Clarion HC

[IUPbigINDIANS]

From my understanding without something egregious coaches are reviewed by the AD at the conclusion of their season. And its not the Monday after. So that's some of the delay.

But I've been told that Weibel still had 1 or 2 years remaining, so he was bought out. If so, then the timing isn't so bad and provides him with a cushion until he figures out his next steps. He'll get a lump sum for unpaid salary, a payout for unused PTO (plus what he would have earned had he worked), retirement contributions and the university share of health care to buy into COBRA for the remainder of his contract. This is based on what Edinboro had to do to end the Scott Browning era back in 2015. If so, Weibel will most likely make the PennLive list of highest paid state employees next year.

No doubt he'll get a nice going away package. I was referring to Clarion putting itself in a jam. Seems they've lost a lot of time here.

[Fightingscot82]

No doubt he'll get a nice going away package. I was referring to Clarion putting itself in a jam. Seems they've lost a lot of time here.

Given Clarion's situation - administratively and financially speaking - I bet it took some time to convince everyone to get on board with the payout which is probably pushing $400k.

[Ship69]

The transfer portal is going to be a stake in the heart to a lot of borderline programs. I certainly don't have the stats but it feels like the numbers entering the TP,. especially from the Clarions of the D2 world, are growing by leaps and bounds. Other than a regular paycheck, at least for a year, I've no idea why a decent coach would put himself through that meat grinder.

The state of a couple of the programs in the league is worrisome now, and I hope we aren't building a permanent situation of haves and have-nots in our leagues. This has always been true to some extent, but the trend seems to be accelerating. The league is better and more fun to watch when multiple teams are competitive and scores like 50-7 and 60-14 are at a minimum. It must put an extra degree of pressure on coaches of middle-of-the-road teams. If you have one or two below-par seasons and lose a bunch of players to transfer, your program could go downhill fast.

[shipfbfan1]

Given Clarion's situation - administratively and financially speaking - I bet it took some time to convince everyone to get on board with the payout which is probably pushing $400k.

If he had 2 years remaining on his deal how could it be $400k unless it's those last two years salary, unused PTO and some kind of package for early termination? I thought buyouts just meant paying the remaining salary on the contract?

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Given Clarion's situation - administratively and financially speaking - I bet it took some time to convince everyone to get on board with the payout which is probably pushing $400k.

Big number for a broke school.

[Fightingscot82]

If he had 2 years remaining on his deal how could it be $400k unless it's those last two years salary, unused PTO and some kind of package for early termination? I thought buyouts just meant paying the remaining salary on the contract?

Oh no. They owe him everything. Two years of $87,450 salary, payout for any unused PTO plus that he would have accrued, payout for unused sick time plus any he would have accrued, a lump sum for the school's contribution to his retirement package, plus a lump sum for what the school would have contributed toward his health plan so at worst he could do COBRA.

[Ram040506]

The state of a couple of the programs in the league is worrisome now, and I hope we aren't building a permanent situation of haves and have-nots in our leagues. This has always been true to some extent, but the trend seems to be accelerating. The league is better and more fun to watch when multiple teams are competitive and scores like 50-7 and 60-14 are at a minimum. It must put an extra degree of pressure on coaches of middle-of-the-road teams. If you have one or two below-par seasons and lose a bunch of players to transfer, your program could go downhill fast.

for the teams that care, in the long run, these schools that are committed to competing happening to fold is good for the long term. Less schools to recruit against, will have less imbalanced schedules as well.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

for the teams that care, in the long run, these schools that are committed to competing happening to fold is good for the long term. Less schools to recruit against, will have less imbalanced schedules as well.

Is McCook going to also be rumored for the Clarion job? lol


You think that Frostburg State rumor has any legs?

[CALUPA69]

The state of a couple of the programs in the league is worrisome now, and I hope we aren't building a permanent situation of haves and have-nots in our leagues. This has always been true to some extent, but the trend seems to be accelerating. The league is better and more fun to watch when multiple teams are competitive and scores like 50-7 and 60-14 are at a minimum. It must put an extra degree of pressure on coaches of middle-of-the-road teams. If you have one or two below-par seasons and lose a bunch of players to transfer, your program could go downhill fast.

PSAC-WEST is already there. CAL, IUP and SRU are the haves and the other five are have-nots. Last ten seasons the record of the 3 is 135-14 versus the bottom 5...CAL--45-4, IUP--42-8 and SRU--48-2. Basically the West rep in the SG is chosen by the one of those teams that goes 2-0 versus the other two. Other than filling a schedule, the bottom 5 have have 12 winning seasons (MC-4, BORO-4, GU-3, CU-1)of a possible 50. Pretty much the definition of cannon fodder. With the ongoing development of PWU, it feels a lot more likely that the PASSHE teams In that 5 are closer to dissolution than competition.

[Ship69]

for the teams that care, in the long run, these schools that are committed to competing happening to fold is good for the long term. Less schools to recruit against, will have less imbalanced schedules as well.

Fine, but somebody is always going to finish on the bottom, so if the current bottom-feeders fold, someone else becomes the bottom-feeder. When that happens, will players start transferring out of that school and relegating them to an also-ran? We might see something to that effect when Texas and Oklahoma get into the SEC. That's a lot of big-money programs in that league, and only two can reach the championship game in any given year. As far as schools committing in D2, it's more a matter if you can get enough alums to shell out for football (at least in Pa., where you can't use state money for athletic scholarships) and where you're recruiting. The problem I see with D2 is that, yeah, you'll get some schools that are big on football and might come up with the 36 scholarship equivalencies or close to it. But I don't think most of them will. In the P5 conferences, virtually every team benefits from TV contracts, bowl appearances, larger stadiums, etc., that enable them to fund the full 85 scholarships. Even there, you seem to have a few teams dominant in each league. I think the current media tendency, led by ESPN, to spotlight certain leagues and certain teams has a lot to do with that. When I was a kid and there were fewer televised events, I can remember Iowa, Minnesota, Michigan State, Ohio State, Purdue, Illinois, Wisconsin, Indiana, and Michigan State winning Big 10 championships in the '50s and '60s. Northwestern was even No. 1 for a couple of weeks in '62 before they got hit with injuries. Don't see much of that balance now.

[complaint_hopeful]

There are about 5-6 schools in the PSAC that put a lot of resources into competing at football. The rest just play the games I'd say.

The scholarship discrepancy is pretty huge among schools. The schools on the lower scale likely won't be able to compete. Stating the obvious here.

[TheBigCat2192]

[Ship69]

There are about 5-6 schools in the PSAC that put a lot of resources into competing at football. The rest just play the games I'd say.

The scholarship discrepancy is pretty huge among schools. The schools on the lower scale likely won't be able to compete. Stating the obvious here.

Even most of the top schools in the PSAC are probably below the 36 maximum, and it shows when they get out of the region. Some schools also sponsor more sports than others, spreading out the minimal athletic dollars.

[Ram040506]

Is McCook going to also be rumored for the Clarion job? lol


You think that Frostburg State rumor has any legs?

No legs. His kids go to Shepherd and his wife works in Frederick. Would be shocked.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

There are about 5-6 schools in the PSAC that put a lot of resources into competing at football. The rest just play the games I'd say.

The scholarship discrepancy is pretty huge among schools. The schools on the lower scale likely won't be able to compete. Stating the obvious here.

Correct. There are basically three tiers in PSAC football:

A) The handful who play (and spend) to win, and are strong 'regional' programs
B) The .500 crowd (spend just enough to be happy with going 6-5 or 5-6. Every once in awhile the stars align and they may get to 7-4.
C) The enrollment boosters -- the dead weight (Lock Haven, Clarion, etc.) who like having 100 kids on the team with about 95% of them paying their own way. The results don't really matter. Every couple years they make a coaching change to appear that they care. But, then the losing just continues.


Even in our Group A, nobody is close to winning beyond the SR1 championship with any regularity. In a good year, IUP or SRU could maybe get up to what, 25 or 26 equivalencies. The amount of quality depth lost by not getting to 36 is insane. With those 10 more rides an IUP or SRU could sign 10 more full-ride guys ... or, they could sign 20 to half rides. Your bench quality -- which PSAC teams lack -- improves dramatically. The trickle down is come November when you inevitably have injuries, you have quality guys on the roster -- not an assortment of players getting 5% scholarship money. You can recruit much better quality.

Our top programs are pretty good in players 1-22. It's players 23 to 44 that we have massive drops in talent. The proof, well, just take a look at most playoff scores when our teams get walloped by other regions' heavyweights.