 Mike HlasHi, I'm Gazette/TheGazette.com sports columnist Mike Hlas. This is the Hlog. We will meet here, discuss things, and then go [...] |
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Kirk Ferentz’s agent: At the top of his game
I somehow missed this in all the March Madness madness, but the Kansas City Star’s Bill Reiter had this story earlier this month on Neil Cornrich, the longtime agent of Iowa football coach Kirk Ferentz.
A few excerpts, with thanks to the Star and Reiter:
He has represented — or still does, because the secrecy makes it hard to know — football coaches Bill Belichick, the Stoops brothers, Jim Leavitt, Bo Pelini, NFL players Mike Vrabel, Dallas Clark and Aaron Kampman, and many, many others.
Neil Cornrich
He’s the most important sports figure you’ve never heard of, which is just the way he likes it. He rarely gives interviews, rarely allows the public to peer into his private world and, for all his cool and calm, seems a little perplexed he agreed at all to this intrusion. …
Think to do things like include a clause in Dana Stubblefield’s contract that bars his team from designating him with the franchise tag, setting up a financial windfall and that leads Len Pasquarelli to gush you look “like the smartest man in America.”
Make Mike Wahle the highest-paid interior lineman at the time with a $28.5 million deal. Land $42 million — including $27.5 over the first three years — for the Colts’ Dallas Clark, making him the highest-paid tight end ever, two years before he becomes a Pro Bowler. Point out to people this is 50 percent more money than the next closest player at that position.
Outmaneuver schools like Kansas State, so much so that a head coach with a 17-20 record is given a secret $3.2 million buyout. …
And what about Ferentz?
Kirk Ferentz wanted to be a head coach.
The Cleveland Browns were moving to Baltimore and his boss, Bill Belichick, was out of a job. Ferentz asked for advice and Belichick, before he left, told his young assistant: This is business. Get an agent.
Belichick gave two names. His own agent and Neil Cornrich.
Cornrich’s name stopped Ferentz cold. Was Belichick kidding? That guy was often loathed within the Browns organization, so much so they had an unprintable nickname for him.
“I’m kind of surprised you picked him,’” Ferentz remembered saying. “He said, ‘He’s one of the smartest guys out there.’ ”
Until then, Ferentz had intentionally kept Cornrich at arm’s length during his time in Cleveland. The agent, to put it bluntly, had handed the organization its lunch on several occasions.
Not so great if he’s the enemy. But not so bad when he’s your agent.
“His passion is negotiating,” says Ferentz, who two years later became the football coach at Iowa. “He is always on the cutting edge. Back in ’93 when free-agency began, he understood the way (it) was going to work and the bylaws of the NFL probably better then a lot of coaches and NFL executives did.”
That Ferentz started as a Cornrich adversary only to become a client and close friend is a telling transition.
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Cornrich is the man, what a lineup.
Nice column, Mike, that's interesting.
Does the NCAA ever raise any red flags about former Hawkeyes getting signed up by their head coach's agent? Seems harmless, but also seems like the ticky-tack stuff the NCAA likes to get involved with.
That's a good question, spotty.
I'd sincerely doubt there's a problem there. It's been out in the open for many years.
I'm frankly not sure how you would even enforce something like that. If the agent-player contact occurred after the player had finished playing for the school, then he/she is free to hire an agent. Almost every player trusts their coach's advice and seeks it. It only makes sense that if a coach likes their agent that they would encourage their players to use him (if they are looking for an agent). Just as Coach Belichick did with Coach Ferentz.
Now, if the coach tried to hook the player up with an agent before the player was done playing for the school, then issues arise…
Thanks for the link. Interesting read
Mike;
Very interesting. I wonder how many clients an agent can handle at one time. He must have assistants that help him, but the client still wants to work/speak with the "man". Your thoughts or knowledge?
In my opinion, an agent and a leech should be next to each other in the dictionary! They are both blood sucking animals, making a living at the expense of others! You can't blame the clients for looking for the best deals, but personally if I were an owner I would never hire a player or worker who needed an agent to do his thinking for him; what's next??? agents for sports writers?? There's a thought Mike!!
Hey Pugo, if I thought an agent could make me money, I'd hire one yesterday.
Trouble is, an agent needs something to sell. Well, not always.
If you were an owner who only hired players who negotiated for themselves, you'd have no team.
Ho..That’s right, got it
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Keep working ,great job!
gr8 resrch bro…
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