Guaranteed payday loan

He started it all by giving away his money. Cold, hard cash that should've been socked away somewhere gathering compounded returns was funneled into hands that needed it more. Spend money to make money, right? Best investment Les Miles ever made. So last month, he made another.

After having $400,000 of his initial salary as Oklahoma State head coach spread among his assistant the hottest coach in the Big 12 recently convinced university bean counters that his assistants needed guaranteed contracts. That's right--guaranteed. Shoot, NFL players don't get guaranteed gigs. Yet Miles, the only coach on the planet to consistently get the best of Bob Stoops, got the suits to commit to three years of no-questions-asked money.

Most university presidents go stomping and screaming down the rocky road of athletic department budgeting. Oklahoma State officials walk quietly behind their coach, wielding one hell of a stick. That shows how much Miles means to a program that before his arrival had descended to dangerous depths.

"We're not going to be distracted," Miles says. "It's within the capabilities of this team to win a championship."

That statement was laughable three years ago. Before Miles came to Stillwater, former coach Bob Simmons had seen 14 assistant coaches leave the program in five years. Assistant coaches are mercenaries of sorts, working a tenuous and volatile job in which they constantly are looking for the best opportunity paying the most money until securing a fat payday as a head coach. There's no such thing as loyalty; it's the nature of the business.

That's why Miles' first priority when he took the job in Stillwater was directing some of his salary to his assistants. Coaching revolves around the consistency of terminology, tactics and teaching, and players thrive trader routine. Giving his assistants that extra cash helped them feel comfortable. Getting them the guaranteed contracts three years later gave them a reason to stay.

It's a simple concept, really. Continuity creates chemistry. Chemistry creates champions.

The last two years, Miles has had to fight off other teams at the college and pro levels to keep his assistants, a majority of whom are in their 30s and are dynamic recruiters and communicators. The old horse of the group is defensive coordinator Bill Clay, a 32-year NFL and college coaching veteran and one of the sharpest and most respected assistants in the business. He just received the first guaranteed contract of his career. Offensive coordinator Mike Gundy, a former OSU quarterback, is another big season from landing his own team, and special teams coach Joe DeForest and offensive line coach Chuck Moller turned down jobs in the offseason because of what they were building at OSU--and, let's face it, because of those guaranteed contracts.

"Can't put a price tag on that security," Clay says.

You can't tag commitment, either. Or how it filters down to the players and becomes the chemistry that fuels champions. Oklahoma State won eight games last season and is poised to make consecutive bowl appearances for the first time since 1987-88. The nonconference schedule (Wyoming, Southwest Missouri State, Louisiana-Lafayette, SMU) looks like a high school jamboree, and if the 'Pokes can get past Nebraska in the season opener at Lincoln, they will start 5-0 and could be working on a magical season behind the triple threat of quarterback Josh Fields, tailback Tatum Bell and wide receiver Rashaun Woods.

Right around the time Miles publicly announced the guaranteed deals for his assistants, he let loose with another secret: He and his wife, Kathy, are expecting their fourth child. At 49, he also has a new million-dollar contract and a team on the verge of something big.

Maybe some investments pay off after all.

E-mail your college football questions to mhayes@sportingnews.com, then check his mailbag, new every week at www.sportingnews.com/voice/ matt_hayes/mailbag.

M@IL BONDING

MATT HAYES ANSWERS YOUR QUESTIONS

I have a feeling the conference raiding isn't over. And I'm not talking about those little conferences that none of us really care about. What happens down the line with the ACC? Eleven teams doesn't seem like a good fit.

--Darren Hilbolt, Winston-Salem, N.C.

Darren: It all depends on the NCAA waiver the ACC needs to play a conference championship game with only 11 teams. The rule says a league must have 12 teams, but the NCAA could allow conferences with fewer members to play such a game to generate money. That new revenue could help temporarily placate the minor conferences, which at some point are going to use litigation to become part of the BCS show.

If the NCAA doesn't agree to the waiver, look for the ACC to immediately find another school. The possibilities are extensive, especially with powerful Miami aboard. The league is now strong enough to pluck a team from the SEC. It won't get Florida, the SEC's marquee team, but it definitely could make a push for Kentucky or South Carolina.

INSIDE DISH

By MATT HAYES

Forgotten amid the ACC-Big East brouhaha was the fate of Notre Dame. The Irish currently sit with an available at-large BCS bid and a fat NBC television contract. But the NBC contract expires after the 2005 season; so does the current BCS deal. The network already has said it wants Notre Dame beyond 2005, but how would NBC react if the independent Irish were eliminated from BCS proceedings? Don't think it's not possible. "That's certainly one scenario," says one BCS source, "but not the optimal one." It essentially comes down to who blinks first. The BCS could threaten Notre Dame by withholding its right to qualify for a BCS bid unless it joins a BCS conference. The Irish's likely response: Let's see you have a true national championship race without us. ... LSU coach Nick Saban's annual flirtations with the NFL already are an annoyance for folks in Baton Rouge. It got worse last week, when Saban grandstanded at a press conference about a football facility he was promised in 2000. "If it's important to have the coach here, then somebody ought to stand up and say, 'Well, we'd better do it for Coach because that's what he was told when he came here,'" Saban said. "I've been here three years, and I've been nice and patient about it. But it needs to be done." ... Washington is poised for a serious legal battle with former coach Rick Neuheisel. The university has hired two prominent Seattle attorneys to deal with Neuheisel's likely attempts to get out of repaying a $1.5 million loan made to him by the university last September and to secure a buyout of at least $2 million.... Kansas State, the king of nonconference cupcake games, is in negotiations to play I-AA Maine in 2005 or 2006. The Wildcats play I-AA McNeese State and Massachusetts this season and played I-AA Western Kentucky and Eastern Illinois last year. Three BCS-related words for K-State: strength of schedule.... More proof of the lowered expectations for the Alabama coaching job: Mike Shula will get a $50,000 bonus for winning six games this season and a one-year extension if the Tide wins seven. Six wins would have gotten any other post-Bear Bryant coach fired.... Last year, Central Florida coach Mike Kruczek boldly proclaimed that the Knights would win the MAC in their inaugural season, but they failed to reach the league championship game. On a recent booster club tour, he referred to Marshall fans as the "rednecks up in West Virginia." Wonder if those words will come back to haunt him November 19 when Marshall visits.... Think former Colorado QB Craig 0chs is second-guessing himself? He transferred to Montana midway through last season, looking for a fresh start away from hometown expectations in Boulder. But coach Joe Glenn has moved on to Wyoming, and Ochs now is listed as co-starter with JC transfer Jeff Disney, who redshirted last year.... June Jones' new contract at Hawaii, worth $800,000 a year through 2007, doubled his previous salary and ruffled a few state employees. But he soothed some skeptics by finally agreeing to terms with legendary high school coach Cal Lee. Lee, who was 241-32-5 in 21 seasons at Honolulu's St. Louis High and long rumored to be joining the Warriors, will coach linebackers.

SPEED READS

* The last time Alabama stumbled through probation, Auburn's coach then, Terry Bowden, couldn't sustain the initial boost on and off the field. But Tommy Tuberville is making huge strides. Auburn is TSN's preseason No.1 team and has sold out all of its home games before the start of the season for the first time in school history. All he has to do now is win them all. Or else.

* Colorado State coach Sonny Lubick is considering becoming the school's next athletic director. Read between the lines: The Mountain West wants to be part of the BCS, and having a football coach who also is an A.D. would give the conference a vocal, on-field proponent who just happens to own one of the BCS big boys (Colorado).