The secrets hidden in coaching carousel expenses—and Bill Belichick's swanky hotel snafu

Hello!
Welcome to FOIAball’s first weekly newsletter. We’ll be in your inbox every Thursday. If you have anything you think we should look into, hit us up: [email protected] 

In today’s issue, we’re covering: 

• Who Boise State really targeted in 2023

• Expenses big-name headhunters don’t want you to see

• Bill Belichick’s swanky hotel snafu

• Mike Elko’s motivational movie

• And a tomato risotto perfect for August football

The secrets hidden in headhunters’ expenses

When Boise State fired head coach Andy Avalos in November 2023, its search for a replacement, in a field typically mired by leaks, was rather tight-lipped.

Only a few candidates burbled to the surface, including former BSU head coach Bryan Harsin and NFL offensive coordinator Kellen Moore. 

Neither of whom Boise State did its final diligence on. 

Coaching vacancy rumors are the sport’s juiciest gossip, but the process is supposed to be kept under wraps. 

While athletic directors can’t control agents fluffing clients in the media, they do attempt to obfuscate just about everything else. 

The best way is to employ third-party headhunters (who prefer the term executive search firms) to create distance, paying in excess of $100,000 a search for what often amounts to a week-long process. 

That rate isn’t the end of it. These are consultants, after all. Where there’s money to be leeched, they’ll find it. 

Tucked in the contracts of the industry’s most prominent firms—TurnkeyZRG, Collegiate Sports Associates, DHR Global—are clauses that put state universities on the hook for expenses related to searches.

In those lay fascinating secrets, like who Boise State was really eyeing. 

Headhunter extraordinaire Glenn Sugiyama, whose name always appears as the leaves fall down and the losses ramp up, said in an interview with The Athletic that “Confidentiality is a large part of what we bring to the table.”

His firm, DHR, practices what it preaches. In response to a request to Bowling Green State University filed by FOIAball for the firm’s role in hiring Eddie George, DHR asked the school to redact the rate it charged as well as all 22 of its expenses.

In its contract, DHR noted, “any direct, out-of-pocket expenses such as candidate and consultant travel … are confidential and proprietary.” It added that keeping such expenses private are essential to “DHR's willingness to enter into this agreement, and shall not be disclosed.”

Oh well. Can’t win ‘em all. 

Except you can. Ohio law makes clear exemptions to public records can’t be carved out in contracts with third parties and invoices are public records. FOIAball asked DHR if they’d be willing to skip the whole court thing and hand them over. 

But as we wait for a response, let’s spring $1,900 for flights from Chicago to Eugene, buy the in-flight WiFi each time ($24), rent a Chevy Trailblazer ($185), and slap down a contract for $75,000 on the desk of the Oregon State Beavers’ athletic director.

And mention that fee does not include those above expenses, others soon to be incurred, and a $9,000 administrative fee to cover DHR’s “computer services.”

When Jonathan Smith departed Oregon State in 2023, plucked away after a Sugiyama hire imploded at Michigan State (more on that shortly), John Canzano of Bald Face Truth wrote that the top headhunter hightailed it to Corvallis to help.

He and another co-worker holed up in a hotel paid for by the school. While there, the duo dined at both Local Boyz Hawaiian, specializing in sweet Shoyu chicken, and American Pizza Pie, Tastiest Pizza Pie on the Planet (whose name and slogan give us pause about the validity of said claim). 

The priciest meal expensed was $268 at a French-Southern fusion restaurant, where the two dined with Oregon State AD Scott Barnes the night before news of Trent Bray’s hire broke. 

In a query from the school about the meal possibly running afoul of state laws on expensing booze, DHR mildly threw Barnes under the bus. 

“The meal at Castor did include alcohol,” a DHR employee wrote. “HOWEVER, the client was present at the meal and requested Glenn put the expense on his card, meaning the client approved it being added.”

“Glenn doesn't have itemized receipts,” the assistant noted. But at least that expense could be pegged to an actual restaurant. A different charge at the comped hotel was justified on an entirely theoretical basis. 

“I can imagine Glenn & Dan shared a meal in their room one evening while organizing details for the interview process,” DHR wrote. 

But the Beavers got off light. The additional expenses amounted to around $12,300, half of what the firm billed Michigan State in 2020. Sugiyama, who attended MSU, didn’t give any hometown discount. Instead, he charged an initial fee of $100,000 and asked for a bonus before the work started. 

“At the sole discretion of Michigan State University, an optional bonus can be paid to DHR International at the conclusion of the search for a placement deemed impactful to Michigan State University and the future of their football program.”

We can all agree Mel Tucker was impactful to the program. A job well done. But finding such a stalwart wasn’t free. Sugiyama invoiced a personal tab of $8,323, including $6,000 in hotel and $650 in meals. 

FOIAball followed up with Michigan State’s records department to see if there were itemized receipts attached to those expenses, but, alas. 

The school also paid DHR its requisite 12% administration fee (this time $12,000) and at least $3,000 for conducting a background check. 

Tucker’s three-ish-season stay in East Lansing absolved DHR, which guarantees its choice for two years, of having to find the school’s next coach for free.

But we here at FOIAball feel that DHR could at least reimburse the background check fee. 

To replace Tucker, the Spartans turned to Chad Chatlos of TurnkeyZRG, this time getting a slightly better deal at $80,000. While that figure has been reported, Chatlos’ additional fees have not; the school reimbursed $3,257 (again… not itemized) in personal expenses and another $4,000 in background checks. 

Two searches in three years for $180,000 seems steep, but not compared to Chatlos’ effort at Rutgers, where an original $88,000 contract eventually got approved to finish at $175,000. 

In 2019, the Scarlet Knights brought aboard Chatlos, whose firm at the time, Ventura Partners, was later acquired by TurnkeyZRG. 

The school had just fired Chris Ash, with his now-quaint buyout of $8.9 million. To conduct a search that ended in Rutgers hiring ex-Rutgers head coach Greg Schiano, the school sprang for first-class flights for Chatlos, part of $6,794 in billed expenses.

Ventura also brought aboard a crisis communications firm during the process, for reasons unknown, which cost an additional $15,000. 

During the process, the school paid $1,100 to fly “Candidate A” to Chicago for an interview, as well as another $337 for a round-trip limo ride, because Tuscaloosa lacks an actual airport. 

That candidate was most certainly Butch Jones, who was working with Nick Saban at the time.

Jones was not hired, the school ending back where it already once started. But you can’t say Ventura wasn’t thorough. Chatlos’ team conducted background checks on at least 14 candidates, billing the school $30,000 in vetting.

Background checks that bring us back to Boise State.

During its 2023 search, Drew Turner of Collegiate Sports Associates inked a $70,000 deal and set up shop at a Westin Hotel in Denver. 

It cost the Idaho university $1,000 to fly him there (plus $79 for a seat upgrade—the horrors of a consultant in basic economy)‚ and another $3,700 in hotel fees.

These high hotel bills typically include conference room rentals, where these executives conduct interviews and get bilked for incidentals (like Rutgers, which paid $324 for a gallon of coffee, two pitchers of iced tea, and nine Diet Cokes).

Holed up next to the Rocky Mountains, Turner charged for background searches on four candidates. 

Boise State got off light, at around $200 per search. That’s compared to the $2,000-3,000 apiece invoiced by TurnkeyZRG and DHR. Even better, the identities of those searches were pleasantly not redacted. 

So who was Boise State really looking at?

CSA conducted one check on then-unemployed Bronco Mendenhall and two each (a general and a social vet) on three others. They were: Sean Lewis, who was with Deion and Shedeur Sanders in Colorado; Brent Vigen at Montana State; and Matt Entz, then at North Dakota State. 

Meaning neither Moore nor Harsin appeared in the final mix. 

Just like Oregon State and Rutgers, the hire came from within. Interim coach Spencer Danielson earned the full-time gig. We’d say all that money wasn’t well spent, but we won’t.

At least not until we learn what Glenn Sugiyama has to drink during the process. 

Bill Belichick’s swanky hotel snafu

When Bill Belichick kicked off the press tour for his new book, The Art of Winning, the University of North Carolina had no idea that it might cost them. 

Quite literally. 

In April, his girlfriend-cum-press secretary, Jordon Hudson, started a week-long news cycle by interrupting a CBS interview after Belichick was asked questions about their relationship. 

On May 16, Belichick went on Good Morning America, sitting down with Michael Strahan to continue to promote the book. 

The interview occurred at GMA’s New York studios. The conversation barely touched on UNC and was mainly to hype a personal venture he profits from. But Belichick put a hotel stay on his corporate card.

And where did he sleep the night before his nine-minute interview? The Four Seasons, most likely the one in FiDi, as the show films in SoHo. 

The cost for a night? $2,666.41.

If you are wondering, and we know you are wondering, that price syncs up to the hotel’s Liberty Suite, which the Four Seasons says is “ideal for the traveling executive.” 

But unlike Belichick’s claim that Tony Dokoupil violated the terms of their interview agreement, in this case, UNC said it got a retraction.

When reached by FOIAball, UNC Senior Associate AD Robbi Pickeral Evans said the school was reimbursed for the charge, noting that it's "not unusual to have staff members occasionally use the wrong credit card."

We’ve asked for a copy of the reimbursement form to confirm.

Mike Elko’s motivational movie

Texas A&M kicks off this season ranked 19th in the AP Top 25, a spot ahead of where it started last season.

The Aggies open light, hosting UTSA. But last season, it had a bruiser, playing No. 7 Notre Dame. 

The evening before the first game of the season, a clash of two top-ranked teams, presents a big question for a coach. What movie do you watch? 

Do you need a violent kick in the butt? A sappy inspirational tale? Some light-hearted comedy to stay loose? 

The questions are irrelevant; the answer is always Braveheart. Just watch Braveheart.

But according to a calendar released to FOIAball, Elko screened Deadpool & Wolverine. 

We are assuming this was for the entire team and not just him, but we declined to ask Texas A&M to clarify. The image of Elko alone, having carved out some time before a big game for a mid Marvel flick, is too good to ruin by some finicky thing like reality.

FOIAball, when watching at home, fell asleep midway through. So if there was some secret motivational message, it was lost on both us and the Aggies, who fell to the Irish 23-13. 

A tomato risotto perfect for August football

Football season kicks off for real this weekend. (Why am I saying this? You know this.)

When the sport comes around, there’s nothing more I love than prepping labor-intensive, filling food, an early game playing in the background as my dish simmers in anticipation of a huge match-up. 

Football is made for hearty fall feasts, but there’s a problem with that. The season starts in dang August. In my neck of the woods, it was just 100 degrees.

So how do you satiate the urge for stew and not keep your stove on all day? How do you make something dense and nourishing while still feeling like you’ve respected these last bits of summer? 

Tomato risotto. Replacing half the stock in a risotto with blitzed-up summer tomatoes combines the best of both worlds. Hearty, yet refreshing. Fresh, but still futzed about. Involved, but no longer than 45 minutes.

Shove some tomatoes you got at the farmers’ market (big ripe beefsteaks or already leaking heirlooms) into a big jar and liquify with an immersion blender. This is the most satisfying way to do it, and we cannot recommend highly enough, but you can also hit them with a food processor or blender, run them through a mill, or just chop them to absolute pieces.

You’ll get a gorgeous puree (which, if you feel inclined, can be poured over vodka and ice or splashed into a beer while you cook). 

Start with a normal risotto. I sauteed onion and some squash that was about to turn, but use whatever you got or bought. Cook it in too much olive oil or, after the veggies have softened, add more to the pot before tossing in your rice. People make a big deal about toasting rice before making risotto, but really, as long as you stir it five or six times on high heat, it’ll be good. It isn’t really about toasting, but getting each grain coated in fat. So add another glug of oil.  

Ladle hot stock or water (this dish can very easily be vegan) onto the rice and stir until the liquid is absorbed, then do it again and again. And again and again. When the rice is about two-thirds of the way done, switch to the tomatoes. Don’t heat those first, as that will kill the fresh vibe, but otherwise add in the same fashion. Ladle and stir, ladle and stir. Your risotto will swiftly turn a gorgeous, lush coral and deepen in redness as you add more. 

Keep adding and stirring until you vibrate in ecstasy over its crimson beauty. Only then is your rice close. Drop in some hunks of butter and grated Parm, but not as much as a normal risotto. You don’t want to kill the light and fresh vibe.

Finish as you please, but for FOIAball, we plucked cherry tomatoes and basil from the roof garden, diced and chiffonaded respectively, and plunked them on top. Then we added big flakes of salt and a heavy pour of spicy olive oil. 

You will want to live, you’ll want to die. It’s summer, it’s fall. It’s the start of football. 

And it’s the end of the first official FOIAball newsletter. Thank you for making it this far. If you loved it, please share it. 

We’ll see you next week. Will some other school be very mad at us? Probably.

But that’s our promise.

Headhunters image via Broncos News News Nation/YouTube, Rutgers Football/YouTube, KGW News/YouTube

Belichick image via The Pivot Podcast/YouTube