with rookie Jared Goff. Now, he’ll play with Aaron Rodgers — with whom he's worked out with and caught passes from at Proactive Sports in Westlake Village, Calif.

"He really loved that opportunity," Cornrich said.

Kendricks watched plenty of Rodgers on video while with the Rams.

“We’d watch a lot of film of the Packers to watch Aaron Rodgers and how he was able to get his guys open,” Kendricks said. “Not only them getting open, but him being able to separate the defender from the ball and make things happen with his feet, and extend the play, and draw the defense offside. There’s so much stuff that he does that’s really amazing and really intriguing.”

Kendricks caught about 70 percent of targeted passes in 2013 and 2014 but fell to 62.5 percent in 2015 and 57.5 percent in 2016. He also had a career-high six drops this past season, according to STATS. However, Kendricks will fit well in Green Bay's offense because he not only has experience as a traditional tight end, but split out like a receiver and in the backfield as a fullback.

The 6-foot-3, 250-pound Kendricks, who turned 29 in January, signed a four-year, $18.5 million contract in 2015 but was released on Thursday. He was due $4.25 million in base salary and roster bonuses in 2017 and 2018.

When he was released, Russ Ball, the Packers' vice president of football administration and team cap guru, quickly reached out, Cornrich said.

“I think we both have our own assets,” said Kendricks of Bennett. “He’s a very good down the field catcher. He’s a big target and I can work the seams, as well. With both of us out there, I think we’ll be able to create mismatches and things we’ll be able to take advantage of. There are so many weapons on this offense and to be able to contribute to it is a great feeling.”

Unlike Bennett, Kendricks won’t impact the compensatory-picks ledger because he officially was a street free agent.

The Packers are loaded at tight end with Bennett, Kendricks and Richard Rodgers. They combined for 135 receptions (55 by Bennett, 50 by Kendricks, 30 by Rodgers) and 1,471 yards (701 for Bennett, 499 for Kendricks and 271 for Rodgers) in 2016. That, of course, is assuming Rodgers remains in the picture. After the 2016 season, he received the “proven performance escalator,” which goes to third- through seventh-round draft picks who meet playing time thresholds. That meant Rodgers’ base salary went from $690,000 to $1.787 million and his cap number went from about $826,500 to $1.924 million.

Beau Sandland, an undrafted rookie last year, is the only other tight end on the roster. Looking ahead, this is considered the best tight end draft class in years. As many as eight could go in the first three rounds, a scout said. A combined seven were selected in the first three rounds the past two years.

Back to Kendricks, he's caught 204 passes for 2,132 yards (10.5) and 17 touchdowns since being a second-round pick in 2011.

At the 2011 Scouting Combine, Kendricks ran his 40 in 4.75 seconds with a 34.5-inch vertical leap.

Sports Agent Rubs (Padded) Shoulders with Pro Football Players, Coaches

2017 NFL Combine Interview

Neil Cornrich NFL Combine Interview

Bernie Kosar & Bill Belichick's agent Neil Cornrich join Triv at The Hardrock Rocksino

Link to WTAM interview

Cleveland Browns DL Jamie Meder came up hard way, remembers Ashland roots

Cleveland Browns defensive linemen Jamie Meder (98) and Danny Shelton (55) celebrate after a win over the San Diego Chargers on Saturday in Cleveland. (AP Photo/Ron Schwane)

By Terry Pluto, The Plain Dealer

December 27, 2016

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- There was a ding on Lee Owens' cellphone. The Ashland University football coach clicked on a message from a friend, a link to the New York Times.

"It was Jamie," said Owens. "There was a picture of him in the New York Times!"

Jamie is Jamie Meder, the Browns defensive lineman who blocked a fourth-quarter field goal in Saturday's 20-17 victory over San Diego.

Meder was one of the stars in the team's first victory of the season, helping them avoid a winless season and all the grief that would accompany it.

"The Pierogi Prince of Parma," is what Browns All-Pro tackle Joe Thomas affectionately called Meder.

After the game, Thomas said Meder "is a man after my own heart ... he is a guy who has fought his way from the bottom to make a huge impact on this team."

Part of the reason Meder is in the NFL is Lee Owens.

Meder was a good player at Parma's Valley Forge High School, but needed to put his academics in order for college. He attended Cuyahoga Community College for a semester, then enrolled at Ashland.

A Division II football program, Ashland has been successful because Owens and his coaching staff find players who are missed by larger colleges.

For example, Meder could have attended a junior college with a football program. From there, he probably would have been recruited to play at the Division I level.

"There's no doubt about that," said Tim Rose. "The first time I saw him, I knew Jamie had Division I talent."

Rose is Ashland's defensive coordinator. He coached at the Division I level for 29 years, including six season as the head coach at Miami of Ohio.

Meder wanted to go Ashland because Owens had recruited him in high school and had waited for him to raise his grades at CCC.

"After he enrolled, we had a workout with him," said Rose. "It was just speed, strength, agility. He had it all. He was a wrestler, and that really helped his footwork."

TRUE TO HIS SCHOOL

Owens made sure Meder was set up with study tables and tutors so he'd make the grade in college.

"We wanted to make sure Jamie graduated," said Owens. "Only once did I have to get on him hard about school. It was right before his first college game. He missed a couple of classes. He was supposed to start, but I sat him out a quarter."

Harsher penalties would have followed, but Meder got the message.

He played four years at Ashland and was a Division II All-American as a senior.

"Unlike some kids who have a shot at getting drafted, Jamie didn't leave school early," said Owens. "He made sure he stayed and graduated. He worked out hard with us."

In scouting reports after his senior season, Meder was measured at 6-foot-2, 293 pounds. His 40-time was listed at 5.05 by NFL.com.

CBSsports.com's Dane Brugler had him rated as the No. 33 defensive tackle in the 2014 draft. Profootball Weekly's Nolan Nawrocki labeled Meder "a priority free agent."

Owens was an assistant coach at Ohio State (1992-94) and then the head coach at the University of Akron (1995-2003). He kept telling scouts about Meder.

"In the end, I think they couldn't get past the fact Jamie was at Division II," said Owens. "They didn't get to see him on tape against teams such as Ohio State or Alabama."

Owens said once Meder played a season at Ashland and showed his talent, "he could easily have transferred to a D1 school, sat out a year and then played. But that's not Jamie. He is a loyal guy."

FINDING THE RIGHT TEAM

After his senior season, Owens suggested Meder meet with Cleveland-based agent Neil Cornrich.

It was an excellent pairing. Cornrich found Meder to be "a great guy, quiet, hard-working. He's so humble."

After Meder was ignored in the draft, Cornrich talked to several teams. Baltimore defensive coordinator Dean Pees was intrigued by Meder. So was General manager Ozzie Newsome.

Meder signed with Ravens, made it through rookie camp and opened the season on Baltimore's practice squad.

Meder was cut by the Ravens on November 10, 2014. One of the good moves by former Browns general manager Ray Farmer was to sign Meder the day after he became available.

Meder has slowly worked his way into the Browns defensive line scheme. He played in one game in 2014, and then appeared in all 16 games last season.

He has played in all 15 games this season, starting 14 times. He is now 308 pounds, and definitely will have a nice pro career if he stays healthy.

GIVING BACK

Owens gushes about how Meder consistently stays in contact with Ashland.

He has attended some spring games. He has appeared in a video for the school.

"He has signed lots of autographs. He does all the right things," said Owens.

At Valley Forge, Meder finished second in the state as a high school wrestler.

Rose talks about Meder having "a certain spirit. He was a high school wrestler and he has that relentless wrestler's mentality."

Owens has been the head coach at Ashland for 13 years. His record is 98-44 and four times he's led the Eagles to the D2 playoffs. Owens relies on players from Ohio. His quarterback is North Royalton's Travis Tarnowski, who has set a school record for touchdown passes.

"It's great to see what Jamie is doing with the Browns because he's a great fit for Cleveland," said Owens. "He's earned everything. He loves playing here. We're so proud of him."

Kirk Ferentz would be owed $25 million if Iowa fired him this year

By John Taylor

October 26, 2016

Yes indeed: if there were an Agent Hall of Fame, Neil Cornrich would be a first-ballot inductee.

Early last month, Iowa announced that it had reached an agreement with Kirk Ferentz on a new contract that runs through the 2026 season. The details of the contract, revealed as part of USA Today‘s annual coaching salary database release, negotiated by Cornrich and agreed upon by the university are staggering.

From USA Today’s report on coaching buyouts:

— Even if he’s fired after this season for not winning enough games, the 61-year-old Ferentz would be owed more than $25 million, payable in monthly installments until 2026.

— He’s guaranteed an additional $22 million from 2021 through 2025 if he sticks around and wins at least seven games each season through 2020. It wouldn’t matter if he’s dismissed in 2021 after finishing 0-12.

— If that’s not enough, those guarantees wouldn’t even be reduced if Iowa fired him and he took a lucrative new job somewhere else.

Another Cornrich client, Oklahoma’s Bob Stoops, would be owed nearly $25 million if he were fired today without cause. All told, there are at least seven head football coaches, the paper writes, “who would be owed at least $20 million in guaranteed money if he were fired on Dec. 1 for losing too many games.” Jimbo Fisher tops the buyout list, with Florida State on the hook for $33.1 million in the improbable event that Florida State dismisses him.

Others with the $20 million-plus golden parachute include Ohio State’s Urban Meyer ($27.4 million), Michigan’s Jim Harbaugh ($25.6 million), Alabama’s Nick Saban ($23.3 million), Clemson’s Dabo Swinney ($20 million). Another, Illinois’ Lovie Smith, is just shy of that mark at $19.3 million.

Of the four coaches already dismissed this year, Les Miles had the highest buyout with LSU owing the former coach nearly $9 million according to the paper. Darrell Hazell is due $5 million from Purdue, while Fresno State will owe Tim DeRuyter $3.3 million and FIU will shell out $609,000 to Ron Turner.

Texas will owe Charlie Strong just north of $11 million if, as expected, they fire the coach at season’s end.

The multimillion buyouts are part of a burgeoning trend all across the sport.

In 2011, there were 15 coaches with guaranteed buyouts of at least $8 million. This year, at least 33 are guaranteed that much — well more than half of the 53 publicly available coaches contracts in the Power Five conferences.

When it comes to actual salary being paid in 2016, Saban would sit atop the list at $6.9 million. However, Harbaugh is the highest-paid coach in college football at $9 million, with $5 million of that coming in salary and $4 million in the form of insurance payouts.

In 2006, the first year the USA Today database was published, there were eight head coaches making at least $2 million annually. A decade later, that number has risen to 58.

Hiring a college football coach is expensive. Firing one is, too.

(Photo: Jeffrey Becker, USA TODAY Sports)

By Brent Schrotenboer and Steve Berkowitz

October 26, 2016

On a warm, sunny day last month at the University of Iowa, head football coach Kirk Ferentz wore a white shirt and gold-striped tie to a special announcement about his future. He had just signed the deal of a lifetime — the biggest contract of his life, with enough guarantees to make him a rich man well into his retirement, win or lose.

The new contract included several generous provisions:

► Even if he’s fired after this season for not winning enough games, the 61-year-old Ferentz would be owed more than $25 million, payable in monthly installments until 2026.

► He’s guaranteed an additional $22 million from 2021 through 2025 if he sticks around and wins at least seven games each season through 2020. It wouldn’t matter if he’s dismissed in 2021 after finishing 0-12.

► If that’s not enough, those guarantees wouldn’t even be reduced if Iowa fired him and he took a lucrative new job somewhere else.

“I certainly appreciate the trust and confidence demonstrated by athletic director Gary Barta,” said Ferentz, who also thanked Iowa president Bruce Harreld.

Less than two months later, Iowa has lost three consecutive home games, adding more buzz to a popular question about contract guarantees for college coaches: Why?

Why did Iowa make Ferentz almost too expensive to fire after averaging about seven wins per season during his previous 17 years in Iowa City?
And why are schools, including Iowa, increasingly willing to provide gold-plated parachutes for coaches in an industry where their success is never guaranteed?

Harreld, the top decision-maker on Ferentz’s contract, declined comment. But the simple answer is leverage. Buoyed by rising revenues in college sports, college football coaches are getting paid more than ever, with at least 36 earning at least $3 million this year, up from nine in 2011 and one in 2006 — the first year USA TODAY Sports conducted the head coaches salary survey. They also have more bargaining power than ever and are using it to guarantee their pay at unprecedented levels to match.


From the schools’ viewpoint, that means the potential price of failure has skyrocketed, according to a USA TODAY Sports analysis of hundreds of coaches’ contracts obtained over several years.

Ferentz is one of at least seven football coaches who would be owed at least $20 million in guaranteed money if he were fired on Dec. 1 for losing too many games — a list led by Florida State’s Jimbo Fisher, whose buyout this year would be a little more than $33 million. In 2011, there were 15 coaches with guaranteed buyouts of at least $8 million. This year, at least 33 are guaranteed that much — well more than half of the 53 publicly available coaches contracts in the Power Five conferences.

The bargaining table

The buyout boom isn’t just caused by the rising pay market, experts say. In some cases, schools appear to be getting out-leveraged in contract negotiations by coaches and their agents, perhaps because multi-year contract signings are usually sunshiny occasions. With so much optimism in the air at the time, schools might not be considering the dark possibility that the honeymoon might not last.

“There’s such tremendous pressure to generate revenues and win that basically these universities are sort of bending over contractually to get these coaches in the door,” said Martin Greenberg, a Milwaukee-based sports attorney who has represented several coaches in contract negotiations. “Euphoria sometimes overtakes objectivity and intelligence.”

There generally are two types of firings in college sports:

► Those fired for legal cause, such as breaking the law or major NCAA rules. In these cases, coaches generally aren’t entitled to additional guaranteed money.

► Those fired for losing too many games — which almost always entitles coaches to additional guaranteed money from schools according to their contracts. This is the most common type of firing (17 of 33 coaching changes since the start of the 2015 season), and the terms of divorce are usually set before marriage or renewed vows during contract negotiations, as they were with Ferentz’s guarantees.

“We’re going to call that a sweetheart deal” for Ferentz, Greenberg said.

Many others could be described the same way, and arguably for good reason: Coaches are helping drive those rising revenues. With contract guarantees, coaches also taking what they can get from the market and ensuring themselves some stability in an otherwise turbulent profession.
Consider Texas, where many are speculating about the future of Charlie Strong, whose record in three seasons is 14-18. If he’s fired in December, Strong would be owed more than $11 million. By contrast, Strong’s predecessor at Texas, Mack Brown, never had a potential buyout larger than $3.5 million from 1998 until his resignation in 2013.

Coaches these days “are in the driver’s seat,” Stanford economist Roger Noll told USA TODAY Sports.

On the other side of the bargaining table, schools are taking on even more risk with these contracts — at least until they decide they can’t. Just ask Kansas, which recently bucked the big buyout trend after getting snake-bit by it several times.

Learning the hard way

It started in 2001, when Kansas fired coach Terry Allen with one year left on his contract at an annual salary of $320,000.

Since then, the Jayhawks have paid three coaches not to coach.

► In 2009, one year after Kansas' last winning season, coach Mark Mangino received a $3 million settlement from KU after quitting amid allegations that he mistreated players. The settlement helped KU avoid a fight for the $6.6 million Mangino would have been owed if he were fired without legal cause.

► Coach Turner Gill succeeded him and went 5-19 in two seasons before KU fired him in 2011 and bought out the remaining $6 million left on his contract.

► KU then turned to Charlie Weis, the industry legend for making a living off of getting fired. Before KU, Notre Dame terminated Weis after a 6-6 season in 2009 and subsequently paid him more than $16 million to settle his contract, with a final payment remaining at the end of 2015.

At KU, Weis did it again. He compiled a 6-22 record before getting fired in 2014 with more than $5.4 million still owed to him in monthly installments, the last of which is due in December.

To replace Weis, KU hired David Beaty and this time drastically changed the buyout provisions in the school’s favor.

If he’s fired for losing, Beaty’s buyout is to be no larger than two years’ pay ($1.6 million total), according to his contract. He also would be required to seek “similar or related employment” and reduce his buyout from Kansas by the amount of pay he receives at his new job — a contract provision that is common in college football but also negotiable.

Beaty’s record at KU so far is 1-18.

Kansas officials declined comment on the contract through a spokesman.

But there’s still a tradeoff for the Jayhawks, no matter how sensible Beaty’s contract might seem for them. Such deals won’t attract the kind of big-splash hire they might have wanted instead — the kind that Michigan got in late 2014.

Star coaches in demand

With $9 million owed him this year, Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh is the highest paid coach in the 2016 USA TODAY Sports survey of publicly available contracts. He’s at the top, in large part, because he has huge leverage, an example of why schools fawn over star coaches and give them much of what they ask for during contract negotiations.

All schools want a coach like him — somebody who can turn a flat brand name into a shiny national power practically overnight.

“There are lots of coaches, but not all are able to win and generate money,” said Greenberg, who has written about coaches’ buyouts for the Marquette Sports Law Review. “That’s where the leverage is.”

Before Harbaugh, Michigan had sagged to a 5-7 season under Brady Hoke, who was owed $3 million for his termination in 2014.

After hiring Harbaugh, Michigan’s football team has become an undefeated, top-two program and likely an even bigger cash cow after contributing $88 million of the athletic department’s $152 million revenues in the fiscal year ending in June 2015.

The problem for schools is that there’s a very limited supply of coaches of this caliber.

“Part of what is going on is the iron law that only 25 schools can rank in the top 25,” said Noll, the Stanford economist. Yet there are 128 teams in major college football. About 20 coaches are capable of being consistently in the top 25, Noll estimated, with about 50 to 75 programs able to generate enough revenue to be among the bidders for one of these coaches.

So the bidding increases, bringing the rest of the market up with them as each school chases more wins and more revenue with more spending.

“Coaches are better positioned in today’s market to negotiate guaranteed deals,” attorneys Russ Campbell and Patrick Strong said in a statement to USA TODAY Sports. They would know. Their firm, Balch Sports, has negotiated more than $350 million in coaching contracts since 2007.

The agent factor

No other major college head football coaches have been at the same schools longer than Ferentz and Oklahoma’s Bob Stoops, both of whom were hired at their respective schools in late 1998.

The two happen to be friends and share the same agent: Neil Cornrich, who is based in suburban Cleveland.

They also have two of the top buyouts in the nation at about $25 million each, a byproduct of their recent success and the stability they’ve brought to their programs.

Cornrich declined to comment on contract negotiations but made a case for why the relatively long tenures of Ferentz and Stoops have added value to their schools.

“It’s important to understand the continuity, stability, and branding that they have provided,” Cornrich told USA TODAY Sports. “People have grown up with Bob Stoops and Kirk Ferentz being the only coaches at their respective institutions for their entire lives. That creates substantial additional value, especially when both coaches have been so successful, on and off the field.”

He noted that “coaches are the people who are producing the revenue” and their compensation reflects “the value being added and the very few people who can consistently add that value.”

Ferentz’s new contract this year comes on the heels of a 12-2 season last year, after finishing 19-19 the previous three years.

If Iowa had insisted that Ferentz’s buyout provisions be less generous, it’s hard to say what Ferentz would have done instead, though he has been mentioned for other jobs in previous years. Unlike at many other universities, the board of regents that oversees the University of Iowa does not review or approve coaching contracts as a matter of policy. Some say such oversight is necessary because these contracts involve such huge financial commitments.

“This might be a very good wakeup call to the board to be more proactive to ensure they can exercise their fiduciary responsibilities in a more robust way,” said Michael Poliakoff, president of the American Council of Trustees and Alumni (ACTA), a nonprofit committed to accountability in higher education.

The Board of Regents for the State of Iowa delegates this oversight at Iowa to President Harreld, who was hired last year.

“Even if the board delegates it authority, it can’t delegate its responsibilities,” said Armand Alacbay, ACTA’s vice president of trustee & legislative affairs. “It does so at its own peril.”

Ferentz and Iowa athletic director Barta declined comment to USA TODAY Sports through a spokesman.

Whatever happens, rising revenues still might be able to cover much of Iowa’s rising costs, even if a hefty buyout is in order. Iowa’s Big Ten Conference distributed roughly $34.6 million to each of its 11 longest-standing members during the fiscal year ending in June 2016 and is projected to distribute more than $38 million in 2016-17.

That’s expected to go up even more with a new television deal with Fox and ESPN.

“If you don’t have a buyout in a contract,” Barta told reporters last month, “it’s not a long-term contract.”

Scot McCloughan’s desire for ‘football players’ guides Redskins’ draft strategy

Washington Redskins offensive guard Brandon Scherff (75) watches from the bench during the second half of an NFL football game against the Chicago Bears, Sunday, Dec. 13, 2015, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

By Anthony Gulizia - The Washington Times

April 27, 2016

Moments before the Washington Redskins were on the clock with the No. 5 selection in the NFL draft last year, Neil Cornrich asked Brandon Scherff where his cell phone was.

It was in Scherff’s pocket, and the hulking offensive tackle from Iowa would be better served if he had it ready, Cornrich told him. Through his wealth of experience as an agent, Cornrich had familiarized himself with Scot McCloughan’s draft history during various roles with the Green Bay Packers, San Francisco 49ers and Seattle Seahawks. He was enamored by two selections in particular: Running back Frank Gore in the third round in 2005 and inside linebacker Patrick Willis 11th overall in 2007, both drafted during McCloughan’s tenure with the 49ers.

McCloughan selected the 6-foot-5, 320-pound offensive lineman with his first pick as the Redskins‘ general manager. It was a widely criticized pick, most notably because USC defensive end Leonard Williams was expected to be selected.

McCloughan hardly cared. He had a vision of a very specific culture — one that emphasizes character just as much, if not more, than talent — that he is trying to shape in the Redskins' organization. Scherff epitomized it. This was the player who, in his senior season at Iowa, tore the meniscus in his right knee in a game against Ball State, had the knee scoped the following Tuesday, missed one practice and returned the next weekend to face Iowa State. During the combine, Scherff dazzled the Redskins and numerous other teams in interviews not only with his football IQ, but his fierce loyalty to his family and teammates as well as an undeniable work ethic.

“There were more talented guys than Brandon was at that pick,” McCloughan said. “I took him more as an entire football player than the talent level itself. I wanted the people to understand this is the way I see football. Big guys. Smart guys. Tough guys. Passionate guys. Competitive guys. That it’s about the team and not the individual.

“This is why it’s not an exact science. That’s why there’s a so-called bust every year. They’re recognizing the talent, but they’re not recognizing the person. I’m not saying we have a prototype or we’re the only team in the league that sees it, but I spend at least half the time trying to find out the person than the physical skills.”

On Thursday, McCloughan will embark on his second draft as the Redskins‘ general manager, this time with the No. 21 pick, and he’ll do so by trusting a philosophy that’s been carefully crafted since he became an area scout for the Packers in 1994.

Over the years, McCloughan, by his own admission, has had his share of draft failures, whether it was when he was vice president of player personnel and general manager of the 49ers, or the director of college scouting with the Seahawks from 2000 through 2004, and then a senior executive from 2010 until he resigned in 2014. Almost always, McCloughan said, he was burned when he sacrificed character for exceptional talent, a devilish temptation in a league where production equates with job security.

“It’s a talent sport, and if you have special attributes, those are the ones that change games,” McCloughan said. “But, if you don’t have the right mindset or right internal fortitude, then you’re going to hurt the team more than you help it.”

That philosophy paid huge dividends in 2015 as five of the 10 players McCloughan drafted made a noticeable impact during the Redskins‘ improved season. Scherff, who became the starting right guard, played all but one snap as the starter and it was because his cleat fell off in a Week 5 game against the Atlanta Falcons. Outside linebacker Preston Smith, selected in the second round, had a slow start but finished the season with eight sacks, the most of any rookie.

Third-round pick Matt Jones split carries with Alfred Morris and is in line to be the lead running back this season. Jamison Crowder, taken in the fourth round in large part because of his punt return skills, supplanted veteran Andre Roberts as the team’s slot wide receiver and caught 59 passes for 604 yards and two touchdowns. Kyshoen Jarrett emerged as a versatile defensive back and played 57 percent of defensive snaps before sustaining a nerve injury in the final game of the regular season.

It didn’t take long for Scherff to notice the type of players McCloughan was invested in, and it showed early on.

“It was great to see where everyone came from, where they played, their experiences from college and how our experiences were different,” Scherff said. “Then to get on the field with them was a great experience. A bunch of hard workers, guys that want to be on time. We had a bunch of meetings early, rookie meetings that held us late, and nobody ever complained.”

There is a term McCloughan favors when describing an ideal candidate for his team. He loves “football players,” though he doesn’t mean it in the literal sense.

Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz, who has a strong relationship with McCloughan and shares a similar philosophy, can elaborate. When comparing Scherff to five-time Pro Bowler Marshal Yanda, the Baltimore Ravens’ right guard and former Iowa standout, Ferentz used the same term.

“They’re different personalities, but they love playing football,” Ferentz said. “I don’t mean just playing. They love the meetings, love their teammates, all the hard work you do year-round. Those guys thrive on that. It’s just how those guys are wired, and when you get a guy like that, it’s rare, and they’re not all that common in the NFL, either.”

Those are the character traits that McCloughan covets, and when he feels as if he’s found a player that exhibits them, it’s hard for him to pass them up. That’s why McCloughan was adamant about drafting Scherff with the fifth overall pick.

Draft analysts projected Scherff would transition from left tackle to guard in the NFL, another reason the pick was criticized. A pick that high, most argued, was reserved for franchise-cornerstone left tackles. Again, McCloughan didn’t care. The character superseded the fit, and he trusted his gut based off previous experiences.

“From my stand point, it wasn’t vital [Scherff] had to be the right tackle,” McCloughan said. “We could play him at guard. We took Steve Hutchinson [at No. 17 in 2001] when I was in Seattle and the guy changed the whole offensive line and went to many pro bowls and was a phenomenal player, just because of the type of person he was. He made the person to his left and right better.”

Asked whether Scherff has that same makeup, McCloughan answered with a resounding yes. When McCloughan made his first draft selection as the Redskins‘ general manager, he had the opportunity to make it well-known what type of player he was hoping to build around.

He got more than one in 2015, and the challenge now is to continue finding those type of players. That’s what McCloughan and his staff will set out to do this weekend.

“It’s about the entire package, where I think hopefully it works out the same way here because that’s how we start building,” McCloughan said.

“It’s about the internal fortitude, the passion they have to take care of each other. Maybe I’m off base, but that’s how I build a championship team.”

Neil Cornrich Featured by The Ohio State University College of Law

Athletes as clients: Take a look inside the wide world of sports law
________________________________________

By KELSEY GIVENS

The Ohio State University Law School Magazine | Winter 2016

The glitz. The glamour. The excitement. Brushing elbows with the athletic elite and sharing in a fast-paced, extravagant lifestyle—all while negotiating multi-million dollar contracts.

Perhaps that’s how sports law is portrayed on television and in the movies. But those in the industry today say there is so much more to a career working with athletes than simply reading over their contracts and sharing in their success.

The ultimate agent

“We’re involved in all aspects of their career— contracts, endorsements, and marketing –whatever they need. There is no typical day,” said nationally renowned sports agent and founder of NC Sports Neil Cornrich ’83. “I work with, objectively and quantifiably, the best and brightest in the world at what they do. There are so few positions, and they’re so good—the best in the world. I think it’s difficult for most people to understand.”


Breaking into the industry is challenging. Building trust with the players, creating a name for yourself, and succeeding in a market teeming with a multitude of variables out of both the player and agent’s control, like career-ending injuries, can make it difficult to start a business from the ground up.

Cornrich considers himself lucky. When he decided to become a sports agent, he was able to support himself by working at his father, Sidney Cornrich ’51’s firm in Cleveland as he built his practice. Friendships he started while in law school also helped, particularly that of Larry Romanoff, current director of external affairs for Ohio State.

“Larry’s insights had a profound effect on my understanding of student-athletes and played an integral role in the genesis of my career,” he said. It also helped Cornrich land a top pick from The Ohio State University football program, who went on to have an immensely successful career in the NFL, as his first client.

“I was lucky that Kirk Lowdermilk chose me to represent him. Fortunately things went well from the beginning contractually and he had the right things going for him; he was a tough, bright, durable player—in the sense that he could survive this brutal game—and having a player like that teaches you a lot about the game. He was then nice enough to start recommending me to other players like Jeff Uhlenhake, who was a team captain and All-America at Ohio State. Jeff was the first rookie to start at center in Miami Dolphin history and is currently working for the Ohio State football program as a strength and conditioning coach. One led to another, from Jeff to Joe Staysniak and, that same year, Jeff Davidson, who were both team captains and Academic All-Big Ten,” Cornrich explained.

Although he didn’t picture himself becoming an agent when he first entered law school, Cornrich said he became fascinated by contract work in his first-year course on the subject, taught by Professor Jerome Reichman, as well as classes on federal income taxation and legal problems of financial information with Professor Morgan Shipman. That appreciation for contract execution—which is a large part of what Cornrich does as an agent—as well as a an independent project he completed with Professor Stan Laughlin ’60, which allowed him to study lawyers’ roles within sports, started him on the path to where he is today.

He now represents a number of highly successful professional-level and college-level coaches, general managers, and club presidents. Names like Bill Belichick, Ted Ginn Jr., Montee Ball, Robert Smith, Glen Mason, John Cooper, Luke Fickell, and more recently first-round NFL draft pick and Outland Trophy winner Brandon Scherff, have all called on Cornrich and his team for their expertise.


Through it all, Cornrich said, the most important thing has been to continue working with the client to do things the right way and to do what’s in their best interest.

“I realize every day that the coaches, general managers, and players for whom I work are trying to improve their teams, and that can include their own personal representation. I understand the need to keep improving my own work and earn the respect of my clients on a daily basis. It’s nice that I’ve had good results in the past, but what’s important is continually getting good results for my current clients.”

And that philosophy has proven successful for both Cornrich and his clients. His impressive career was recognized by Sports Illustrated as one of the “15 Most Influential Sports Agents,” in 2013. “It’s obviously flattering, but I just feel very fortunate and humbled and lucky,” he said.

Ranking college football coaching openings: Where do Virginia Tech, USC, Maryland fall?

By Adam Kilgore

November 2, 2015

Virginia Tech has not chosen a new football coach in about three decades, but that will not put them at any kind of disadvantage. No college football program has experienced circumstances anything like the present: The Hokies are among a confluence of schools in Power Five conferences and a smattering of lesser programs that will be looking to fill head coaching vacancies this offseason. By the time the carousel stops, it’s feasible a quarter or even a third of Football Bowl Subdivision programs will have new top whistles.

The hierarchy of coaching vacancies is not as cut-and-dried as many would make it seem. The first consideration is a coach’s current station. The USC opening is a dream job for, say, Justin Fuente, but it’s possibly a lateral jump, if not a step back, for Urban Meyer. The fit also matters more than perceived prestige. Geography, familiarity and a million other overlooked factors come into play when it comes times for a coach to actually make a decision.

“How do we determine a good job?” said Neil Cornrich, a leading agent for college and NFL coaches. “Our evaluation of a particular job is unique to every coach. We debate it on an individual basis for each coach and each job. What may be a good job for one coach may not be a good job for another coach. It depends on his other opportunities. They may be similar coaches, but it may not be the right fit for a number of reasons.”

Still, the offseason is about to tell us a whole lot about the pecking order of college football programs. Is South Carolina a more appealing job than Virginia Tech? Wait two months, see which coach lands where and we’ll find out. Does Minnesota have the cash and cachet to look beyond an interim? We’ll see. Can Maryland convince a big name to compete in the Big Ten’s varsity division? The answer is on the way.

Virginia Tech will not be able to pick its next coach at leisure. It will have to pry Beamer’s replacement from the clutches of another power school, or else wait and choose off the discard pile.

So where in the hierarchy does Virginia Tech fit? It is undoubtedly the biggest program in its region, if not the most powerful sports enterprise in the state of Virginia. The Hokies have a strong recruiting pipeline out of the Hampton Roads region, one of the most fertile territories in the nation. They have top-shelf facilities. They have big-boy games scheduled for years to come, starting with Notre Dame and Tennessee – at Bristol Motor Speedway! – next season. They play in the easier division of the easiest Power 5 conference to win.

On the other hand, if Memphis’s Justin Fuente or Houston’s Tom Herman is choosing between Virginia Tech and South Carolina, they may be inclined to lean toward Columbia. Recruits want to play in the SEC. South Carolina has a bigger stadium. It’s an uphill climb in the SEC, but it’s not as brutal in the East division and, if you reach the top, the national championship is there for the taking.

The amazing thing is how many schools will find themselves asking the same questions of themselves. Many years, Maryland would be in position to woo the best up-and-comer. Now? They’ll need to line up behind several schools.

The crush of openings may be a blessing for coaches on the hot seat. For example: It might be the right move for Virginia to fire Mike London, but it would be the wrong year to hire a replacement. With so many other schools in the market, Virginia would be forced to pick at the scraps. It may be smarter to be on a more normal coaching-change cycle next year.

Any ultimate ranking of coaching vacancies is premature. What happens if Georgia slides and the school parts ways with Mark Richt? Or if South Carolina shocks the industry and convinces alum Mark Dantonio to come home? But there already have been startling tremors across the sport, and who doesn’t love a list?

1. USC: The only no-doubt crown jewel program with an opening. Recruits pour through the doors. Even with the recent rise of Oregon and Stanford and the overall increase in quality, USC is unquestionably the king of the Pac-12. The athletic director seems to have lost control of the program and the Trojans just fired a coach who literally showed up to a game drunk, yet two weeks ago they stomped the No. 3 team in the country. With the right coach, the Trojans should contend for the College Football Playoff on an annual basis.

2. South Carolina: It’s the SEC, stupid. Even a middling program in the country’s best conference is a prime attraction. The stadium seats more than 80,000, and the pay is right. Steve Spurrier proved the best of the best recruits will go to South Carolina. Winning the SEC East and toppling a juggernaut from the West in Atlanta is far from fantasy.

3. Virginia Tech: There’s no real reason an engineering school tucked in the southwestern Virginia hills should be a power. Beamer elevated it to that status, but that doesn’t guarantee it’ll stay there. The next coach will have a great opportunity, especially because of the strong recruiting ties to the Tidewater and the school’s facilities are first-rate. But it’s not a guarantee.

4. Miami: No job offers greater reward or more potentially pratfalls. The money probably won’t be great, the facilities are a mess, the stadium is often empty and every school in the country invades the recruiting territory. Then again, the history and recruiting base means there’s also a clearer path to the national championship from Miami than any opening aside from Southern Cal.

5. Minnesota: The new stadium is a boon. The recruiting base is thin, but the best players in the state usually grow up wanting to be Gophers. A coach can build a good roster with the leftovers from Michigan and Ohio. The division provides little resistance. Most years, if Minnesota can upset Wisconsin it will have a strong chance to play in the Big Ten title game.

6. Maryland: The new coach will have to compete with Penn State, Michigan State, Michigan and Ohio State with an outdated stadium and a recruiting base that the best teams from three major conferences invade on a regular basis. We keep hearing that Kevin Plank and Under Armour are going to turn Maryland into Oregon East. Well, why hasn’t it happened yet?

7: Illinois: It’s probably one of the worst Power Five jobs, but it’s still a Big Ten coaching job.

8: UCF: Even though George O’Leary left it a mess, UCF is one of the best small-conference jobs out there. It’s got a massive alumni bas,e and it’s smack in the middle of Florida. It should be an ideal spot for an up-and-comer – this year’s version of Tom Herman or Chad Morris could be wooed here.

9: North Texas: At least it’s in the continental 48 states.

10: Hawaii: You get to live in Hawaii, but there might not be a football program left when you get there.

Patriots Coach's Donation To Hiram College Honors Parents

By Dan Pompili

June 25, 2015

Northeast Ohio has plenty of big names to boast about -- astronauts, presidents, athletes and coaches, and many of them have a way of remembering their humble beginnings here.

Four-time Super Bowl winning coach Bill Belichick of the New England Patriots is especially partial to Hiram College.
He may never have existed if not for the place.

For that reason, he's made a sizable, but undisclosed, donation to the school.

"I think the contribution speaks for itself," said his agent, Neil Cornrich. "Coach Belichick has a tremendous affinity for this area, and that certainly includes Hiram College where his parents met."

Belichick's parents, Steve Belichick and Jeanette Munn, met at the small northern Portage County liberal arts college in the 1940s, when Steve Belichick was head coach of the football, basketball and track teams, and Munn taught French and Spanish.

The gift honors the areas of campus life where his parents made a lasting impact. The donation will help to establish the Coach Steve Belichick Olympic Training Center, naming the facility in the Les and Kathy Coleman Sports, Recreation and Fitness Center; the Jeannette Munn Belichick '42 Reading Room, naming the space on the first floor of the Hiram College Library; and the Jeannette Munn Belichick '42 Endowed Fund, which will provide support for the Hiram College Library in purchasing books and other resources related to foreign languages.

"In addition to providing support to library resources, the endowed fund will support the curricular needs of the Center for Global Interaction, one of Hiram's Centers of Distinction, and study away programs," said Christina Russ, assistant director of college communications. "Jeannette's college language books have also been donated to the library."

Steve, who grew up in Struthers, in the Youngstown area, went on to serve as assistant coach of Vanderbilt University from 1949 to 1952. The couple married in 1950, and Jeannette became fluent in Croatian to communicate better with her in-laws. Bill, their first son, was born in 1952.

He followed in his father's footsteps, choosing a career in coaching, and he has since set the all-time record for postseason victories -- 22, and tied the record for most Super Bowl wins -- four, as an NFL head coach.

After Steve's short stint as assistant coach at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the couple made Annapolis, Md., their permanent home when Steve took a coaching position for the United States Naval Academy.

Steve Belichick died in 2005, while Jeanette lives on. Munn Road in Chagrin Falls still bears her family name, just as the place where she started her own family now will too.

"Coach Belichick's contribution also reflects his varied intellectual interests, as well as his respect, admiration and appreciation for the education and values that were instilled in him by his parents," Cornrich said.

Redskins select Brandon Scherff with No. 5 overall pick

By Conor Orr

April 30, 2015

We have our first perceived head-scratcher of the NFL Draft.

The Washington Redskins selected Iowa guard/tackle Brandon Scherff, a strong but conservative move by new general manager Scot McCloughan.

McCloughan oversaw the drafting of star offensive lineman Mike Iupati in San Francisco back in 2010 and could be trying to replicate his formula in the Nation's Capital. Washington has enough to worry about at quarterback, so why not strengthen the line in front of them?

The Redskins gave up the second-most sacks in football a year ago and, despite losing some quality pass-rushers like Brian Orakpo in free agency, opted against taking USC's Leonard Williams, believed by some to be the best overall talent in the draft.

Washington has held a top five pick eight times in franchise history, using the pick on offensive line help just twice, most recently Trent Williams back in 2010.

But this is a new era in D.C. and they hope that a 6-5, 320-pound mauler can get them off on the right foot.

If nothing else, all indications are that Washington is getting a Day One starter that, if healthy, can play two positions at an elite level for years to come.

VIDEO: http://www.nfl.com/videos/nfl-draft/0ap3000000489300/Redskins-pick-Scherff-No-5

9 Most Overpaid Coaches in College Football Today

By Greg Wallace, Featured Columnist

April 15, 2015

It’s no secret that there’s plenty of money to go around in college football. The new College Football Playoff, along with lucrative television contracts, have pumped a large infusion of cash into FBS athletic departments, and head coaches have benefited.

This week, Ohio State announced that coach Urban Meyer had received a new contract which will pay him $6.5 million annually, second nationally behind Alabama’s Nick Saban (who made $7.1 million in 2014, per a USA Today salary database). In the SEC, the coaches of both Mississippi schools, Mississippi State’s Dan Mullen and Ole Miss’ Hugh Freeze, received contract extensions which pushed their pay over $4 million annually.

In December, Michigan signed Jim Harbaugh to a deal that will pay him $5 million annually, continuing college football's arms race, as Adam Kilgore of The Washington Post noted.

“It’s simple, really,” agent Neil Cornrich, who represents Bob Stoops, Kirk Ferentz and other top coaches, told Kilgore. "As long as the revenues from college football continue to grow, all the numbers will follow.”

Last fall, 27 coaches were listed by USA Today with salaries of $3 million or more, a figure sure to jump this year.

With all that cash floating around, there are some programs which aren’t getting the biggest bang for their buck and athletic directors that regret handing out contracts. Here’s a look at the nine most overpaid coaches in college football. Unless otherwise noted, all salary figures came from the USA Today database.

Coaches' contracts reflect playoff

New postseason means new incentives for college coaches to win it all

March 24, 2015
By Heather Dinich | ESPN.com

At Clemson, winning a national championship in the College Football Playoff is valued at $900,000 -- that's the bonus coach Dabo Swinney is guaranteed if the Tigers win it all. It's more than any incentive promised to the four coaches who actually made the semifinal round of the inaugural playoff, including Nick Saban.

It's even more than Michigan's Money Man, Jim Harbaugh, whose total bonus is $800,000 for winning a title in Ann Arbor.

It's on par, though, with Colorado, where a national title is worth $750,000 to coach Mike MacIntyre.

Meanwhile, Cal coach Sonny Dykes is still waiting for his contract to be updated to include the playoff, but he would have gotten $50,000 for taking the Golden Bears to the BCS national championship.

The disparity in incentives for winning college football's biggest prize? Priceless.

"We pay close attention to the marketplace, which is much easier to do on guaranteed compensation than it is on incentive compensation," said Oregon athletic director Rob Mullens, "because incentive compensation can be all over the board."

He's right -- it is.

ESPN.com obtained the contracts of 34 FBS coaches representing each Power 5 conference, and there's a wide range of incentive money for winning the national title. The bigger lump sums are because the bonuses are cumulative. Harbaugh, for example, gets $300,000 for making the semifinals and another $500,000 for winning the championship. Swinney gets $400,000 for a CFP semifinal appearance AND $400,000 for a CFP championship appearance, AND another $100,000 for winning the title.

Many contracts were written before the playoff began and still include BCS language and polls, but some schools still accounted for the possibility of it. Other programs haven't been as proactive in updating the coaches' contracts to reflect the new postseason, which now includes semifinal games for the top four teams. The contracts of the four coaches who advanced to the semifinal round in 2014 are all up-to-date and hovered around the same amount:

• Ohio State coach Urban Meyer got a $250,000 bonus for reaching the inaugural College Football Playoff title game, and earned the maximum postseason bonus of $400,000 for also winning the Big Ten East Division and the overall Big Ten title.

• Mullens recently raised Mark Helfrich's bonus from $250,000 to $500,000 if he wins a national title in the playoff.

• Florida State coach Jimbo Fisher has a $500,000 bonus in his contract for winning the national title, but he would also receive $200,000 for a top-five ranking by the selection committee, and $200,000 for an undefeated season.

• Saban's contract states he would have received $300,000 for playing in the national championship game OR $400,000 for winning the title. Swinney's most recent contract was finalized in January 2014, when athletic director Dan Radakovich knew the playoff was imminent. Radakovich, one of the 12 members of the College Football Playoff selection committee, said it made sense to alter the contract to acknowledge the "new reality" of what was happening with the sport's postseason.

"It was really important to myself and the agent that if Dabo has a phenomenal year that he has the ability to be compensated at a really, really good level," said Radakovich. "It also means that in the reality of things, should that circumstance occur, there would need to be a renegotiation in the remainder of the contract, depending upon when in the length of the contract that occurs.

"The playoff has helped create the market," Radakovich said. "The playoff has increased the revenue opportunities for athletic programs and therefore because those revenues are coming in, if you have a successful coach, you have more resources by which to compensate them and make sure they stay at your institution."

There's not necessarily a correlation between a coaches' longevity at the school, or the name-brand appeal of the program. At Colorado, Mike MacIntyre is guaranteed $750,000 for winning the national title, but it's a cumulative bonus that also includes $100,000 for playing in the league championship game, and another $75,000 for an eight-win season. First-year Nebraska coach Mike Riley isn't too far behind with a $650,000 bonus for winning the national title.

"As revenues continue to escalate in college football, coaching contracts will continue to escalate also," said Neil Cornrich, an agent who represents Bob Stoops, Kirk Ferentz and Todd Graham, among many others. At Auburn, coach Gus Malzahn's contract was recently amended to include playoff language. He would get $500,000 for winning the national title, OR $300,000 for reaching the title game or semifinal -- a $150,000 increase from the previous contract for reaching the national championship but not winning it. The old contract promised $100,000 for playing in a BCS bowl, while the amendment includes $200,000 for playing in a New Year's Six Bowl.

"The College Football Playoff, that is our goal now," said Auburn athletic director Jay Jacobs.

"Our contracts have changed to represent that." Jacobs attributed the disparity between coaching incentives throughout the country to basic capitalism. "It really is just like a salesperson or a COO -- you get rewarded for good will at your craft, and when you don't, you don't get that reward," he said. "Whether your sell hospital beds or win football games, it's all about how well did you do?"

Malzahn also has the chance to earn another $450,000 in bonuses if he finishes with 14 wins AND wins the SEC title, AND finishes with a top-five ranking by the selection committee.

"We put top five in there because with only four teams, four and five could be alike and the committee not pick us," Jacobs said. "People could argue, why don't you say top eight or top six? We say one past the top four that's fair for right now, and they got it right this past year."

The contracts show that experience and tenure don't necessarily add up to the biggest bonuses. K-State coach Bill Snyder, a member of the most recent College Football Hall of Fame class, receives an extra $350,000 for winning the national title. Virginia Tech coach Frank Beamer, the country's winningest active coach, has a $200,000 bonus in his contract for winning a national title.

Beamer wasn't available for comment, and hasn't done any interviews since his throat surgery in early December.

"With him it's never been about money, and his love of Virginia Tech overrides everything in his mind," said Beamer's son and running backs coach Shane Beamer. "His first response would be that Virginia Tech has been very good to him, and he's very fortunate for what he has and what this program is about."

For some, the trophy might be incentive enough.