Last Thursday, the UNH athletics department announced it has come to terms with men's basketball head coach Bill Herrion on a new contract that will keep him in Durham for another five years.
Herrion, who was hired in May of 2005, was no doubt selected for having one of the most impressive resumes in America East conference history. The Oxford, Mass. native boasts a career 276 victories, most among active America East coaches. He also has 144 wins in conference play, which is second best amongst active coaches. He is the only coach in America East history to be named Coach of the Year on four separate occasions.
A majority of Herrion's success came between 1991 and 1999, when he was head coach at Drexel University, who at that time played in America East, but now call the Colonial Athletic Association home. While there, Herrion brought the Dragons to the NCAA tournament three years in a row from 1994 to 1996. Five of his teams also reached the 20-win mark.
Herrion's most impressive numbers come from his teams' play in the conference tournament. He has 19 America East tournament victories, which is good enough for fifth all-time. His three conference tournament championships are third-most all-time, right behind current Connecticut head coach Jim Calhoun.
Herrion's four years at UNH have been a different story. The Wildcats have managed just 40 total wins in that time, the most coming in the 2005-2006 season when they recorded 12 wins. They have made the conference tournament every year he has coached, only because every team in the league makes the conference tournament.
So the question is, if something is broke, like the UNH men's basketball team, why not fix it? Well, giving the current coach a new five-year deal is not the solution.
Now, this is not a crack at Herrion. He is clearly a successful college basketball coach based on the aforementioned numbers. And his passion for the game and for winning is clear at every game.
But it is just not working here. For whatever reason, the success he has experienced at Drexel and East Carolina just isn't happening at UNH. It is like taking a key and trying to put it in the wrong lock. They just weren't meant to fit together. And when that happens, you don't force the issue until the key fits; you move on and find the lock the key fits into.
There really is no excuse now for the team not to be successful. Herrion's recruits are coming into their prime and there have been no real significant injuries to key members of the team. So why give Herrion such a long contract? A contract like the one UNH gave Herrion says, "We like what you are doing and we want to you to keep doing it." If that is the case, UNH is saying we like a losing basketball team and want that to continue. Obviously, no one in the Field House wants to see these hard working student-athletes be on the wrong side of a game. But saying it and actually doing something about it are two different things.
An appropriate contract would have been one that lasts for only a year or two. That kind of contract says, "Things haven't been going as planned, but we still want to give you a chance, so let's see how it goes." That way, both parties are not completely bound to each other for such a long period of time if things continue to go sour.
Herrion made $160,809 last year. Terms of his new deal have not been disclosed, but we may assume in this climate he did not take a significant salary raise or cut in his new agreement. Therefore, by giving him a two-year contract instead of a five-year one, that's almost half a million dollars that the university could put to other use.
Why not take the money from the last three years and help fund the football stadium that has been in discussion for quite some time? An even better idea would be to use the money to alleviate the school's current economic problems as outlined in UNH President Dr. Mark Huddleston's recent letter.
Either way, the decision to give Bill Herrion such an extended contract only solidifies the fact that no matter how hard the basketball programs work, the athletic department would rather stay with the status quo than make the necessary changes that could produce a successful Division I men's basketball team at UNH.
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