Baldwin to Cal?

[Seattle Eagle]

This was an all-around shitty day that got shittier when I looked at Twitter and saw the news. Still very happy for Coach Baldwin, though. We were lucky to have him for as long as we did and the legacy he has created at EWU will live on for many years.

 

[DefendtheRed]

I think this is probably a good move for Coach Baldwin if he ultimately wants a Pac 12 HC gig. If he is successful at Cal I could easily see him as a head coach at a P5 in 2-3 years.

 

[Hambone]

Thank you Coach Baldwin for all you have done for this program and best of luck moving forward.

 

[9MFEaglefan]

Best of luck to Coach Baldwin. He will go down as the Greatest Coach in EWU history and will always be welcome back.

+1

 

[Eagle Talon]

This is a slippery slope with co-head coaches because if you hire one and not the other you may lose another assistant before the beginning of next year. Which would mean you are looking for another coach.

Who are the co-head coaches?

Chaves confirmed longtime offensive line coach Aaron Best and second-year Jeff Schmedding will serve as co-interim head coaches for the Eagles.

and the search will be a quick one.

Quite the conundrum we have here. On the one hand you need to get a HC in place quickly. On the other hand being expedient can't come at the cost of doing a proper search.

Ultimately I think it will be an internal hire.

Why does everyone assume that it's going to be an internal hire?

 

[EdubAlum]

Why does everyone assume that it's going to be an internal hire?

Because EWU is cheap and easier to bump a guy who's making like 60k a year to 120 vs paying someone 200 off the streets

I will say though. This sure sucks we didn't lock in any facilities upgrade while he was here. Beau was a huge part of the recruiting. If we have another awesome season next year, that might negate it.

 

[kalm]

Why does everyone assume that it's going to be an internal hire?

Because EWU is cheap and easier to bump a guy who's making like 60k a year to 120 vs paying someone 200 off the streets

I will say though. This sure sucks we didn't lock in any facilities upgrade while he was here. Beau was a huge part of the recruiting. If we have another awesome season next year, that might negate it.

All of this. :nod:

I've always thought this would be the best path of Beau to get to an FBS HC job. Couldn't be more happy for him, will miss the shit out of him, and I hope it turns out fantastic!

When Beau came to Eastern in 2003, few of us knew who he was. His offenses with Meyer ended up being very fun to watch. When Beau took the Central job in 2007 none of us knew who Todd Sturdy was, yet he came in and had great success as well. When Wulff left in 2008 there was uncertainty. Beau's hire was not a slam dunk as he had only one year of HC experience.

Yet here we are.

 

[Eaglefanatical]

Thank you Coach Beau Baldwin for everything you have done building this program to where it is today. You will be missed!

 

[LDopaPDX]

Why does everyone assume that it's going to be an internal hire?

Because EWU is cheap and easier to bump a guy who's making like 60k a year to 120 vs paying someone 200 off the streets

I will say though. This sure sucks we didn't lock in any facilities upgrade while he was here. Beau was a huge part of the recruiting. If we have another awesome season next year, that might negate it.

While the second part of your statement is 100% accurate, the first part isn't.

Eastern pays their coaches very well compared to peer institutions. I'm sure Chaves' phone is getting lit up right now with interested candidates, I'm just not sure Best isn't already the right guy for the job. Barring someone really coming out of left field with a spectacular resume, I think Best is the guy.

 

[Obzerver]

If Best doesn't get it he may look elsewhere. Didn't he leave '07-'8 because Wulff didn't give him the O.C. job when Baldwin left for Central..seems he got slighted? He then came back when Baldwin got the head job and he gave Best the O.C. job. Perhaps my memory is slighted...

 

[360Eag]

If Best doesn't get it he may look elsewhere. Didn't he leave '07-'8 because Wulff didn't give him the O.C. job when Baldwin left for Central..seems he got slighted? He then came back when Baldwin got the head job and he gave Best the O.C. job. Perhaps my memory is slighted...

He spent 2007 in the CFL.

 

[Obzerver]

Yeah, he went to Toronto as an offensive line specialist...but thought at the time there was some weird reason why he left EWU. Don't think it was just to be an as an offensive line specialist in the CFL.

 

[ewueagle2010]

Wanted to jump on here and voice my sincere congrats to Coach B! I've been a strong voice in recent years that he wouldn't be leaving EWU for any old job that pays more. I guess he confirmed that was true in his presser yesterday when he stated there has been several opportunities the past several years to leave, but they just didn't feel "right."

This one did, and I fully understand and support it. It sucks for us as fans/alum, but it's a great move for him! Two or three years of success there will lead to a Power 5 head job. It's truly bittersweet, but I don't think we need to worry about the program too much. Yes, it hurts, and no, he can't be replaced easily, if ever. However, he helped build this program into a Cadillac and many will want the keys.

Good luck, Coach!

 

[EdubAlum]

While the second part of your statement is 100% accurate, the first part isn't.

Eastern pays their coaches very well compared to peer institutions. I'm sure Chaves' phone is getting lit up right now with interested candidates, I'm just not sure Best isn't already the right guy for the job. Barring someone really coming out of left field with a spectacular resume, I think Best is the guy.

You're making the assumption that they're going to hire the next HC at Baldwins salary though. Maybe they will though.

 

[dudeitsaid]

While the second part of your statement is 100% accurate, the first part isn't.

Eastern pays their coaches very well compared to peer institutions. I'm sure Chaves' phone is getting lit up right now with interested candidates, I'm just not sure Best isn't already the right guy for the job. Barring someone really coming out of left field with a spectacular resume, I think Best is the guy.

You're making the assumption that they're going to hire the next HC at Baldwins salary though. Maybe they will though.

I don't think he was making the assumption. I sure wouldn't. And I think most coaches know that Baldwin's salary was related to his success. That being said, his salary did show that EWU can and will pay successful coaches at the upper tier of the Big Sky and at a similar level of the majority of other successful FCS coaches. Sure, there are some outliers where the pay was a good deal higher than Baldwin's. But, overall, he was at a similar level of other highly successful coaches according the the Spokesman article. A good HC will see that as something he can build up to.

 

[Seattle Eagle]

While the second part of your statement is 100% accurate, the first part isn't.

Eastern pays their coaches very well compared to peer institutions. I'm sure Chaves' phone is getting lit up right now with interested candidates, I'm just not sure Best isn't already the right guy for the job. Barring someone really coming out of left field with a spectacular resume, I think Best is the guy.

You're making the assumption that they're going to hire the next HC at Baldwins salary though. Maybe they will though.

I don't think he was making the assumption. I sure wouldn't. And I think most coaches know that Baldwin's salary was related to his success. That being said, his salary did show that EWU can and will pay successful coaches at the upper tier of the Big Sky and at a similar level of the majority of other successful FCS coaches. Sure, there are some outliers where the pay was a good deal higher than Baldwin's. But, overall, he was at a similar level of other highly successful coaches according the the Spokesman article. A good HC will see that as something he can build up to.

This. The next HC isn't going to start with a $240k base pay, nor should he. That's something that should be related to results on the field and in the classroom. That said, Chaves needs to make it financially attractive enough to draw the right kind of folks.

 

[kalm]

While the second part of your statement is 100% accurate, the first part isn't.

Eastern pays their coaches very well compared to peer institutions. I'm sure Chaves' phone is getting lit up right now with interested candidates, I'm just not sure Best isn't already the right guy for the job. Barring someone really coming out of left field with a spectacular resume, I think Best is the guy.

You're making the assumption that they're going to hire the next HC at Baldwins salary though. Maybe they will though.

I don't think he was making the assumption. I sure wouldn't. And I think most coaches know that Baldwin's salary was related to his success. That being said, his salary did show that EWU can and will pay successful coaches at the upper tier of the Big Sky and at a similar level of the majority of other successful FCS coaches. Sure, there are some outliers where the pay was a good deal higher than Baldwin's. But, overall, he was at a similar level of other highly successful coaches according the the Spokesman article. A good HC will see that as something he can build up to.

This. The next HC isn't going to start with a $240k base pay, nor should he. That's something that should be related to results on the field and in the classroom. That said, Chaves needs to make it financially attractive enough to draw the right kind of folks.

Rocco was making $400k plus at Richmond. Will get at least the same at UD. Richmond will pay Huessman close to that. Farley is $350k at UNI. Slack is over $300k in Normal. Turner Gill is making over $600k

Beau and his staff were woefully underpaid and he should have been approaching $400k by now. That might have kept him around a while longer. Consider the long term economic impact to not just the school but the greater Spokane area that Mark Few has brought.

If we want to have a shot at a broad pool of candidates, the new hire should start at Beau's most recent raise.

It's only going to get worse if the P5 - G5 split occurs and we want stay with our peers.

This of course dovetails with stadium improvements.

I'm not blaming Chaves as I think he gets it, I'm blaming the administration. Sustained success pays off in spades.

 

[Screamin_Eagle174]

Definitely bittersweet. Happy for Beau and hope his offense lights it up, but this really sucks for EWU. Caught off guard; thought we had at least another year or two. Also best of luck to Nick Edwards, who will be going with him as WR coach.

I just really hope we don't lose many recruits due to the timing. Chaves, Best, and Schmedding have their work cut out.

 

[EdubAlum]

http://www.aseaofred.com/scanning-fcs-coaches-salaries/

Obviously, this is not an exhaustive list of all 125 FCS programs, but we concentrated our research on teams’ currently ranked in the FCS Top 25 polls and a few other top programs. All salaries are listed for the 2014-15 academic year, unless otherwise noted.

The average compensation package for the above listed FCS head coaches is $260,888.44. If you remove Gill’s numbers, the average drops to $240,503.96

Which puts Beau right on average for top 25 programs.

 

[dudeitsaid]

http://www.aseaofred.com/scanning-fcs-coaches-salaries/

Obviously, this is not an exhaustive list of all 125 FCS programs, but we concentrated our research on teams’ currently ranked in the FCS Top 25 polls and a few other top programs. All salaries are listed for the 2014-15 academic year, unless otherwise noted.

The average compensation package for the above listed FCS head coaches is $260,888.44. If you remove Gill’s numbers, the average drops to $240,503.96

Which puts Beau right on average for top 25 programs.

And would've been the second highest in the BSC. And 240k in Spokane county is a lot more buying power than in many other areas in the country, including several of the BSC coaches with lower salaries. And for the attendance levels of EWU, with only five home games every year, I think 240k was significant. I can't imagine EWU being in a position to pay 400k for a head coach, even if some coaches in the FCS are able to garner that. Wish we could...maybe Beau would still be here.