Capitalist conundrum concerning canning college coache$

***After initial publication of this article, Texas A&M’s head coach, Kevin Sumlin, was fired on Sunday afternoon, November 26.***

As a free-market capitalist, I appreciate and am amazed at how efficiently the free market system works.  If you personally have any doubts, take a walk through your local Wal-Mart or grocery store and think about the number of items which make it to the shelves and are priced at just high enough levels where you stare and drool (I can’t remember the last time I’ve purchased a steak in a grocery store) or the affordable vast array of peanut butter products which eagerly await your purchasing decision.  Regardless of who is running the show in Washington DC, we really do live in great times in a terrific country. USA! USA!! USA!!!

Now, whether I personally agree with the outcome of every market-based decision, that’s another thing altogether.  Take your team’s college football coach, for example.

Last week, a major Texas newspaper reported that, win or lose against LSU on Saturday night, Texas A&M head football coach Kevin Sumlin was being fired.  So, I watched Texas A&M lose to LSU 45-21 in Baton Rouge on Saturday night and my morbid side kept me tuned to the SEC Network to watch the post-game interview with Aggies’ head coach, Kevin Sumlin.

During his press conference, the obvious questions were raised about “Had he heard the rumor” and did that concern him.  One of the answers the worn-out coach gave was quite insightful.  “Is it better than it was when I got here?” Sumlin said. “You bet it is. And can it be better? It can be, too.”

For the record, Sumlin is correct.  Texas A&M went 26-25 under Mike Sherman’s four years at the helm.  Then, the Ags hired Sumlin away from the University of Houston in 2012 and entered the SEC West (considered by many as the toughest football conference in America).  Sumlin has gone 51-26 during his six seasons in College Station.  Winning 2/3 of your games certain beats half of them under the prior regime.

Unfortunately for Kevin Sumlin, here’s where the free market issues come into play.  AggieLand has a football stadium which seats well over 100,000 fans.  If the average home ticket price goes for $75 (which is probably low), then every home game generates $7.5 million in ticket sales alone plus concessions, parking, etc.  With 7 home games per season, Aggie (feel free to insert “Tennessee”, “Florida Gator”, etc.) football means huge revenue to the university.

Sumlin negotiated a $30 million contract covering six years.  If he is fired today, the Aggies will owe him $10 million for those remaining two years.

Feel sorry for Coach Jim McElwain at Florida?  He was fired this season and will get $2.5 million/year for the remainder of his contract term (unless he takes another job, that is).

Most LSU Tiger fans loved Les Miles (the person), even if most of us agreed that his best coaching days had passed him by.  After the Tigers’ sent Lovable Les home, The Mad Hatter is currently collecting a monthly check of $125K for another five years as he ponders other options.

It’s sad to see coaches like Les Miles (77% winning percentage) and, perhaps, Kevin Sumlin (66% winning percentage) being dismissed for simply not winning enough games when the chips were down.  On the other hand, the free market system pays most college football head coaches handsomely to win, and surprisingly lucratively even when they are dismissed.

After the A&M/LSU game last night, the SEC Network’s Gene Chizik (a former head coach at Auburn who was fired in 2012 after winning a national championship in 2010) had a great line which explains it all.  “When you win the National Championship, they name the street in front of the stadium after you.  When you start losing, those same people take up torches and pitch forks and chase you out of town down that same street!”

In a similar fashion, the free market system’s increasingly big money game called College Football demands that you meet those high expectations when millions of dollars are on the line every year.

The product life cycle of college coaches continues to dwindle, but the exit money for the head coaches isn’t half bad, either!