A full day has passed since Frank Martin made these interesting comments to the Associated Press. After deflating the value of his contract at Kansas State and saying the open coaching position at Miami, which he says he has not been contacted about, is better than most think, here’s the fallout:
– Greg Cote of the Miami Herald believes Martin is begging for someone within the Hurricanes athletic department to call him, and that they are foolish for not doing so.
– It doesn’t appear Martin’s opinions on the matter have impacted the Miami search, yet. UM officials have reportedly targeted Harvard coach Tommy Amaker as their top option to replace the departed Frank Haith.
– The reason Miami hasn’t called Martin may have more to do with concerns about his coaching style than money.
– If Amaker turns down Miami’s advances, the Hurricanes may soon have a full-time athletic director to take over the search. Shawn Eichorst, formerly a deputy AD at Wisconsin, is set to accept the job.
If you’ve made it this far and haven’t clicked on any of the above links, here are the highlights of Martin’s comments. After stating that he likes it at K-State and has no desire to be anywhere else, he speculated about the Miami job.
“Everyone’s reporting that my salary is $1.55 million [annually]. Actually, my salary is $1.1 million,” he said. “Now, I’m an old high school teacher who was making 32 grand when I moved to Boston, and I’m extremely grateful and thankful for the salary I make right now.
“If I stayed the length of the [five-year] contract and I collect every bonus on the contract, it will average out to $1.55. And you know what? There is a chance that the University of Miami never called because they think I make $1.5,” he said. “There’s a chance just because it was released at $1.55 the University of Miami said, ‘We can’t call him. Why waste our time? We can’t pay him.’ “
Martin said people have urged him to pursue the Miami job.
“I’ve had numerous friends call me, countless people in that community begging me to go back home,” he said. “The one thing that’s unfair to the University of Miami is that all the media people, locally and nationally, are saying it’s not a good job. And that’s not right. But UM never called. So I have no idea. And I’m not pursuing other jobs. I’ve never chased a job in my life.”
But he would always listen to other schools.
“I’m never going to say I’m not listening to anybody. Someone might call and it might be an opportunity, a new challenge, something that intrigues me,” he said. “It might be an [athletic director] that I’ve known my whole life and he says, ‘Frank, I need you.’ I’m never going to come out and say I’m not going to listen.”
Interpret that how you want.
But to clear up his contract concerns, Martin signed a new five-year deal last March that was worth $7.75 million before performance-enhanced bonuses. Over the life of his contract, that means he is set to make $1.55 million annually.
He points out that his base salary is only $1.1 million. Not sure where he got that number from, but his base salary during the 2010-11 basketball season was $1.2 million. And for reaching the NCAA Tournament, he earned close to another $100,000. His base salary increases $100,000 per year through 2015, when it will be $1.6 million.
He also says the only way his contract would be worth $1.55 million is if he stays at K-State until it expires and he collects every bonus. Well, if you include performance-enhanced bonuses in that scenario, he stands to make as much as $2 million a year.