Marquette Sports Law Review Volume 12 Article 7 Issue 1 Fall College Coaching Contracts Revisited: A Practical Perspective Martin J. Greenberg Marquette University Law School Follow this and additional works at: http://scholarship.law.marquette.edu/sportslaw Part of the Entertainment and Sports Law Commons Repository Citation Martin J. Greenberg, College Coaching Contracts Revisited: A Practical Perspective , 12 Marq. Sports L. Rev. 127 (2001) Available at: http://scholarship.law.marquette.edu/sportslaw/vol12/iss1/7 This Symposium is brought to you for free and open access by the Journals at Marquette Law Scholarly Commons. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. COLLEGE COACHING CONTRACTS REVISITED: A PRACTICAL PERSPECTIVE MARTIN J. GREENBERG* INTRODUCTION College coaches are some of the highest of profile employees at any college or university. In many instances the pay that they receive outdis- tances the pay of the university's chancellor or most esteemed professor. Their athletic accomplishments receive more notoriety and media atten- tion than the most celebrated lab discovery of the university's science department. For many coaches the job can be characterized as "24-7" due to the exponential growth in their responsibilities beyond con- ducting practices, teaching and coaching. And what a job - every coaching moment is surrounded by stress, and every decision, whether on or off the court, is subject to second-guessing and scrutiny and is the subject of an often vicious public debate. Moreover, a coach's job secur- ity is often conditioned on winning because wins are the equivalent of the bottom line, putting fans in the stands, bolstering alumni contribu- tions, warranting lucrative TV and cable contracts, and persuading re- cruits to accept scholarship offers.