The Miami Ute

He actually made $1.85M but what’s a measly extra $50K?

Mike Bajakian – Offensive Coordinator

Last sentence, second paragraph.

In nine seasons as a college offensive coordinator, Bajakian’s offenses averaged 424 yards and 31.3 points/game and ranked in the Top-40 nationally in total offense seven times. NW was his last gig, but he was also the OC at Central Michigan, Cincinnati, Tennessee, and Boston College.

Yeah, but if you resign your contract is rendered null and void. By resigning, Ludwig, at 61+, would be walking away from close to ~$5.5M. That’s a tough ask.

You never know. Maybe this will be the shock treatment that was required to resuscitate the cadaver known as Utah football.

It’s only conjecture on my part, but what I imagine happened is that Whitt told Lud that he was demoting him and Lud told him the old Johnny Paycheck song. It’ll be interesting to see if Lud gets his buyout since, by resigning, he shouldn’t get anything.

That’ll never happen here. Football, and sports in general, just aren’t as important in Utah as they are in Oklahoma.

Couldn’t rec this enough. That essentially is the problem in a nutshell. This not only for Utah but for any program that is not in the P2 or doesn’t have outrageous amounts of money.

This link Estimated NCAA Athlete Revenue Sharing 2025-26 shows how hard Utah’s task is going to be. It’s official, so I don’t doubt the numbers, and it shows that…[Read more]

LOL…I just used that line in a comment on another thread.

Hey look, I’m not a member of the Harlan Fan Club. In fact, I think he’s pretty much a glad-handing moron. However, the Krystkowiak debacle is all on Hill. Harlan couldn’t can him when he took over in 2018 because of how much money was left in his contract. And you’re confusing college ADs with pro GMs. College ADs rarely, rarely clean house…[Read more]

Hear, hear…well said…

That’s on Harlan? Are you new to Utah sports? It was Dr. Chris Hill who signed Krystkowiak to the unfireable extension. It was Harlan who had to clean up Hill’s mess.

If the team ends the season on an eight-game losing streak, should Whitt be back? It reminds me of that line from Batman. “You either die a hero or live long enough to see yourself become the villain.”

How’d that work with Krystkowiak? Remember him? Utah had to suffer through at least two seasons beyond his expiration date because they couldn’t swallow his buyout. And he was getting paid half what Whitt is getting.

Whitt has got the program by the balls. He’s owed close to $20M (before bonuses) over the next years and that figure doesn’t even include his staff’s buyouts (Ludwig is at $1.85M per season). So, to make a long story short, there’s no way that Whitt leaves the job unless he does so willingly and accepts a negotiated settlement from the university.

Half of USC’s fanbase is livid and the other is suffering from Battered Fan Syndrome (BDS). They’re in a complete state of shock that, with the amount of blue chip athletes that they have and the financial resources they’ve devoted to football, they’re getting such a poor return on investment. Expect to see 10K at the next home game at the Coliseum.

Here’s a stat for you…with yesterday’s loss, and the remainder of the season still ahead, Lincoln Riley already has more losses in his first three seasons at USC than the so-called disaster Clay Helton. If it wasn’t for his 10 year x $110M contract, he would be toast.

Ludwig has always struck me as one of those guys who doesn’t have HC aspirations and is happy just being a coordinator.

If the team finishes on an eight-game losing streak, I don’t see how Whitt comes back. In a scenario like that, he’s clearly run out of answers. But then again, I’ve learned to never discount the profit motive.