Just in case we need this at the end of next season, I thought it might help our discussions to know what these folks cost. If you see a reference post it here.
USF paid at least $60,000 to Eastman & Beaudine for their recent basketball coach search, and $100,000 to help them find a new AD.
This one is interesting because they hired…announced…Manhattan coach Steve Masiello as their next coach, only to have to rescind the offer because he had lied on his resume and did not have a college degree. You would think the search firm would have caught that before the press conference.
For $60k I think someone could pick up a phone and verify a degree. This isn’t something difficult like discussing Bobby Lutz or Judy Rose without inciting a riot.
I’ve been VP of a large search firm (largest in our field) for a number of years and if you have questions about how and why they are a valuable resource then ask. However I can tell you that they are valuable because they keep in contact with the top candidates in a field long before a job opening and they know what each potential candidate would want and need to make a move. They stay in touch with all of the potential key candidates in a field so that when a search request is made much of the early work is already done saving the client time and effort. Also a school just can’t get a list of of potential candidates and start calling other schools to talk with them because they have secretaries who just don’t let everyone speak to them unless they know that person. It’s also considered bad taste for a school to make those kinds of calls and most won’t do it and instead go to a search firm. There are many other reasons but that is just a sample. I don’t do coaches but in my career I have placed president’s of corporations for which I was paid six figure fees for the searches.
I don’t think fans are the best - just sometimes they would do a better job than the people who make the decisions. I think that says more about some of the people making the decisions than the smartness of fans.