The good thing about writing an opinion post is that it matters little how many readers agree. I suspect most Alabama basketball fans disagree with my belief Greg Byrne and the Alabama Board of Trustees (BOT) were too cautious and too timid in setting Nate Oats’ new salary package.
If I am being too harsh, I think we can agree the decision was far from bold. What it apparently relies on are two circumstances. One is Nate Oats is more than content with the dollar amount. He said on Friday, I don’t want to go anywhere else. The other circumstance comes from knowing another raise can be added when needed, like when Oats gets his first team to a Final Four.
Given those circumstances, Byrne and the BOT made a sound business decision.
What was not done was to create a barrier around another program offering Nate Oats more. In the new contract’s 2023 cycle, Oats will earn $4.5M in base pay. It can be argued some coaching salaries in college football and men’s basketball are insanely high. Even if they are, they will keep going up and in the near future, another program will likely be willing to pay Nate Oats $6M or more. Any that are willing will not blink at the $12M buyout.
Contract barriers are not impenetrable and failing to create a bigger one around Nate Oats is not my biggest concern.
What matters more to Alabama Basketball
What matters much more is how the decision affects the future success of the program. Alabama appears to be on the threshold of being the SEC’s dominant basketball program. The Crimson Tide might not supplant Kentucky, but it is not impossible that it will. What Nate Oats has built surpasses where SEC basketball heavyweights Tennessee, Arkansas and Auburn are today. But the new contract dollars for Oats will not pass what Rick Barnes and Bruce Pearl earn now – until the 2027 contract year.
Outdated business thinking includes buying labor as economically as possible. But the sports business is more about impression. Contract dollars for coaches mean the same thing as they do for professional athletes, and now for college athletes as well. They mean an assignment of value. Boldness by Alabama would have been to make a statement with a new Oats salary; bumping him above Barnes and Pearl now. Such a message would have gotten the attention of elite recruits and their families, showing Alabama believes it can and will be an every-season national power in basketball. If it swayed another Brandon Miller-level player in the 2024 class, the additional money to Oats would have been well spent.
Seven SEC basketball programs have reached an NCAA Tournament Final Four. Alabama is not one of them. Breaking through that wall demands boldness.
One more thing while I opine about Alabama Basketball. Build the arena now!