Recycling this gem from a VIP thread a while ago.
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Some people here have said SEC is too tough for Byington and he would want out ā¦ would the same people say the same for Otz in the Big 12?
Theyāve lost 3 in a row as a top 10 team.
They do have 4 should be wins coming up - but if they drop 1 or 2 of those maybe he thinks about the Acc being easier?
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I donāt think perceived ease of the ACC (if thatās even true) would be seen as a good thing for any of our candidates.
Conference strength can only help you in college hoops, except for odd edge cases.
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I think under most normal circumstances that a coach as good as Otz at Iowa State would have run its course and he would take a bigger job by now, but that buyout and his ties to the program may just be enough to override the fact of it not being a very good job.
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Hey I just realized under Twitterās new rules I can see Hootieās tweets again (even though he blocked me). Anyway, talk about informative:
Otzās buyout is an unspecified amount less than a number not specified here. Interestingā¦
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My last comment on Jerry, but this column still irritates me. On January 3, 2013, he wrote this column about who he would hire on the UVA football staff - as if he had no idea they would be announced the very next day - Tom OāBrien, Jon Tenuta, Biscuit, and the legendary Jeff Banks (Jerry didnāt monkey around and acknowledged the rumors Banks was headed to UVA). The premise of the column was so freaking disingenuous.
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Do some reporting on it then!!
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Heās under contract until 2032 after extending his contract somewhat recently. He was set to bump from $3 mil to $3.5 mil before the start of 2025-26 season (and then up $100k each season after that), but that was before he signed this extension. I bet his buyout is very large!
FWIW: Iowa St lists an recent FOIA request for his contract by an Iowa-based outlet.
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Or not necessarily a red herring, but the insiders ask Jerry to āput this name out thereā so they can gauge fan reaction. Because that article was entirely content-free. It was literally just āput this name out thereā
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The Iowa sources rounded the individual cents in the buyout up when the contract specifically says they should round down! Suck on that, Ratcliffe haters!
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Hard to tell. Thereās usually a lot of subterfuge with UVa coaching searches, or, at the very least, intense secrecy.
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Sorry. I didnāt mean to hit the waspsā nest then run off.
I donāt think thatās it, atleast on this one. What fan wouldnāt be pumped to get Otz? If he were an actually possibility he should be option 1A++. He was the first name really thrown around in the wake of CTB leaving (by me atleast haha) but some research into the situation kind of completely took him off the boardā¦ I donāt think heās leaving ISU but man would we be lucky if he didā¦
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Our best hope for TJO was / is his relationship with Bennett. But the December extension, to me, was a massive message to anyone with a real or potential opening to move along.
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Yup was the first guy I thought of when TB retired, but was also iffy on if heād view us as a big enough step up from his current situation and then felt significantly worse about our chances when the buyout got leaked. He went from being in the Shaka camp of āIdk if heās a possibility but make him say no anywayā to āProbably not even worth it to botherā.
He would have to be in love with us in order to leave Iowa State, and our donor base/administration would have to be very in love with him in order to justify covering that cost.
Sheās also one of the best womens basketball players in Iowa State history.
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I know Hootie doesnāt know whatās heās talking about, but if anyoneās not aware, this is the buyout provision in his original contract (before the 2 extensions).
āIf Otzelberger leaves for another Division I or NBA job, he owes Iowa State 100 percent of the remaining compensation left on his contract. That number is halved, though, if Pollard is no longer Iowa Stateās athletic director at the time of Otzelbergerās departure.ā
At this site you can see that 3 people have FOIAed his new contract, 2 coaches agencies and KCCI TV. Presumably they donāt have it yet. Public records log ā¢ Iowa State University ā¢ Transparency
Edit: what @AdventiveQuasar said above.
I seriously doubt Iowa State gave him more money over a longer period and made it less expensive for him to leave at the same time. Heās signed through 2032. 7 years at even a modest 3 mil is 21 mil and thatās almost certainly low.
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Pollard only makes $800k. Could be cheaper to double his salary for a few years and cut Otzās buyout in half 
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He did make the Otz and Campbell hires. Maybe he knows what heās doing too.
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Oh yeah both my UVA dream coaches currently coach at ISU. Shame.
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