Paul Mills Not Hot Seat

[TrackSuitAndTie]

Comparing WSU to power conference programs with big NIL budgets ignores the fact that there are peer schools achieving better results with fewer resources.

[forevershockerfan]

When HCPM took this job, how many years did he sign for?
Asking for a friend.

[Stickboy46]

When HCPM took this job, how many years did he sign for?
Asking for a friend.

5 years ... or until he decides to leave ... or gets fired ...

[Aargh]

5 years ... or until he decides to leave ... or gets fired ...

He's not getting fired before 12/'26, so there's really no point discussing his firing until it's possible. Fire him any time before then and his buyout is added to those already being paid. Then there's even less money available to hire a coach and we probably move DOWN from Mills with what could be paid.

[Stickboy46]

He's not getting fired before 12/'26, so there's really no point discussing his firing until it's possible. Fire him any time before then and his buyout is added to those already being paid. Then there's even less money available to hire a coach and we probably move DOWN from Mills with what could be paid.

I agree he's not getting fired before at least June 2026. That's when his buyout drops and we only have 6 months of Marshall left. I disagree that we shouldn't be talking about it and make it very clear that the results right now are fireable worthy.

I have a feeling our OOS schedule year is going to be even softer than the one we got this year though, so win total will look "good" but we will still be a >Top 100 team.

[Dan]

Whether we can ever have a consistent winning team again all depends on our ability to both pay a coach like P5 and raise funds like a P5. Until that happens, be prepared for a lot of ups and downs. No coach will ever stay here if he doesn't have the funds to buy players no matter how much success he has. Any non P5 school having success now will be losing their coach soon. It's going to be a revolving door of coaches, I just don't see how it's sustainable. Look at KState - Tang was the hottest thing going for one year now they want him gone. One of many examples.

[ShockHat]

Comparing WSU to power conference programs with big NIL budgets ignores the fact that there are peer schools achieving better results with fewer resources.

lol I love your takes. They’re always on point.

nothing else needs to be said..

[ShockerFever]

I guess I don’t understand the question of Mills ability. He is facing competition from the power conferences money and recruiting. The players WSU can get are just not the level of the major conferences and to have to repeat this process every year this is what it has become. We have post players who are good against mid major programs but when competing against a Florida and even DePaul fail to match the athleticism and speed at which they play. Our scoring seems to only exist when we drive, no outside threat and our best rebounder has a broken wrist. Hill has played poorly against good guards our guard/forwards are too small for the position they are asked to play. Mills tried to recruit better players but just couldn’t get them here! This is college basketball from now on, teams like WSU are going to do the best the can with the resources they have no matter who the coach is!

$1.5 million coach delivering $250,000 results.

[ShockerFever]

Whether Mills is still coaching at WSU in upcoming seasons is more a factor of the below than anything else at this point. So long as he's exciting as a glass of warm milk and keeps coaching the way he has, we're still stuck with him until the money problems clear up.

December 2026 is when the last of the bi-weekly payments of $48,076.92 are made to Marshall. Source: https://andywittry.substack.com/p/he...wichita-states

April 2026 is when the last of the $108,000 monthly payments are made to Brown. Source: https://x.com/tayloreldridge/status/1634732104457109506

If WSU fires Mills at any point before he finishes year 3 (any time before June 30, 2026), it owes Mills 100% of the remainder of his contract. At that point in time, that would be $3.5 million. If WSU fires him in the middle of his 4th, 5th, or 6th years, it owes him 75% of the remainder of his contract. Source: https://www.kansas.com/sports/colleg...273595485.html

In other words, it's a huge sh*t sandwich and we're all going to have to take a bite.

Who the **** is structuring these contracts, specifically the buyouts? We thought Boatright was the dumb ignoranus but Saal seems to have not fallen far from the tree. Was he just so confident in his pick that there was no way he wouldn’t make it to the end of his contract?

We might be the dumbest athletic department in regards to finance management in the NCAA.

[SubGod22]

Who the **** is structuring these contracts, specifically the buyouts? We thought Boatright was the dumb ignoranus but Saal seems to have not fallen far from the tree. Was he just so confident in his pick that there was no way he wouldn’t make it to the end of his contract?

We might be the dumbest athletic department in regards to finance management in the NCAA.

That buy-out may be a sign that Saal really thought Mills was the home-run hire and was willing to make that bet.

[Stickboy46]

That buy-out may be a sign that Saal really thought Mills was the home-run hire and was willing to make that bet.

To be fair .. a lot of our fan base thought he was too because the only thing they looked at was the 2021 Sweet 16. Everything else was ignored.

[SubGod22]

To be fair .. a lot of our fan base thought he was too because the only thing they looked at was the 2021 Sweet 16. Everything else was ignored.

You would hope that Saal wouldn't be as short-sighted as a lot of our fan base.

[Dan]

If we fire coaches after 2 years we'll never get a decent coach here.

[Ted Lasso's Neighbor]

FYI - all of the contracts for current head coaches and Saal can be found on the Wichita State web site. Here's the link - https://www.wichita.edu/about/public..._contracts.php

[Stickboy46]

If we fire coaches after 2 years we'll never get a decent coach here.

If we let coaches continue to run our program farther into the ground, we wont get a decent coach either whether its 2 years or 5 years.

Though in reality in the current environment 3-4 years is really the deciding timeframe for most coaches. You can fire quicker if results are bad AND you have the money to back it up ... we unfortunately have the first part of that, but not the 2nd part.