Photo credit: Charlotte Observer
Matt Norlander from CBS Sports broke the news this morning on Twitter:
Contract stuff
Aaron Fearne's contract was set to expire on April 30, 2029. Charlotte will owe Fearne approximately $1,500,000. His base salary is $500,000 annually, and that is what will be due for each of the seasons remaining. Charlotte also owes the base salary + supplemental salary + any earned but not yet paid bonuses for current period. Realistically, the only potential bonus would be tied to rolling APR score of 970 or higher over the past 4 seasons, and that's $15,000, but I'm not sure when that is calculated annually.
While $1,500,000 isn't a huge number, it's amplified by all the recent buyouts needed: Mike HIll, Biff Poggi, and WIll Healy.It seems that we will never know what Charlotte netted out from Ron Sanchez quitting his head coaching post to return to UVA. The good news for Charlotte and Kevin White, is that anything earned by Fearne in coaching, tv and/or radio, will offset what CLT owes him.
I think this was a decision that needed to be made. Why? Charlotte was 12-23 in Q3 games over the past three seasons. Effectively those were our peers due to where the program is currently at, and we simply were not competitive. Fearne and company wer 30-6 vs Q4 teams, accounting for 68% of his wins at Charlotte. To paint the entire picture, below is all quadrant related data (excludes non-D1 competition):
Q1: 0-11
Q2: 2-11
Q3: 12-23
Q4: 30-6
Aaron Fearne was always a first-class person when I met with him at tailgates, extremely polite and candid with me. I appreciate his time here, sometimes things just don't click for various reasons.
Potential Candidates
I'm not going to pretend I have a magical connection and know names that Kevin White is considering for the role, but I think we're at the point where we need someone that isn't learning out to be a HC on the job. Bonus points for someone who doesn't run the packline/slow down play style. Our fans have lived through plodding style of play for almost a decade, please have some mercy on us.
I'll work on something tomorrow and try to catalogue any public references to candidates for the vacancy.
