Fire Todd Butler

[DUShock]

Wichita State AD says baseball coach Todd Butler will return

"Boatright refused to pin his position on the contract."

“Finances have nothing to do with any decision I’m making on the leadership of our baseball program,” he said. “We are acutely aware of the record and we are aware of what the expectation is. Those fans deserve to be frustrated, absolutely. But, if they’re supporters of the program, come support the program. If they don’t like any decisions I’m making, evaluate me. It’s my responsibility to evaluate the coaches.”"

http://www.kansas.com/sports/college/wichita-state/article152039732.html

Check out this video on YouTube:

http://youtu.be/ZAAKPJEq1Ew

On a scale of 1 (low) to 10 (high) I give this statement a...

[OregonShocker]

I agree that the statemet was poorly crafted and unecessarily combative. However, I also don't buy it for a minute. I think it has everything to do with the finances and the crappy contract that WSU agreed to when HCTB was hired.

.

Agree. To say it isn't about finances is a suspicious thing for an AD to say. It had BETTER be about finances, now and FUTURE donations, etc. The ice is getting thin.

[shoxlax]

I, while not real happy with the continuing of the Todd Butler era, was reminded yesterday that these kids represent themselves very well off of the field. Praise to their parents first and foremost but some kudos go to those who recruited them. Yes you can have both (wins and character, see HCGS most of his career) but I would rather have a mediocre baseball team with very good people as opposed to the **** show that is Illinois State or Kansas basketball. While I am frustrated with the team and their performance on the field, I often have to remind myself what matters when it's counterintuitive in the world of college fandom to do so.

[1972Shocker]

I think we have some good baseball players. Maybe not quite enough of them. The quality of the pitching is certainly a major concern and a major problem. If that doesn't get better we aren't going to be better.

It clearly is a quality issue and not a quantity issue. There are 38 players listed on the roster at goShockers.com. 31 of those players have played this year. Of the remaining 7 I presume that 4 of them were on the official 35-man roster and 3 were not on that roster.

We have signed 13 players to LOI's for next season. We lose 4 players from the active roster to graduation. (Lewis, Schwanke, Biechler and Holifield). We have 7 juniors and 4 redshirt sophomores on the roster that I presume are all draft eligible. Perhaps the Shocks could lose 2 of those to the draft (Vickers and Keller maybe in the later rounds).

So we start with a potential pool of 47 players less any draft losses and any other defections which there are likely to be some. Still quantity is not the issue. Quality and Player Develpment are the issues.

[giskard]

What if Boatright's options were to join the AAC or to fire Butler, but the money wasn't there to do both? Do you still want to fire Boatright? I have no knowledge if that was the situation, but that scenario seems pretty logical given the circumstances that have occurred recently.

Did anyone else notice what the article didn't say? Butler's contract was not extended. Butler has 3 years remaining. Next year's Fr class will still be in school when Butler's contract expires. That situation is usually avoided when a coach is in the long-term plans in the athletic department.

Recruiting may suffer a bit in the next year or two as the buyout is worked down. It could get worse before it gets better. Regardless of anything Boatright told the newspaper, I'm confident that if there had been a source of funds for the buyout, that the buyout would have occurred.

I noticed the lack of an extension and thought that said more than any of the spin Boatright put into the press release. The press release sounded a lot to me like the kind "vote of confidence" PR that MLB teams give a manager a little before firing them.

[Dan]

Perhaps they want to give Butler a shot at the new conference. A change of scenery might help recruiting and play on the field.

[Aargh]

Boatright can't say, "well, if we had the money in the budget we would have fired him". That would absolutely be the worst thing he could possibly say.

[shockfan89_]

Boatright can't say, "well, if we had the money in the budget we would have fired him". That would absolutely be the worst thing he could possibly say.

I agree. It's just frustrating to see very little improvement and every year we are told it's coming, just be patient.

[ShockerPhi]

I agree that Boatright's statement sounded a bit combative, but I also would have been shocked if he had publicly said it was purely budgetary. I think the best we can hope for is getting our ass kicked in the AAC next year since it is a far better baseball conference. Maybe seeing a far worse record next year will make Boatright feel a little better about eating $600k and moving on.

[Mr. Obvious]

Butler getting BBQ'd on Facebook by real boosters/season ticket holders using real identity's known to most Shocker fans. Unless they pull out a tourney surprise, Boatright is going to catch the heat.

[Aargh]

Butler getting BBQ'd on Facebook by real boosters/season ticket holders using real identity's known to most Shocker fans. Unless they pull out a tourney surprise, Boatright is going to catch the heat.

Link? I'd like to see that.

[1972Shocker]

I agree that Boatright's statement sounded a bit combative, but I also would have been shocked if he had publicly said it was purely budgetary. I think the best we can hope for is getting our ass kicked in the AAC next year since it is a far better baseball conference. Maybe seeing a far worse record next year will make Boatright feel a little better about eating $600k and moving on.

The $300,000 annual base salary Sully reported in his article is a bit understated. That was the starting base pay. The contract provided that Butler's base salary would increase $20,000 in June 2015 and $20,000 in June 2017 so HCTB is a week away from maiking $340k per year. Not a huge difference from the $900k reported by Todd and the $600k you mentioned but the buy for his final 3 years is $1,020,000 and the buyout of his final 2 years is $680,000.

[SHOCKvalue]

Maybe we catch fire next year and rip through the AAC like a chainsaw. HCTB gets a 1 year extension and everyone is happy. Maybe we absolutely tank and he is fired midseason with an assistant taking the tiller to limp back into port while we look for a replacement. The worst outcome would be a middling performance with a number of "Rasputin" wins to stave off firing, but not warranting an extension.

Or maybe we just suck hind teet for another three seasons after this one.

[JohnQShocker]

I, while not real happy with the continuing of the Todd Butler era, was reminded yesterday that these kids represent themselves very well off of the field. Praise to their parents first and foremost but some kudos go to those who recruited them. Yes you can have both (wins and character, see HCGS most of his career) but I would rather have a mediocre baseball team with very good people as opposed to the **** show that is Illinois State or Kansas basketball. While I am frustrated with the team and their performance on the field, I often have to remind myself what matters when it's counterintuitive in the world of college fandom to do so.

That's a great take and I agree wholeheartedly!

[ShanShock]

That's a great take and I agree wholeheartedly!

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