Jackson Jambalaya

A few weeks ago I wrote about the history of USM Athletic Director Giannini after he fired Coach Jeff Bower, http://kingfish1935.blogspot.com/2007/11/golden-eagle-fans-have-my-sympathy.html and that I had several misgivings about his ability to hire the right coach given how he ruined one of the top 1-AA programs in football. It seems that Mr. Giannini is once again staying true to form:
Sources in Mississippi still maintain Fedora will be named head coach at a press conference Tuesday or Wednesday. One source said Fedora's wife, Christi, looked at houses in the area and his son, Dillon, talked with a high school football coach.
But Southern Miss athletic director Richard Giannini emphatically has said it's not a done deal. Apparently, he planned to interview Wilson. There's also a report Giannini might interview another offensive coordinator from a BCS school.....
The primary reason he hasn't been named head coach revolves around assurances his assistant coaches will recieve higher-than-normal salaries for a Conference USA school.
Fedora is bargaining from a position of strength. One of the highest paid offensive coordinators in the country, Fedora earns $393,000. Last year he was given a five-year contract. Guaranteed.
That's why Fedora could turn down Rice's head coaching job last year and an opportunity to be Alabama's offensive coordinator. It's also why he might be playing college football's version of Texas Hold 'Em with Southern Miss officials.
USM assistants made a combined $800,000 this season. The offensive and defensive coordinators were paid $130,000.
If Fedora can convince USM officials to commit $1.2 million a year to his staff, Fedora could pay coordinators around $230,000 each and his other six assistants close to $130,000.
That's sub standard in Big 12 country. But at Southern Miss that's a major commitment. Fedora might even woo some assistants from BCS schools. Dynamite recruiters and coordinators who are X's and O's wizards are invaluable.
When he was hired at OSU, Les Miles sacrificed $400,000 of his initial salary so assistants would earn an additional $50,000 a year. It proved to be a stroke of genius.
If Southern Miss agrees to his terms, Fedora can assemble one of the top staffs in Conference USA.
If Southern Miss doesn't meet Fedora's request, he stays at OSU. Other opportunities should be available in the future as long as the spread offense continues to compile gaudy stats.
http://newsok.com/article/3178991/1197254160

Is Giannini on drugs? He has an opportunity to hire a coach who is one of the top coordinators in the country. He is good enough that he doesn't take the first or second head coaching job that came along. Fedora wants to build a good program and realizes, as any good coach does, that he needs the money to hire a good staff. Who does Giannini think he will be able to hire for $130,000 a year? Some high school coaches? That is not too much more than what JSU pays its assistants. Apparently Giannini has no clue as to what it takes to build a successful program and how important it is to hire a good staff. Good coaches don't come cheap.

Golden Eagle fans have my sympathy as I saw this idiocy during the Joe Dean days at LSU. Joe Dean actually looked to save money when hiring coaches. No kidding. He bragged about saving money when his first choice for the LSU job was Pat Sullivan (he's not even in football now). He hired Archer...Hallman...Dinardo.....you get the idea. He was not going to pay Saban what he wanted until Chancellor Emmert told him to do so. Now history repeats itself as Giannini first fires a coach with no warning who had 14 straight winning seasons and then gets cute with a coach who is sought after and wants to build a program the right way. Maybe he will do the right thing and meet Fedora's demands after realizing he can't buy a Jaguar on a Pinto budget.

By the way, don't get too smug Ole Miss fans. You almost hired this guy several years ago.

Note: None of this is in The Clarion-Ledger.