UMBC head coach Ryan Odom could be on the verge of making some serious money.
Odom is the first coach in the history of college basketball to win a March Madness game as a 16-seed, and that makes him a hot commodity. UMBC really shouldn’t plan for Odom to be hanging around for long.
ESPN reported the following:
UMBC athletic director Tim Hall told ESPN he intends to meet with coach Ryan Odom in the next day or two armed with a long-term contract that includes a salary increase that will help keep Odom with the Retrievers a while longer.
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“We need to do within our realm what we can,” Hall said Sunday. “We obviously can’t do what the Power 5 schools can do, or anything near that. I think at some point Ryan wants to do it on a bigger stage. I’m just hoping it’s down the road instead of now.”
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Hall hired Odom two years ago without the aid of a search firm, and signed him to a seven-year deal that pays $230,000 per season in base salary.
I hate to burst Tim Hall’s bubble here, but it’s going to take a bank vault to keep Odom with UMBC, which I’m almost certain they don’t have. Odom owns part of a piece of history that will never be replicated by anybody ever again. He will forever be the first guy to beat a one-seed as a 16-seed. That’s simply incredible.
Coaches who do incredible things often get rewarded with major contracts. The goal of every small time coach is to get his shot at the big leagues. They all want to be in a Power Five conference because there’s simply way more money to be made.
Taking a team like UMBC to the round of 32 is a great way to snag a major offer. Big time coaches are all making well north of a million bucks in major college basketball. I find it very hard to believe that Odom will stick around at UMBC when he can get paid four or five times more elsewhere.
