Hiring an outside party to assist in the search for a new football coach has become the norm in Division One sports, so news that Maryland shelled out some money to find the new head coach for the Terrapins football program is hardly shocking. In fact, the school may have gotten a decent bargain on the extra help compared to the amounts other schools have paid in the past to do the school’s work for them.
The Baltimore Sun reports Maryland paid $50,000 to Chuck Neinas and his Neinas Sports Services. That is less than a fifth of what Texas paid for assistance in the hiring of Charlie Strong and less than a sixth of what Colorado State paid to make the hiring of Jim McElwain (now the head coach at Florida). The former Big 12 commissioner has long held a role in the game and has lent a helping (hired) hand in coaching searches at a number of programs over the years, including Texas, Oklahoma, LSU and more. He was busy last year in helping Maryland eventually land Michigan assistant DJ Durkin and Virginia in hiring Bronco Mendenhall away from BYU.
“Most athletic directors have a short list of individuals that they’re interested in and then it frequently gets augmented from various sources,” Neinas said Wednesday. “My assignment is to confidentially contact people to find out if they have any interest at all. If there is interest I can serve as a conduit between the director and prospective candidate to provide information both ways.”
So did Maryland get a steal? We will see. Durkin is a first-time head coach and there is much work to be done in a competitive division. For a first-year head coach, Maryland may have gotten a good deal on the consulting fee, but there is so much unknown with the final result that can only be answered in time.