Klieman Signed on as a Consultant to K-State

Aka buyout

Glad we are spending 500k on an advisor

catfan03 said:

Aka buyout

What? Part-time jobs with no real responsibility don't normally command a cool half a million?

Universities are great at spending millions of dollars on "consultants", yet we've seen the cost of tuition absolutely skyrocket over the last 10 - 20 years. It is still the "good ole boys" system

catfan03 said:

Aka buyout

Incredibly cheap buyout

cheap compared to what we end up paying yang

acb463 said:

Universities are great at spending millions of dollars on "consultants", yet we've seen the cost of tuition absolutely skyrocket over the last 10 - 20 years. It is still the "good ole boys" system

It's not that sinister. It's just (highly likely) just a form of buyout payment that was used as a carrot to get him to walk away. ADs love the theatrics in all of this. You can't make a coach step away, yet call it a "retirement". Similarly, a coach can't "retire" and get a buyout. This was just structured and presented to the public in such a way that everyone gets what they wish. K-State gets to turn the page to a new coach, and the exiting coach gets to ride out on the sunset having "retired", but still receiving a financial settlement for doing so.

young_cat said:

It's not that sinister. It's just (highly likely) just a form of buyout payment that was used as a carrot to get him to walk away. ADs love the theatrics in all of this. You can't make a coach step away, yet call it a "retirement". Similarly, a coach can't "retire" and get a buyout. This was just structured and presented to the public in such a way that everyone gets what they wish. K-State gets to turn the page to a new coach, and the exiting coach gets to ride out on the sunset having "retired", but still receiving a financial settlement for doing so.

Also... isn't K-State Athletics a private corporation that isn't funded at all by tuition dollars?

biggest thing in that article is Gene told Bill to f*ck off and got out of his lifetime role as ambassador and that came off the books.

wiscocat said:

Incredibly cheap buyout

Not if it goes on for 10 years.............. Especially when he received the dignity of this all being called a "retirement".

Dom43 said:

Glad we are spending 500k on an advisor

The alternative would have been paying him $6 million or keep him as HC for another 5 seasons while Klein becomes the hottest up and coming G5 coach in the country

young_cat said:

Not if it goes on for 10 years.............. Especially when he received the dignity of this all being called a "retirement".

"Klieman will be paid up to $500,000 during the period through Dec. 31. Taylor said he anticipates Klieman will figure out what he wants to do next by that point, so this role is considered temporary."

bobtrollsby said:

Also... isn't K-State Athletics a private corporation that isn't funded at all by tuition dollars?

It's a publicly-owned/controlled entity, within the umbrella of the University, that doesn't actually take any university or student money. As a result, some of the debates over how money is spent, get a little complicated.

scottwildcat said:

"Klieman will be paid up to $500,000 during the period through Dec. 31. Taylor said he anticipates Klieman will figure out what he wants to do next by that point, so this role is considered temporary."

Lets be real, that can be extended annually, in perpetuity. This is a coach who "retired", yet is getting a $500K virtually "no-show" job for the next 8 months. We're dealing with an athletic department who has a very liberal definition of almost every word it uses. They do whatever they want, and call it whatever they want. You have to take how they present this stuff to the public with a giant grain of salt IMHO.

Good for him. Rather pay him $500K than the $21M he left on the table. Why are people mad about this?

SeanDonn33 said:

Good for him. Rather pay him $500K than the $21M he left on the table. Why are people mad about this?

I'm not mad, I just detest the "PR" work in all of this, to spin the whole situation in a way to make everyone look as good as possible, without telling the actual truth. Instead of a release that says: "In light of Coach Klieman's being agreeable to our desire that he step away, so that Coach Klein could assume his role, we are going to pay him $500K a year in "advisory fees" to help move the program forward and reward him for his years of service". What, we actually got: "Coach Klieman has agreed to come back to K-State in the role of consultant, making $500K for a term that may or may not end in 8 months". If you own your company, and want to try and spin management transitions like this to the public, hey whatever. Go ahead, spin away. I just hate it when it's a publicly-owned entity that is supposed to be transparent, and good stewards of its financial resources. Because, absent the information that this cash is being paid as a form of "buyout", the $500K appears to be a giant waste. This is all being spun in a way that they think K-State fans/donors are stupid.

young_cat said:

Lets be real, that can be extended annually, in perpetuity. This is a coach who "retired", yet is getting a $500K virtually "no-show" job for the next 8 months. We're dealing with an athletic department who has a very liberal definition of almost every word it uses. They do whatever they want, and call it whatever they want. You have to take how they present this stuff to the public with a giant grain of salt IMHO.

But an Athletic Department led by Gene Taylor that has been in the black for the last several years. Many Big 12 schools Athletic Departments have been in the red and are really struggling. Obviously last few years with NIL it is a new landscape of college athletics.

SeanDonn33 said:

Good for him. Rather pay him $500K than the $21M he left on the table. Why are people mad about this?

Many people on message boards in general like to find the negative. I will always think very positive about Chris Klieman and especially how he resigned and gave Collin a chance to lead K-State.

young_cat said:

Not if it goes on for 10 years.............. Especially when he received the dignity of this all being called a "retirement".

I mean last time I checked $21 million is still more than $5 million. Its a good deal even if it lasts for 10 years.

NMWildcat said:

But an Athletic Department led by Gene Taylor that has been in the black for the last several years. Many Big 12 schools Athletic Departments have been in the red and are really struggling. Obviously last few years with NIL it is a new landscape of college athletics.

Do we know they are still in the black? If everything is good and rosy, then why on the K-State Athletics website is the most recent financial audit available, the one from 2023? Fiscal Year 2024 ended on 6/30/24.......damn near 2 years ago, and the audited financial statements for the last two fiscal years (6/30/24 and 6/30/25) still aren't public. But yeah, we should definitely just give them the benefit of the doubt on all things financial-related........... https://www.kstatesports.com/sports/2015/6/29/_131476204434013145

I love coach Klieman and hope he considers taking Bill's place as a meme machine while attending basketball games.

young_cat said:

Not if it goes on for 10 years.............. Especially when he received the dignity of this all being called a "retirement".

You think he’s doing this for TEN YEARS?!?!

young_cat said:

It's not that sinister. It's just (highly likely) just a form of buyout payment that was used as a carrot to get him to walk away. ADs love the theatrics in all of this. You can't make a coach step away, yet call it a "retirement". Similarly, a coach can't "retire" and get a buyout. This was just structured and presented to the public in such a way that everyone gets what they wish. K-State gets to turn the page to a new coach, and the exiting coach gets to ride out on the sunset having "retired", but still receiving a financial settlement for doing so.

100 percent.

MikeNelson said:

I mean last time I checked $21 million is still more than $5 million. Its a good deal even if it lasts for 10 years.

I think his buyout if fired was around $6 million. Either way, Gene will be gone in 5 years and the next AD isn't extending this sweetheart deal so we'll come out ahead no matter what and everyone gets to save face. I think they know most of us are smart enough to read between the lines and see this for what it is.