Schafer a candidate for Notre Dame vacancy?

[jy3]

http://sports.yahoo.com/ncaah/news?slug=ap-notredamecoach&prov=ap&type=lgns

[French Rage]

I'm sure they'll do great with a coach who says he's sick of the college game.

[billhoward]

[Q]calgARI '07 Wrote:  According to ushr.com, Schafer is one of the four people's names surfaced the most for the position.  They say they have heard rumors that he has already been offered the job with $1,000,000 over five years.  ...[/q]FWIW, the Michigan Daily posted university salaries (public documents since it's taxpayer money) and Red Berenson and Tommy Amaker (basketball coach) were both at $162K. Interestingly the women's hoops coach was only $4K behind. The football coach was a bit over $300K. The two assistant hockey coaches were in the $55K-$70K range which could be a lot worse for assistants. I don't begrudge any of them their salaries, certainly not when Michigan has a VP for governmental affairs knocking down $210K.

So if it's correct that the premier college hockey coaching position in terms of salary is ND (North Dakota and now maybe Notre Dame) at $200K, there are veteran coaches who aren't far behind. Once taxes chew you up, $160K gets a lot closer to $200K.

http://www.michigandaily.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2005/02/14/421180f80a095

[finchphil]

Well, Schafer isn't going to South Bend.  But it's time for our AD to step up and get a deal done to keep Mike here for at least the next few years.  

Is anyone in Athletic Administration listening???  Get it done!

[billhoward]

[Q]finchphil Wrote: Well, Schafer isn't going to South Bend.  But it's time for our AD to step up and get a deal done to keep Mike here for at least the next few years.  Is anyone in Athletic Administration listening???  Get it done![/q]We'd all love to see Mike Schafer compensated so handsomely he stays here as long as he keeps winning and winning (and would that if his winning percentage falls off and a new coach steps in, he might be as decent and loyal in exile as Richie Moran has been). At the same time, academics gossip like peasants around the village well in some small town in Europe, so if Mike's salary gets a huge bump, there'll be a long line outside Andy Noel's door from all the other coaches. If Mike is making 100X now and he deserves to be making 130X units of money (where X isn't necessarily $1; maybe it's Canadian dollars, maybe it's Euros) but if he gets 115X he's not going anywhere, then maybe 115X is what he should be getting and the two assistants get an extra 7.5X each whee it would really do some good. I think at some schools the assistants are so close to starvation wages that it's not just the desire for a head coaching job that makes them want to move on, it's the desire to be driving a car that's not 11 years old.

[Playa]

You guys are so uninformed ... don't speculate about Coach's salary.  If you wanna, know, I is making a lot more than any other ivy or ecac coach and wish the bonuses he recieved this year ...... let's just say he's doing alright.

[KeithK]

Yes, we're uninformed because unlike at a state school salaries aren't public knowledge.  But speculation about it is totally appropriate to fans concerned about the future of our program.

[Trotsky]

[Q]billhoward Wrote:
if Mike's salary gets a huge bump, there'll be a long line outside Andy Noel's door from all the other coaches.[/q]
And Noel should say, "Go do for your sport what Mike has done for Cornell hockey and we'll have a basis for discussion."  The line would then be reduced to the women's polo coach.

It's supply and demand: when the Cornell football coach starts getting mentioned on the short list for the Nebraska job, he'll have an argument for a big raise.  Until then, just win.  It will take care of itself.

Mike wins while maintaining standards of academics and conduct that we can all be proud of.  Given the influence of big money and small SATs on college sports, that's a miracle, and is deserving of a huge monetary thank you.

[RatushnyFan]

[Q]JT Wrote:
Coaches very rarely leave their alma mater to coach another school.  The only real instances of this are to coach in the pro ranks or if their alma mater is a smaller program with little legitimate chance at being a national power.[/q]

I was bored today at work so I looked into this.  The only counter example that I could find is Rick Comley - he left LSSU (his alma mater) after inheriting the job from Ron Mason (who went to Bowling Green).  He left a somewhat established LSSU program to build up NMU's program from scratch (first coach) and won a national championship there years later.  Then he left NMU after 26 years to go to MSU which generally is more competitive than NMU.  Probably 15-20 examples of what you're saying being absolutely correct.  Interesting topic.

Back to the topic, I think it's going to be hard to turn around Notre Dame.  Small school population, rigorous academic requirements, many other midwestern schools with established programs + great facilities (Michigan, North Dakota, MN, CC, Denver, MSU, Wisconsin, etc.).  Some have strong academic programs as well (Michigan, Wisconsin, CC).  Good luck to Jeff Jackson, I will be impressed if that program is turned around within 5 years (and there's no subsequent violations uncovered!!).

Ithaca is fantastic so Schaefer won't go (hoping, praying....).

[KeithK]

Just a little context: Comley coached the Lakers from 1973-76 (3 seasons).  They played in a fledgling CCHA conference which boasted all of 3 teams in his first season at the helm (the other being Bowling Green and the now defunct St. Louis program), rising to a grand five with the additions of Ohio State and Western Michigan in the 1975 season.  Comley's NMU team joined the CCHA for the 1977 season.  So basically Comley jumped ship from his Alma Mater, a five year DI team, to start up a new program.  Back in the 70's the LSSU job was no great prize.  Head coach at Cornell is a much higher profile position.

[q]many other midwestern schools with established programs + great facilities (Michigan, North Dakota, MN, CC, Denver, MSU, Wisconsin, etc.)[/q]This is definitely the first time I've ever heard Denver or Colorado Springs called a "midwestern" city.  :-P

[Robb]

[Q]KeithK Wrote:
This is definitely the first time I've ever heard Denver or Colorado Springs called a "midwestern" city.   [/q]

You of all people should know that Colorado is midwest, ya left coaster!

[Give My Regards]

[Q]RatushnyFan Wrote:
[Q2]JT Wrote:
Coaches very rarely leave their alma mater to coach another school.  The only real instances of this are to coach in the pro ranks or if their alma mater is a smaller program with little legitimate chance at being a national power.[/Q]
I was bored today at work so I looked into this.  The only counter example that I could find is Rick Comley[/q]

This jogged my memory a bit, and I think there might be a counter-example in Cornell's own past -- Dick Bertrand, who took over after the undefeated 69-70 season and coached the Big Red until 1982.  Bertrand resigned following the 1981-82 season, then took the head coaching job at Ferris State before the 82-83 season.  Bertrand's resignation may have been of the "strongly encouraged" variety, and Cornell was certainly not a national power when he left (though they were two years removed from an ECAC championship/NCAA berth, the program had declined quite a bit from the Ned Harkness heyday).  Ferris State was only in its second or third year as a CCHA member when Bertrand took over, and he was there almost four years.

[Trotsky]

[Q]Robb Wrote:
You of all people should know that Colorado is midwest, ya left coaster![/q]

In Oregon I had friends who with no sense of irony referred to Utah as "back East."

[KeithK]

[Q]Robb Wrote:

 [Q2]KeithK Wrote:
This is definitely the first time I've ever heard Denver or Colorado Springs called a "midwestern" city.   [/Q]
You of all people should know that Colorado is midwest, ya left coaster!

[/q]You do know that I consider that a serious insult, right?  :-P

[Jeff Hopkins '82]

Bertrand's resignation was very likely of the "strongly encouraged" variety.  According to some friends of mine who were close to the team at the time, there was significant discontent with him from the team members.  One person actually told me the sentiment on the team was "Dick Bertrand...before he dicks you."

Also, while they were only a year or two away from the ECAC championship, that championship team had a 0.500 record, was the #8 seed in the tourney, and rode a hot goalie (Darren Eliot) to upsets of the top 3 seeds (BU, Providence and Dartmouth).

I don't think anyone close to the team was upset with his leaving.  Some suggested he had to take a job at a nowhere, no-name school like Ferris, because nothing else was available to him (but that's just a rumor).