There’s what individuals consider to be true, after which there’s what’s truly true.
For instance, whereas some could really feel that Jimbo Fisher is a superb coach, it’s been confirmed that Kevin Sumlin was higher for Texas A&M’s soccer program — and cheaper, too.
Each week, the Motion Community’s School Soccer Insider Brett McMurphy — the man who broke the story that led to the top of City Meyer’s profession at Ohio State — posts a picture full of information that infuriates the boosters and powers that be at Texas A&M. I discover it hilarious. Right here’s the most recent version of the side-by-side of Sumlin and Fisher by way of 58 video games:
The most effective a part of that chart is the underside line which exhibits their annual wage. It will get even funnier whenever you understand that A&M gave Fisher a increase and four-year extension in 2021 that can bump his annual wage from $7.5 million to $9 million. Thoughts you, this was on prime of his preliminary contract which was a 10-year, $75 million deal. I assume A&M was nonetheless enamored with the nationwide championship that Fisher received at Florida State in 2013, as a substitute of realizing that he was 5-6 in his final season in Tallahassee. Throughout his time in School Station, two nine-win seasons is one of the best he’s ever performed, which doesn’t evaluate to the 11-2 season that Sumlin gave the Aggies in his first season, as he’s the man that coached Johnny Manziel and Mike Evans.
In case you forgot, Fisher’s A&M crew began the season ranked No. 6. And in response to Axios, they’re going to change into simply the seventh preseason AP top-6 crew up to now 50 years to complete with a dropping report becoming a member of the likes of 2010 Texas (5-7), 2005 Tennessee (5-6), 2000 Alabama (3-8), 1984 Pittsburgh (3-7-1), 1981 Notre Dame (5-6), and 1976 Arizona State (4-7). The Aggies haven’t received since September and can play UMass on Saturday. The Aggies are on a six-game dropping streak whereas the Minutemen have misplaced seven straight. Any individual has to win.
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So, what does all this imply?
Two issues.
One, schools love overpaying for coaches who aren’t price their salaries. And two, schools will underpay and hearth Black coaches in a means that we don’t often see with their white counterparts.
The numbers present that Sumlin was higher for Texas A&M than Fisher, but Sumlin didn’t get anyplace near the cash that Fisher is getting, or the chance to proper the ship. In some methods, it’s harking back to what occurred with Tyrone Willingham and Charlie Weis at Notre Dame. Two guys that each sucked at their jobs, whereas one received extra money and possibilities than the opposite. The one caveat is that Sumlin is a means higher coach than Willingham. Sumlin was 95-63 in his profession teaching on Saturdays in comparison with Willingham’s 76-88-1 collegiate report.
There isn’t any magic rule with regards to selecting a coach to guide a Energy 5 soccer program, however whenever you see the numbers that Brett McMurphy places collectively every week displaying what’s occurred at Texas A&M, it’s a flaming instance of the inequalities that Black coaches have handled for years. And for many who nonetheless select to disregard it, simply ask Kevin Sumlin about being a trivia query thrice over (he was the primary Black coach at Houston, Texas A&M, and Arizona).
