Tim Walton to Texas?

[ocalaman]

The announcers were talking early in the UF/Oklahoma game that Texas may come after Walton. Oklahoma's coach, Patty Gasso, was recently given the first near $1 million/year contract in NCAA softball and is signed through 2024. Texas has the money to match that and may come after our coach. I think UF is paying him around $400,000 and may need to boost it up a lot to keep him. Anybody heard any news on this front?

 

[HardeeWildcatFan]

He has unfinished business here at UF IMHO. Then again he has family in Oklahoma . But then again I do believe that unfinished business is Oklahoma getting the best of him the past two years straight. I’m sure UF can pump the green out to Walton to get him to stay. But then again if he teaches family first I do know from experience that whenever you teach that it haunts you as a Coach because you yourself are not walking to what is taught. I’ve seen too many Coaches teach this and they walk away from the game because of this and I would not be upset if he left. Coach Rocha would be the best replacement IMHO.

 

[LizardGrad89]

He has unfinished business here at UF IMHO. Then again he has family in Oklahoma . But then again I do believe that unfinished business is Oklahoma getting the best of him the past two years straight. I’m sure UF can pump the green out to Walton to get him to stay. But then again if he teaches family first I do know from experience that whenever you teach that it haunts you as a Coach because you yourself are not walking to what is taught. I’ve seen too many Coaches teach this and they walk away from the game because of this and I would not be upset if he left. Coach Rocha would be the best replacement IMHO.

If Texas wants to pay a million dollars a year for a women's softball coach, then they are dumber than Oklahoma, which at least has the excuse that it's a shithole and they have to overpay to get anybody decent to work there. But Austin is rather nice and can get a top coach for a reasonable dollar amount.

 

[nail1988]

If Texas wants to pay a million dollars a year for a women's softball coach, then they are dumber than Oklahoma, which at least has the excuse that it's a shithole and they have to overpay to get anybody decent to work there. But Austin is rather nice and can get a top coach for a reasonable dollar amount.

Walton would be fool to go to Texas ( he’s got a great program) Texas is where coaches go to die.

Norman is a great college town and far from a shithole. Gasso has won 1202 game 4 nattys and deserves it....albeit all of these coaches are paid ( especially football way way to much )

 

[ocalaman]

If Texas wants to pay a million dollars a year for a women's softball coach, then they are dumber than Oklahoma, which at least has the excuse that it's a shithole and they have to overpay to get anybody decent to work there. But Austin is rather nice and can get a top coach for a reasonable dollar amount.

I understand some who have the football only mentality. But the fact is that Oklahoma has one of the best athletic departments in the country. Bob Stoops thought Norman was a pretty good place to live. Patty Gasso is one of the great coaches in any sport. Their gymnastics program is elite as well. And as far at women's softball, it's one of the fastest growing sports in the country and Tim Walton has done an amazing job making UF one of the elite programs. He deserves every bit of a salary increase he can get. I sure don't want to lose him. Class guy and great coach. The UAA is investing $10 million or so in upgrades to the softball facility. Nothing wrong with doubling the coach's pay to go with that, IMO.

 

[nail1988]

I understand some who have the football only mentality. But the fact is that Oklahoma has one of the best athletic departments in the country. Bob Stoops thought Norman was a pretty good place to live. Patty Gasso is one of the great coaches in any sport. Their gymnastics program is elite as well. And as far at women's softball, it's one of the fastest growing sports in the country and Tim Walton has done an amazing job making UF one of the elite programs. He deserves every bit of a salary increase he can get. I sure don't want to lose him. Class guy and great coach. The UAA is investing $10 million or so in upgrades to the softball facility. Nothing wrong with doubling the coach's pay to go with that, IMO.

Gets it ^^^ well said

Florida has been dominant 7 - 8 years now with 2 nattys? They would be foolish not to pay this guy and staff. Like OU you are building new facility’s.

 

[bradleygator]

I don't watch softball, but for reasons I cannot comprehend, it seems to be more marketable than the baseball. It's on tv more, although I get the sense that ESPN is going to start driving college baseball more. Guy is obviously a great coach. If it makes dollars and sense, I hope they pay him.

 

[Gator Fever]

Its bad enough a college baseball coach gets that at some places. Softball makes a total mockery of things. A non profit producing sport shouldn't have coaches making money like that.

 

[bradleygator]

Its bad enough a college baseball coach gets that at some places. Softball makes a total mockery of things. A non profit producing sport shouldn't have coaches making money like that.

I tend to agree with you, but does baseball make any money? All I know is that, during the regular season, I am amazed at how often I go looking for an SEC baseball game and find nothing but softball on. Also, the guy is a great coach. One of the best 2 or 3 working, it seems like. It will be interesting to see how much he is worth.

 

[Gator Fever]

I tend to agree with you, but does baseball make any money? All I know is that, during the regular season, I am amazed at how often I go looking for an SEC baseball game and find nothing but softball on. Also, the guy is a great coach. One of the best 2 or 3 working, it seems like. It will be interesting to see how much he is worth.

Its bad either sport has allowed that to happen. No way should they be making that with the finances involved. Some people seemed to think the baseball coach was justified due to ex players donations but you wouldn't have that with softball and even with baseball that doesn't justify it imo.

 

[ocalaman]

Florida is one of the few schools to make a net profit in their athletic department. In fact, they (the University Athletic Association) turn over several million dollars a year back to the university. They make a ton of money via ticket sales in all sports, concessions, TV revenue and merchandise. One of the reasons is they put emphasis on hiring the best coaches they can get in ALL sports. It's not hurting the university one bit. In fact the exposure softball and other so-called "non-profit" sports provides the university is a great benefit. D1 softball programs get 12 scholarship to distribute among their players (19 players on UF's roster this year) ; D1 baseball gets 11.7 (33 players on UF's roster this year). To me, the small number of scholarships in baseball is a crime. Football drives the train, I know and agree. But to be cheap on the other sports is wrong and UF has been at the forefront of emphasizing ALL athletics and it's paid off for them big time. https://www.seccountry.com/florida/florida-releases-2017-18-athletic-budget
http://sports.usatoday.com/ncaa/finances/

 

[PacoGator19]

Football and basketball are the only 2 sports that are considered revenue generating sports and in a lot of cases most schools aren’t making any money of their basketball program either.

Take Kentucky for example. Definetly a basketball school but their football program is more profitable then their basketball program and they are terrible at football. I believe the same could be said for Kansas as well.

 

[LizardGrad89]

I understand some who have the football only mentality. But the fact is that Oklahoma has one of the best athletic departments in the country. Bob Stoops thought Norman was a pretty good place to live. Patty Gasso is one of the great coaches in any sport. Their gymnastics program is elite as well. And as far at women's softball, it's one of the fastest growing sports in the country and Tim Walton has done an amazing job making UF one of the elite programs. He deserves every bit of a salary increase he can get. I sure don't want to lose him. Class guy and great coach. The UAA is investing $10 million or so in upgrades to the softball facility. Nothing wrong with doubling the coach's pay to go with that, IMO.

We (USA, not just UF) seriously need to get away from the idea that there is an infinite amount of money out there and we can continue ratcheting up ticket prices and rights fees for tv to pay everybody a ridiculous amount of money.

Sport is building a very high edifice on a very slim foundation.

 

[Dannygator1989]

We (USA, not just UF) seriously need to get away from the idea that there is an infinite amount of money out there and we can continue ratcheting up ticket prices and rights fees for tv to pay everybody a ridiculous amount of money.

Sport is building a very high edifice on a very slim foundation.

Very unlikely they would do it if it weren't profitable.

 

[ocalaman]

http://www.businessinsider.com/scho...2017-11#1-university-of-texas-1821-million-27

https://www.cheatsheet.com/sports/richest-athletic-departments-college-sports.html/?a=viewall

 

[instaGATOR]

At this point, I'm wondering if they shouldn't put a bit more money in the 'officials' slush fund, to at least get the calls that should be ours already.

 

[Gator Fever]

Florida is one of the few schools to make a net profit in their athletic department. In fact, they (the University Athletic Association) turn over several million dollars a year back to the university. They make a ton of money via ticket sales in all sports, concessions, TV revenue and merchandise. One of the reasons is they put emphasis on hiring the best coaches they can get in ALL sports. It's not hurting the university one bit. In fact the exposure softball and other so-called "non-profit" sports provides the university is a great benefit. D1 softball programs get 12 scholarship to distribute among their players (19 players on UF's roster this year) ; D1 baseball gets 11.7 (33 players on UF's roster this year). To me, the small number of scholarships in baseball is a crime. Football drives the train, I know and agree. But to be cheap on the other sports is wrong and UF has been at the forefront of emphasizing ALL athletics and it's paid off for them big time. https://www.seccountry.com/florida/florida-releases-2017-18-athletic-budget
http://sports.usatoday.com/ncaa/finances/

I hope you aren't trying to suggest baseball and softball are profitable sports after the expenses are taken into account. Sports like that could never get where they are at some of these places without being subsidized. The problem is schools even allowing there to be crazy pay like that for coaches in those sports at some places in the first place. You would think colleges would only dream of doing something like that in a sport that actually draws a big crowd to it regularly and even then not get carried away with the pay. I might could understand a bigger FCS program subsidizing the football coach's pay some since there is actually a big market for football coaches at places that do turn profits with their football program. There is no such thing for baseball or softball I think. I could be wrong but I doubt single A ball baseball managers are making anything close to a million bucks a year.

 

[ocalaman]

I hope you aren't trying to suggest baseball and softball are profitable sports after the expenses are taken into account. Sports like that could never get where they are at some of these places without being subsidized. The problem is schools even allowing there to be crazy pay like that for coaches in those sports at some places in the first place. You would think colleges would only dream of doing something like that in a sport that actually draws a big crowd to it regularly and even then not get carried away with the pay. I might could understand a bigger FCS program subsidizing the football coach's pay some since there is actually a big market for football coaches at places that do turn profits with their football program. There is no such thing for baseball or softball I think. I could be wrong but I doubt single A ball baseball managers are making anything close to a million bucks a year.

Never said softball or baseball are profit-making sports. In fact, I'm pretty sure I referred to all sports except football and basketball as "non-profit" sports. But if you want to have a team that competes for championships then you have to pay market price for the best coaches and you have to pay for the facilities that will draw players. That's just a fact. The University of Florida made a commitment 30 years ago to compete for championships in 19 sports and have put their resources behind doing that. And they have been the most successful university in the NCAA in all around sports, being the ONLY school to finish in the Top 10 in the All-Sports trophy every year they have calculated and awarded it. But the great part about it is that the University Athletic Association, a separate entity from the University of Florida, handles all of that and has shown a clear profit every year, then contributes back millions of dollars into the general fund of UF. It doesn't hurt or hinder academics at UF at all. Quite the opposite. UF's athletic programs attract some of the best student-athletes in the country and gives the university very positive exposure all year round. So as long as the UAA is making a profit, winning championships and not costing the academic side anything at all, what's the problem with putting up the money to hire and keep the best coaches we can? I understand the myopic viewpoint that only football matters, but for most of us that's an antiquated idea that is no longer relevant. And the success of UF in athletic competition and financial management proves that point. You can have it all and us Gators do.

 

[Dannygator1989]

I think some of you don't understand how tv money works.

It isn't just ticket sales that generate revenue for these programs.

Again. If the market doesn't demand that a top tier softball coach gets a million a year, then they won't.

It's rather simple.

And even if they over pay, how in the hell does it affect you?

 

[instaGATOR]

I couldn't have said it any better myself ocala...

The UAA used to give all of the TV PPV monies to the UF's enormous Library System.

 

[PlutoDroid]

Tv money, conference revenue sharing, boosters, advertising in stadium rates, merchandise sales, video games (my bad).

Nick Saban is making 7 million a year, you could argue he is worth it. Urban Meyer is making 6 million, Fisher is on a ten year 7.5 million dollar contract. Football is the moneymaker folks, universities lose money on just about any other sport.

 

[Dannygator1989]

Tv money, conference revenue sharing, boosters, advertising in stadium rates, merchandise sales, video games (my bad).

Nick Saban is making 7 million a year, you could argue he is worth it. Urban Meyer is making 6 million, Fisher is on a ten year 7.5 million dollar contract. Football is the moneymaker folks, universities lose money on just about any other sport.

Yes, but that's not as true as it used to be. The "other" sports, especially baseball and softball, are being broadcast much more than they used to be.

That's money. A lot of money. Especially the better you are in those sports.

So a million dollars a year for a coach? Not far fetched if your consistently winning, even if it is softball.

Again, the market will dictate their salaries.

People thought is was absurd 25 years ago when Sourrier became the first coach to make over 2 million a year.

Now we pay first time head coaches about that, and there are assistants making damn close to that.

But if the return isn't there, then you aren't going to pay a coach that kind of money.

I'll ask again, what does it bother you if someone makes that money? The university obviously thinks they're worth it, and if their results don't prove that, then they lose money on the deal and fire the coach.

I don't understand the animosity towards it.

 

[ocalaman]

UF made Kevin O'Sullivan the highest paid NCAA baseball coach after last season at $1.25 million a year. Well worth it, IMO.
And it's true, Danny, baseball and softball are on TV a lot more than they used to be and that brings in money. I imagine both sports are close to breaking even. Softball started charging admission to regular season games this year. Baseball averages over 4000 per game and when you consider we played 34 home games, plus Regionals and Super Regionals at home, that's a lot of concessions (which is all profit). Also, with ticket prices that range from $4 to $20 per ticket and total attendance in baseball of somewhere around 150-160,000, that's a decent chunk of change. They wouldn't be investing $11 million to upgrade the softball facilities and $50 million on a new baseball stadium if they didn't feel they were worth the investment. So what's the big deal about upping the ante to keep high quality coaches so we can put the best product possible on the field and show our great university off to the world??!!

 

[fsumc]

It’s hard to argue against UF having the two best diamond coaches in the business. Considering how much tv time both programs take up on the ESPN channels in the spring and three titles between the two with more likely on the way having both at or close to a million a year is not far fetched or outrageous anymore. Both programs are year in and year out in contention for a national championship. If you want that to continue you better pay. Every fan wants what you have as an overall athletic department. They won’t admit to it until their spring/Olympic sport has a great year. Even our own obnoxious fsu#s was giddy during basketball season. We went crazy when we won a track and field title. It’s dishonest to act like it’s not a big deal. All this to say... pay the man.

 

[Dannygator1989]

UF made Kevin O'Sullivan the highest paid NCAA baseball coach after last season at $1.25 million a year. Well worth it, IMO.
And it's true, Danny, baseball and softball are on TV a lot more than they used to be and that brings in money. I imagine both sports are close to breaking even. Softball started charging admission to regular season games this year. Baseball averages over 4000 per game and when you consider we played 34 home games, plus Regionals and Super Regionals at home, that's a lot of concessions (which is all profit). Also, with ticket prices that range from $4 to $20 per ticket and total attendance in baseball of somewhere around 150-160,000, that's a decent chunk of change. They wouldn't be investing $11 million to upgrade the softball facilities and $50 million on a new baseball stadium if they didn't feel they were worth the investment. So what's the big deal about upping the ante to keep high quality coaches so we can put the best product possible on the field and show our great university off to the world??!!

Absolutely agree.

At least from what I read in that post.

Another sport that is gaining momentum is lacrosse.

Don't be surprised if that's a big thing in the next ten years and people are wondering why a college lacrosse coach is getting paid $500,000.

I don't regularly watch ad much of the spring sports and other minor sports as some around here do, but with the way televisions nd streaming services are now, there's money to be made in showing games that wasn't there in even 10 years ago.

And when your team does well? And you have a built in fan base due to fandom and alumni? People will watch out of nothing but sheer boredom.

There's a reason so much college baseball and softball is being shown. People watch.

Now...college beach volleyball is a different story....we all know the only reason their championships were televised and why people watched.

 

[PlutoDroid]

Yes, but that's not as true as it used to be. The "other" sports, especially baseball and softball, are being broadcast much more than they used to be.

That's money. A lot of money. Especially the better you are in those sports.

So a million dollars a year for a coach? Not far fetched if your consistently winning, even if it is softball.

Again, the market will dictate their salaries.

People thought is was absurd 25 years ago when Sourrier became the first coach to make over 2 million a year.

Now we pay first time head coaches about that, and there are assistants making damn close to that.

But if the return isn't there, then you aren't going to pay a coach that kind of money.

I'll ask again, what does it bother you if someone makes that money? The university obviously thinks they're worth it, and if their results don't prove that, then they lose money on the deal and fire the coach.

I don't understand the animosity towards it.

I have no issue, my philosophy is that you are worth what somebody is willing to pay you. If the powers that be deem any said coach is worth the coin, I have to believe they know better. If not they are not worth the coin they make and will be out soon enough. Profits go to the victor, in business and sport alike.

 

[Dannygator1989]

I have no issue, my philosophy is that you are worth what somebody is willing to pay you. If the powers that be deem any said coach is worth the coin, I have to believe they know better. If not they are not worth the coin they make and will be out soon enough. Profits go to the victor, in business and sport alike.

100% agree.

 

[Gator Fever]

I think some of you don't understand how tv money works.

It isn't just ticket sales that generate revenue for these programs.

Again. If the market doesn't demand that a top tier softball coach gets a million a year, then they won't.

It's rather simple.

And even if they over pay, how in the hell does it affect you?

The true market didnt demand it - it happened due to naive ADs etc.

Heck using that logic the market demanded that the NBA kept the WNBA afloat. The people pumping the big revenue into these programs don't care a lot overall about those sports.

 

[ocalaman]

Absolutely agree.

At least from what I read in that post.

Another sport that is gaining momentum is lacrosse.

Don't be surprised if that's a big thing in the next ten years and people are wondering why a college lacrosse coach is getting paid $500,000.

I don't regularly watch ad much of the spring sports and other minor sports as some around here do, but with the way televisions nd streaming services are now, there's money to be made in showing games that wasn't there in even 10 years ago.

And when your team does well? And you have a built in fan base due to fandom and alumni? People will watch out of nothing but sheer boredom.

There's a reason so much college baseball and softball is being shown. People watch.

Now...college beach volleyball is a different story....we all know the only reason their championships were televised and why people watched.

I watch as many softball, baseball gymnastics and lacrosse matches as I can. If they're not on regular TV (SEC Network or the ESPN's), I watch them on SEC plus via the WatchESPN app. I know some don't understand, but I love 'em all. I'm retired, have the time and I love to watch Gators compete. If they had a lumberjack team at UF, I'd watch!! And I agree, Danny, lacrosse is a fun sport to watch and is growing by leaps and bounds. It's incredible what our lacrosse coach has done building a program from nothing to being in the Top 10 and winning conference championships every year after her 1st.

 

[Dannygator1989]

The true market didnt demand it - it happened due to naive ADs etc.

Heck using that logic the market demanded that the NBA kept the WNBA afloat. The people pumping the big revenue into these programs don't care a lot overall about those sports.

Do you have any idea what the salaries in the WNBA are?

Awful argument.

 

[LizardGrad89]

Yes, but that's not as true as it used to be. The "other" sports, especially baseball and softball, are being broadcast much more than they used to be.

That's money. A lot of money. Especially the better you are in those sports.

So a million dollars a year for a coach? Not far fetched if your consistently winning, even if it is softball.

Again, the market will dictate their salaries.

People thought is was absurd 25 years ago when Sourrier became the first coach to make over 2 million a year.

Now we pay first time head coaches about that, and there are assistants making damn close to that.

But if the return isn't there, then you aren't going to pay a coach that kind of money.

I'll ask again, what does it bother you if someone makes that money? The university obviously thinks they're worth it, and if their results don't prove that, then they lose money on the deal and fire the coach.

I don't understand the animosity towards it.

I will drop my objection to million dollar baseball and softball coaches when they agree to give a full scholarship to every player. How about that?

 

[HardeeWildcatFan]

Softball is a fast paced sport and a lot more fun to watch than baseball… That’s why softball is more popular than baseball currently…

 

[TennesseeGator]

I will drop my objection to million dollar baseball and softball coaches when they agree to give a full scholarship to every player. How about that?

Doesn't baseball scholarships(lack of) have to do with Title IX?

 

[ocalaman]

Title 9 is the reason for the limited scholarships. The intent of the law was to force colleges to put some emphasis on women's athletics, but it's so unfair in the way it requires numerical equality in scholarships when more boys than girls play sports. Football, as the driving force behind college revenue, is the unequalizer because there are 85 scholarships and women don't have a sport that needs near that many. So all the other sports suffer. Football is necessary for college athletics to strive like it does. The law is flawed. The intent was good, but the way it's been implemented, like many things the government does, is stupid. It's totally ridiculous that college baseball coaches have to divvy up 11.7 scholarships among 30 guys. And it's caused many colleges to abandon some men's sports. Here's a good article on Title IX:
https://www.athleticscholarships.net/title-ix-college-athletics-9.htm

 

[instaGATOR]

From Fat Drooley at the Mullet-wrapper....

Meanwhile, the subject of Tim Walton and Texas came up after the final game and here is what he said: “Well, first of all, I don’t know about the interest on my part. Two, I don’t think that this is the place to have that conversation. But thanks. It’s flattering. I’ve got a great job, so thank you.” --- Texas has been interested in Walton for awhile, but everything I have been told is that Florida fans shouldn’t be concerned and UF has been proactive in working on an extension well before the trip to Oklahoma City.
=====

Perhaps the issue of no replay reviews at the Women’s College World Series despite more technology than is possibly needed will come up again. Usually, all it takes for a major change is for Florida to get robbed, right? It happened after Brian Johnson hit a homer in Omaha only to have it ruled a double (replay reviews were added) and after Mary Wise’s volleyball team received one of the worst calls in the history of sports at Texas in 2015 (replay reviews were added). Florida fans are using the line from “Caddyshack” — “Tanks for nuttin’ ”

One more thing about the NCAA (and you know I’m not a big fan), this was the explanation after Walton was tossed Friday night — “He was ejected because he came and was questioning the strike zone, and he received a warning and he continued to argue and threw his clipboard down.” They must not have been watching the same game as everyone else because the ejection clearly came before Walton threw his clipboard to the ground. In fact, the ejection was why he spiked it. There still might be a dent in the playing field, that’s how angry he was.

 

[HardeeWildcatFan]

There is a ton of technology currently that we don’t even need an umpire at home plate to call balls and strikes. The zone is supposed to be set per height of a player and the width of the plate. It would not be hard to even setup a system to call strikes and balls.

Either way replay is needed in every sport because humans can only see 29 frames per second and people don’t realize that people gets tunnel vision when something happens even umpires calling players out. Think about it no person can see the ball hitting the glove and a player stepping on base at the same time, it’s impossible unless if your a chameleon. Plus add the ever changing speeds of players I’m surprised video replay hasn’t already been setup in all of college sports. There’s no shame to admit umpires are humans who get drunk to.

 

[ocalaman]

I agree with Pat Dooley, though. Seems like the Gators have gotten more than their share of bad calls in national stage games, like baseball, softball and volleyball like he mentioned. Remember that year we played FSU in football and several fumble, non-fumble calls went against us on our home field to help the Noles win. I don't think it's intentional bias against us, but for us fanatic fans, it sure gripes the heck out of us and makes us wonder sometimes.

 

[LizardGrad89]

There is a ton of technology currently that we don’t even need an umpire at home plate to call balls and strikes. The zone is supposed to be set per height of a player and the width of the plate. It would not be hard to even setup a system to call strikes and balls.

Either way replay is needed in every sport because humans can only see 29 frames per second and people don’t realize that people gets tunnel vision when something happens even umpires calling players out. Think about it no person can see the ball hitting the glove and a player stepping on base at the same time, it’s impossible unless if your a chameleon. Plus add the ever changing speeds of players I’m surprised video replay hasn’t already been setup in all of college sports. There’s no shame to admit umpires are humans who get drunk to.

Note: The umpire watches the bag and listens for the ball to hit the glove.

 

[PacoGator19]

Walton just got a huge contract extension at UF

 

[instaGATOR]

Note: Additions

The 'Ripoff on Rocky Top' -- This got UF an apology from the SEC Commish the following Monday morning, but it didn't change the outcome of the game for the Gators....

The 'Swindle in the SWAMP' vs FSUcks, with their Always Corrupt Conference officials.
Widely regarded as the worst called game in sports history, ANY SPORT. -