Looking at it from South Alabama's Perspective:

49ers Basketball Forum 🏀
21

Look at this from Lutz’s perspective. Lutz is about 50. Charlotte is rebuilding. No one wants to hire a coach from a .500 ball club. Heck, even with a great record at Charlotte, he didn’t even get a sniff at the USF job. Its going to take a few years to right the ship to make him self a marketable candidate again. However, in a few years, its very doubtful that he is going to be able to take a step up, and by step up I mean cashing it in big, because of his age. So, how can he cash in?

There is big bucks to be made in coaching and now is the time to strike. Pelphrey is going to earn around $1,000,000 at Arkansas. So, what does a guy like Lutz do? He looks for a program that has a ready-made winning situation. Lets look at USA. Its a good program. Played SU tough in the NIT. Almost everyone is back. There is a realistic chance that if he gets the USA job, they could have a monster season next year. As a result, he could very well be a hot property next year. Then, he could cash in on all of these insane salaries. (My gosh, Arkansas offered Crean $2.3 million per season).

22
Look at this from Lutz's perspective. Lutz is about 50. Charlotte is rebuilding. No one wants to hire a coach from a .500 ball club. Heck, even with a great record at Charlotte, he didn't even get a sniff at the USF job. Its going to take a few years to right the ship to make him self a marketable candidate again. However, in a few years, its very doubtful that he is going to be able to take a step up, and by step up I mean cashing it in big, because of his age. So, how can he cash in?

There is big bucks to be made in coaching and now is the time to strike. Pelphrey is going to earn around $1,000,000 at Arkansas. So, what does a guy like Lutz do? He looks for a program that has a ready-made winning situation. Lets look at USA. Its a good program. Played SU tough in the NIT. Almost everyone is back. There is a realistic chance that if he gets the USA job, they could have a monster season next year. As a result, he could very well be a hot property next year. Then, he could cash in on all of these insane salaries. (My gosh, Arkansas offered Crean $2.3 million per season).

You must be high. It will be very hard to mimic what USA did last year, especially with their star player suspended from the school (and a fugitive). USA is a lose/lose situation… worse conference, less publicity, less money, worse location, and it will be impossible for Lutz to live up to expectations.

23

Just wondering how much of the following is factoring into Lutz’s thought process:

[b]o Job security - 2 years left on contract and an expectation of a extension that doesn’t appear to be forthcoming;

o Sean Miller - fellow A-10 coach gets a nice, fat raise and a contract extension at Xavier;

o Travis Ford - fellow A-10 coach gets a contract extension at UMass;

o Mark Schmidt - brand new fellow A-10 coach at Bona, at his introductory press conference, comments on building a program the “right way” and specifically eschews the use of JUCOs in doing so;

o Atlantic 10 - once proud, relevant hoops conference sorely lacking in leadership - see TV contract, scheduling, officiating, etc.;

o Clearinghouse and NCAA - can’t seem to catch a break on eligiblity of recruits - see Rodney White and Phil Jones;

o Local media - play 2nd fiddle to ACC in college hoops coverage and when the daily newspaper does offer a non-post game story, it is usually a non-serious take on the program by the staff “clown” (aka Tom Sorensen);

o NBA - local team schedules “UNCC Student Night” on the very same day and time that the Niners are playing at Halton Arena!;

o Golddusters - will they ever change those god-awful uniforms and that same routine they’ve done over and over for what seems like the past 50 years?!;

o OOC scheduling - power conference teams are dictating location of “home” games - see Charlotte Bobcats Arena;

o Local radio - that exists?! Coulda fooled me!; :rolleyes:

o Recruiting - they looked good on paper and in that high school game, JUCO contest, etc., but when they put on the green and white and stepped on the court of Halton, that couldn’t have been the same player - see Carlos Williams, David Booker, Martin Iti, etc., etc.;

o Injuries/Illness - please God, just one season without! - see Charles Dewhurst, Charles Hayward, E. J. Drayton, Chris Sager, and on and on and on;

o Home Attendance - is grateful for a core fanbase of students, alums, season tix holders, etc., but sometimes wonders if the casual fan is more interested in the name on the front of the OPPONENT’S uniform instead of the one that says “CHARLOTTE”.[/b]

Hmmm…

24
[B]o Golddusters - will they ever change those god-awful uniforms and that same routine they've done over and over for what seems like the past 50 years?!;[/B]

That’s a good point. Start a thread.

Also add that the Athletic Department will reschedule the game against the Sun Belt team to immediately follow a game against Hofstra because women’s volleyball > men’s basketball.

25
You must be high. It will be very hard to mimic what USA did last year, especially with their star player suspended from the school (and a fugitive). USA is a lose/lose situation... worse conference, less publicity, less money, worse location, and it will be impossible for Lutz to live up to expectations.

13 pts and 9 boards can be replaced. In fact, they won against North Texas (Belt’s NCAA team) without him this year. That said, Lutz was linked with the position before the guy was suspended by the school. So, maybe the suspension will effect his decision.

Pressure? Come on. Expectations? We are talking about South Alabama, not Kentucky. You are looking at this long term. If I am correct, Lutz is looking at this as a one and done opportunity. Get in the NCAAs and cash in. Worse conference? So what? Pelphery, Felton and others have gotten major jobs out of the Belt. Less pub? Getting in the NCAA is all the pub he would need. Location? Irrelevant for a one and done opportunity. Less money? Sure, Charlotte spent a few hundred thousand more on hoops a couple of years ago. But, are they still spending as much with the drop in attendance and the conference change. Maybe, but who knows. It really doesn’t matter. The major bulk of next year’s team is already on campus.

26
13 pts and 9 boards can be replaced.

You sound awfully certain. Look at their stats/roster at the “rebounders” they have to choose from.

27
You sound awfully certain. Look at their stats/roster at the "rebounders" they have to choose from.

Come on, every thing is about money. 5 years ago, the top paid coaches made what, $1,000,000? Lutz was probably around $1/2 million. There were only a handful of coaches in the $750,000+ range. Why leave your alma mater for a couple hundred grand? Heck, Pearl only got $800,000 to leave UWM for UT two years ago. Plus, Lutz had job security. He obviously loves the school. However, in the past 2 years, circumstances have changed. Today, Lutz probably making around $600,000-$800,000, maybe. Turgeon was making that at Wichita State. Dana Altman makes over $1 million at Creighton. Turgeon and Altman (before changing his mind) were just offered around $1.3 million at BCS schools. Crean is $1.7 million at MU and was offered $2.3 from Arkansas. Tubby got $1.8 from Minnesota. If Lutz gets one of these gigs, he stands to double his pay. If he is going to get one of the high paying jobs, he needs to have an NCAA team in the next couple of years. USF would not even give him a sniff after 2 subpar years. He is getting older. No one wants a new coach to be 55 years old. At present, Charlotte is a slightly above .500 team. So, he starts to consider leaving. Maybe the work environment isn’t as good as it used to be. Moving to the A-10 may have put budget constraints on the program. I can only think of three reasons Lutz leaves for USA: 1) The work environment is so bad he can’t stand another day. (Doubftful, given the fact that he has spent how many years at Charlotte?); 2) He knows his present job is in jeopardy; or 3) Money. Since I doubt a coach like Lutz would get fired, money is the logical reason. He isn’t going to get the cash at USA, so the logical conclusion is that the payoff will be down the road. Maybe I am all wet. So be it. But, when something doesn’t make sense, money is usually the reason.

28

MU, by most all accounts, Lutz is making between $450,000-500,000. The State of North Carolina has some control on the base salaries of staff and his base pay is about $155,000.

This is not a high-paying coaching postion, nor would a new coach get a huge amount more than what Bobby is getting currently, IF that much.

29

if lutz wants respect and people to support him he needs to go to the ncaa tournament. thats what happens when you have losing seasons and yes the 19-13 nit season i would consider a losing season. i know some of that is beyond his control and i dont doubt his loyalty but people dont just give you respect. do i respect what he has done for the program, yes but he needs to win and advance in the ncaa tournament. if he does that his problems go away.