ThatGuy
Helluva Engineer
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This. As I evaluated candidates in my mind, I played a lot of “what’s the worst that could happen?” This is why Deion was a non-starter for me from the beginning. We can’t risk our program on a high risk, high reward candidate right now. We don’t have a savings account to bail us out if it doesn’t work.I have a much more optimistic outlook. Much of this post is based on rumor and supposition, instead of facts that I know to be true.
If Key's contract is heavily based on incentives and the buyout drops off in three years, then let's look at the worst case scenario. We spend three years in a similar situation as we have for the past four. After three years, J Batt has diversified fund raising for GT. Key's buyout drops off, and Collins contract is completely paid. We have more money and no lingering buyouts to cover, so we can go after a high level coach with money waiting to pay him.
Let's look at better case scenarios. Key gets the team to 10 wins and at this point next year is preparing the team to play in the ACCCG and then play in a NY6 bowl game. If all those incentives mean that Key will be paid $3.5-5 million, I don't think that it will be an issue to raise that money under those circumstances.
Maybe it is only hope that we will be in the second scenario, but I think that scenario is more likely than the first. I think the overall scenario makes Key the perfect hire at this point. Fans are behind him. The players are behind him. His risk is low enough that GT can cover it, and his potential ceiling is high.
But looking at the program as a whole, I started thinking, “What’s the best that could happen?” Key was the only candidate for whom both winning and losing have tenable outcomes. Don’t get me wrong - I don’t want the former of your scenarios to come to pass - but if it does, hiring Key leaves us in a much better place to build a sustainable program moving forward. It’s almost as if - shockingly - our AD had a strategy in hiring him. That’s a welcome change.
Either way, I’m not convinced the latter won’t come to pass. We have a huge upside, and a great safety net. That’s why the more I consider this hire, the more I like it.