Editorial: 2 million reasons for another 10 Alford years

To mix our idioms and college sports, it’s easy for critics to Monday-morning quarterback the decision to extend Lobo basketball Coach Steve Alford’s contract.

After all, Alford was offered another 10 years and nearly a quarter-of-a-million-dollar raise in his annual base pay just one day before his team lost its first game in the 2013 big dance, handing Harvard its first post-season win ever. But a single loss doesn’t change the fact Alford is the first coach in University of New Mexico history to win at least 22 games in each of his six years as head coach. He has qualified the Lobos for the postseason each of those years — three times for the NCAA Tournament — boosted the team’s national reputation and reversed its revenue problems at home.

His off-court influence has been impressive as well, with Alford’s Lobos recognized for recording the highest Academic Progress Rate (APR) in the school’s history, instead of run-ins with the law. The team’s community outreach has also increased the number of Lobos fans who may never set foot in the Pit.

So is a university coaching salary with various bells and whistles in the $2 million range too much for New Mexico? Lobos fans will decide that. Athletic director Paul Krebs says expect to see ticket prices rise as basketball program revenue will pay for Alford; student fees and state funds are out of bounds.

And unlike recent university deals that have left New Mexicans paying big for people to leave (can you say Long? Locksley? McKay? Fraschilla?), this contract includes a buyout clause that charges Alford $1 million if he leaves before the 2014-15 season wraps up, $500K before April 1, 2017, and $300K for an early exit thereafter.

Some critics might be making a different call had the Lobos beaten the Crimson on Thursday night. But this contract extension is just part of college athletics’ paying field for a competitive major program.

Alford’s winning record on and off the court has been a good deal for student athletes and fans alike.

This editorial first appeared in the Albuquerque Journal. It was written by members of the editorial board and is unsigned as it represents the opinion of the newspaper rather than the writers.