I was getting ready to write about Rich Rodriguez and WVU’s contract stalemate yesterday, but then seeing that Orson at EDSBS had tackled it intimidated me. Not in the way PSB friend, Mac attempted to uh, sexually intimidate a couple obnoxious ND fans late into the night a few years back on Carson Street (and I’ve already said way too much — going to need to drink double tonight to get that imagery out of my head). More in the way of having to follow a master crafstman.

Looking at the article a couple times over it seems the key issues are about money — the buyout amount and raising the assistant’s salaries — not for a present salary for Rodriguez.

The two sides have hit a wall in discussions the past two weeks, said a source familiar with the situation, because the fifth-year coach seeks additions to his contract such as a formal university commitment to higher pay for his assistants, facility improvements and standards equal to other comparable coaches — for instance, West Virginia’s $2 million buyout clause is the conference and Division I-A exception rather than the norm.

A $3 million buyout clause in his contract prohibited Mountaineers basketball coach John Beilein from accepting the North Carolina State job in April.

Rodriguez, a Mountaineers player under predecessor Don Nehlen and a native of coal-mining Grant Town, W.Va., has maintained publicly and privately that he wants to remain at West Virginia for the duration of his coaching career. He talks about staying at his alma mater and maintaining a top-tier program for decades, much like Joe Paterno at Penn State and Bobby Bowden at Florida State.

The buyout clause, which started with the seven-year contract extension he signed after a 9-4 season in 2002 that relieved pressure from a criticized athletic department, is merely another facet from which Rodriguez cannot get university officials to budge, the source said, adding that one sticking point remains a $50,000 difference in across-the-board raises he’s requesting for his assistants. It seems to those around Rodriguez that the coach’s loyalty is being used against him as leverage in negotiations.

Pitt fans may recall that one of the big issues at the end of the Walt Harris era going into Dave Wannstedt was the fact that Pitt was more than a little stingy on paying for the assistants. They would pay for the head guy, but try to nickle-dime on assistants. Looks like WVU follows the same approach (maybe that’s why ex-PSU coach Jerry Dunn is part of Beilein’s staff on the b-ball side). Rodriguez is smart enough to know that good assistants are needed for recruiting and gameplanning, and they cost money. Not to mention that if your assistants are sub-par, after a while it catches up to the on-field performance and talent and the head coach’s job security.

As for the buyout, that’s about future raises. Rodriguez can get a nice raise for now, but in a couple years he might be due for another bump based on other schools having an interest. With a high buyout, though, he is not as attractive to another school and it decreases his open market value — and future raises.

I can’t believe WVU’s administration would be that stupid. Not, now that things are starting to go their way and they have stability with their coaches. Well, maybe…