Al Scates is currently in his 42nd year of coaching men’s
volleyball at UCLA. He has won 18 national championships and over
1,000 career matches.
Yet in Scates’ 42 years, he has signed 41 different
coaching contracts, each a one-year deal, renewed at the end of
every fiscal year.
But this year was different.
Second-year athletic director Dan Guerrero instituted a policy
change, offering all Olympic sports coaches ““ coaches in
those sports that don’t generate money for the athletic
department ““ two- or three-year deals at the end of this past
fiscal year.
“Under the new regime, it came together,” said
Scates, who has signed a three-year deal.
This is a sweeping change from an athletic department that has
typically been behind the times, offering one-year deals to all
coaches except those for football, men’s and women’s
basketball, and women’s volleyball.
“We feel it gives stability to both coaches and the
department,” Guerrero said in a statement. “It is
beneficial in terms of coaching and recruiting.”
“It was a show of faith,” fifth-year women’s
soccer coach Jillian Ellis said. “Multi-year contracts are
standard at most schools.”
Though Ellis had coached at five schools before coming to
Westwood, the athletic department was the only employer to offer
her a one-year deal. She has now signed a three-year contract.
“The athletic director we had before (Peter Dalis) did not
want to change things,” Ellis said. “But when Dan
Guerrero came in, he modernized things.”
This year marked the first chance Guerrero, who was hired July
1, 2002, had to deal with coaching contracts.
Men’s tennis coach Billy Martin is entering his 11th year
as head of the successful Bruin tennis program. This is the first
time he has received a vote of confidence in the form of an actual,
guaranteed multi-year contract.
“Being that I have a family and kids, it obviously
provides more stabilization,” Martin said. “I think it
certainly shows a little bit more confidence than I was shown
previously.”
If coaches with multi-year deals were to be fired, they would be
guaranteed the salary from the remaining contract years, assuming
they didn’t find another job.
One aspect of coaching that will be significantly affected by
Guerrero’s new policy is the area of recruiting.
“I think it’s great because a lot of the Olympic
sports coaches were in the same boat,” Ellis said. “We
were asked by recruits how long our contracts were, and it’s
great to be able to tell them that you have a multi-year
deal.”
Though all coaches were offered multi-year contracts, some
declined to take them.
This series of new coaching contracts demonstrates
Guerrero’s commitment to building successful relationships
with coaches in all sports.
“It’s a two-way street,” Ellis said. “He
came in, and it took time to get to know him. But he’s been
very accessible.”
Ellis also pointed out that this new policy of coaching
contracts isn’t an invitation to become a bad coach.
“When you get to the nitty gritty of it, you can still be
fired after one year if things don’t go well. But this was a
show of faith,” she said.
With reports from Jeff Eisenberg and Diamond Leung, Bruin
Sports Senior Staff.