I hear the older we get the harder sarcasm is to detect. Good thing I'm still young!

Suppose Fleck stays around two or three years and turns WMU into a perennial powerhouse. Does this mean the MAC ratchets up coaching salaries, or instead does WMU become the next flavor of the month for B12 expansion or AAC fill-in after it's been raided? (Notwithstanding the size of Kazoo as a TV market) Waldo seats 30,000 and if they can fill it, expansion to 35,000 or 40,000 might not be out of the question.

Next year WMU plays at Southern Cal and Michigan State in their non-conf schedule:

http://www.fbschedules.com/ncaa-17/2017-western-michigan-...

Might be tough to row that boat in So Cal and East Lansing without Terrell and Davis.

It looks like Western is close to signing Coach Fleck (the link is below.)This could be very interesting. What if a big time opening came late? Does he think he can build a power program to compete with the Power 5 and raise the MAC's stature while he is at it?

What happens next year when the Row the Boat meets Michigan State and USC? Does he have some big time recruiting talent locked up and some blossoming freshman and sophomores waiting to start?

Row the boat is fine as long as it works. I seem to recall from my coaching days that in Perry County Sheridan High School went from losers to winners. Many attribute it to Coach Paul Culver and his RMA (Right Mental Attitude.) This saying and lifestyle had the young men really believing. They put RMA on their papers at school, spray painted it on bridges and from what I understand really took it to heart later in life. I believe his son recently took over the program. Now since I taught and coached north of Columbus, I only know the basics of how successful all of this was down there.

However, if people buy into it, that's all you need. If PJ FLeck stays and gets top notch talent to believe in "Row the Boat," and actually wins against big time opponents, who knows where this all could go? It couldn't hurt the MAC. It would certainly send a message to other schools; "Go Big or Go Home," as far as recruiting and investing in their programs is concerned.
http://www.mlive.com/broncos/index.ssf/2016/12/report_wes...

Rumors. Yes just rumors. Flying saying 10 years. $30 million. We will see.

You need to trademark Fleck Yes right now.

Simply paying more does not guarantee success. Look at all of the successful MAC basketball coaches who have gone on to much bigger contracts and have been fired before their first contract expired. What happens is that the next guy hired to take their place at the MAC school gets more money and the bar keeps going up and yet many of these subsequent hires end up being fired too. There are only so many PJ Fleck's in the world and only so many places where what they do works or will work. Spending big money in the MAC is a crap shoot at best and a gamble that many aren't willing to take.

It seems Coach Fleck's negotiating (ploys) options are running out. Earlier today, Houston hired from within and now Cincy seems poised to hire Ohio State Defense Coordinator Luke Fickell. It seems Coach Fickell makes what Coach Fleck makes so the non Power 5 coaching salary arms race just went a bit further. Is PJ Fleck trying to be the highest paid Non Power 5 coach? We shall soon see!
http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/ncaaf/aac/2016/12/09... /

The first million dollar coach in the MAC was George O'Leary who made a starting salary at UCF of slightly over 1 million in 2004 when they played in the MAC. This article say 700,000 with a big salary pool for assistants but could be missing media income.

http://www.sptimes.com/2004/09/09/news_pf/Sports/UCF__dis...

This update from ESPN says OSU Defensive Coach Luke Fickell now officially going to Cincy after Coach PJ Fleck said he's not interested. I wonder what Coach Fleck's final number will be. Perhaps his agent wants to top Fickell's number and is waiting to hear what those numbers end up at. I think Fickell makes something like $800,000 at OSU, so I am sure he's going to want to top what Coach Tommy Tuberville made, which I believe was over $2,000,000.
http://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/18248473/...

Good Point Uncle Wes, who knows what the final result could be. Part of me thinks what is going on with Cincy, Western Michigan and other Non-Power 5 schools, trying to be thought of as big boys, is tantamount to a bidding auction gone haywire. Sometimes even the auctioneer is surprised at how high something goes. Some objects at an auction go for a steal while others are overpriced; the result of ego and hubris.

Part of the problem in the MAC drawing fans is the lack of amenities in the stadiums. Note that Ohio's premium seating is all but sold out at Ohio at a much higher price point. There are plenty enough football fans out there but to get out to the game they are going to want chairbacks and top notch concessions. There are fans of the Browns and Steelers hungry for a big time game experience locally if they could get it. Louisville had no football tradition and built an all chairback stadium. They couldn't fill when it opened but it slowly caught on.