Well, I did not expect to see that. You go from hearing that the football program was one of the reasons Moos was fired to having big donors demanding Loeffler out to the Board wanting him out. The team goes 6-6/6-7, shows progress, but still a long way from competing for a title and with blowout losses, not close losses. People were expecting Loeffler fired when the new AD was on the tarmac.
Obviously, at 6-6/7 he was going to be back. I think a one-year extension was considered likely and in my mind all that was warranted...and I have been a Loeffler backer. I always felt patience was warranted but not forever, and we are at the point where we should start to expect results. We did OK, in line with what was predicted when we started. But the goal is to compete for championships and this was only an OK year if it is on the way to that.
I'm seeing comments from the fan base that a one-year extension isn't much better than letting him be a lame duck, so 2 years was kind of the thing that's done.
Extensions are nothing more than agreeing to how much you will pay if you fire the coach and how much he will pay if he leaves. We saw this with Huger. You can still make a move. Though, with the fan base clamoring to pay to keep Fralick (and rightfully so), coaching cash does get tight.
Last thing: Loeffler is all in here. I love the engagement during the WBB run. Van Der Merwe played college football in the MAC for one of the best. He has evaluated the program and presumably likes the foundation and where it is headed.
I hope he's right. I don't want to start over with another rebuild. Nothing would be better than having this story reach a happy ending (soonish) and the return of competitive football to the Doyt, with a program built to succeed.
I like that it wasn't much of a raise. $540Kish to $580k. Theoretically shouldn't strap the department any further than they already were. Curious what the buyout conditions are. Are they always fully guaranteed or could it be 50% remaining owed? I preferred one year, but two years definitely seems to be the minimum that's handed out these days.
ReplyDeleteI didn't see this coming either. You make good points. Our AD knows football, and Loeffler does seem all in on BGSU, which is nice to see, honestly.
ReplyDeleteThe effusive support of the women's sports is great, but personally I wish he'd spend his valuable time and energy working to fix an offense ranked 110th in the country and not be blown out by Buffalo, Ohio and Kent. I hope in Year 5 that is fixed, if not we will have a new coach next year.
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