First, let me just say it’s utterly asinine that this is even being discussed. Yes, Kansas has (understatement alert!) struggled mightily in Turner Gill‘s first season in Lawrence, but, again, it’s his first freaking season.
Be that as it may, the fact that it’s his first freaking season hasn’t stopped the slowly growing drumbeat that the former Nebraska quarterback should be a one-and-done as Jayhawks coach. The villagers can march with their pitchforks and torches held high all they want, but they might want to consider stopping by an ATM and withdraw a sizable chunk of change on their way to storming the castle.
According to a report in the Lawrence Journal-World, it would cost Kansas $8 million (for those who are math deficient, that’s the number eight, followed by six zeros and two commas) to dismiss/fire/can Gill at season’s end. And that total would be due within 90 days of the dismissal/firing/canning.
Amazingly, and yet another reason why Lew Perkins should’ve been gone sooner rather than later as the school’s athletic director, Gill’s five-year, $10 million contract contains no buyout. If you’re Perkins, how could you not leave yourself a financial out if the first-time head coach at a BcS school happened to flame out?
On top of that, there’s the matter of Gill’s coaching staff that would have to be taken into consideration if a dismissal were to be an option. All told, Gill’s coaches are scheduled to make more than $2 million annually; his coordinators each signed guaranteed two-year, $700,000 contracts, so that’s another nearly three-quarters of a million dollars to toss into the equation.
And, of course, there’s the $3 million settlement paid to Gill’s predecessor Mark Mangino.
Fans and some in the media may want to plant Gill’s backside firmly on the hot seat, but the financial bottom line says the first-year coach ain’t going anywhere. At least not this year.
