I don't understand these calls to spend more.
Does Shafer deserve a $5 million/year contract? Does the MACtion staff that he wanted deserve high pay?
I don't think we can draw conclusions about our commitment to paying coaches until (a) Shafer has success and we need to extend him, (b) key members of the staff leave and need to be replaced from outside the MAC comfort zone, (c) Shafer fails and is fired.
I think (c) is most likely, after next season or 2016. If we cheap out again then we'll know.
I've put my thoughts out there many times now on many different threads. I have been vocal about the need to spend money for coaches, but you've misunderstood entirely as to how that should be done.
I wouldn't pay Shafer any additional amount. He is paid adequately and isn't going anywhere and isn't going to give us anything more by paying him more. So in response to your question, no, he doesn't deserve $5 million and I haven't seen a single person on here in a long time arguing that he should get a raise from what he is currently paid.
There are those on the current staff I would pay more to keep -- Daoust, Bullough, Acosta -- but we don't need to right now as they aren't threatening or mentioned to go elsewhere at this time. Thus the MACtion staff doesn't, in general, deserve pay raises.
I don't think it can be disputed, however, that we would benefit greatly by bringing in an OC with a proven track record of effective offenses moving the ball and scoring. We are something like 116 of 128 (I'm not looking it up again or I'll cry) in offense. If we were 80, we likely would've won another 2 games and if we were 60, which is average, we may've won 4 more. That's just for being average. If we had someone truly good as an OC and finished up top 30, we may've won 6 more and been in a major bowl. I know that is a lot of conjecture and just blabbering on what may have been. My point is that if we don't take steps to change what we are doing on offense, we will end up with more bad records, awful football to watch and wondering again next year what may have been if only we had an effective offense. Lester could turn out to be a good OC, we don't know. What I saw this year from him didn't leave me any hope for that and there is no question he'll be learning on the job. Increase the salary for that position by $400,000 and we won't get an OC who is learning on the job, we could get an OC that is experienced and has proven himself capable or, dare I say, innovative at a D1 school. Riley would have been a perfect hire and I believe he would've left ECU for SU if we had offered him some decent money. He was making $200,000/yr at ECU according to 247. A step up to a P5 team OC position and a raise to $600,000 and I can't imagine he'd have said no. That's $400,000 to win another 3-6 games, which in turn raises revenues far more than the $400,000 it cost to get him here. Yes, it would have likely necessitated paying Bullough more and Daoust as well, but we saved money with G McD leaving that could have been used for that. We can afford it and we need to invest and this is a really cheap way to make an investment that pays you back quickly. Its a no brainer.
Couple such a move with weaker OOC scheduling and you've got yourself a top 25 ranking overnight. Isn't that worth $400,000 or even $750,000?
