Brian Mull - Peterson needs to show he can turn UNCW around

Published: Saturday, March 30, 2013 at 4:02 p.m.
Last Modified: Saturday, March 30, 2013 at 4:02 p.m.

Four neat paper stacks covered Buzz Peterson's desk earlier this week. Each represented a pressing task.


Buzz Peterson is believed to be the highest-paid coach in the Colonial Athletic Conference, scheduled to make $430,000 in the new contract year that begins Monday. Associated Press file photo

The UNCW men's basketball coach has three vacancies on his coaching staff and two on his roster. Resumes, recruiting reports, applications, recommendations, transcripts and whatnot claimed half the desk space.

Scheduling, a chore once handled by recently released associate head coach Jamie Kachmarik and not yet completed for the 2013-14 season, received its own quadrant. The final corner was devoted to Keith Rendleman, the school's rebounding king, who is weighing agent offers and professional possibilities, under Peterson's guidance.

Peterson took this job three years ago and has not met internal or external expectations. Losses have outnumbered victories two-to-one and the inherent challenges were more than he realized when he accepted then-athletic director Kelly Mehrtens' gaudy offer on the heels of a whirlwind courtship where the bag of Benjamins got bigger by the hour.

He arrived with a history of not planting his feet in the same place very long. But on the day he was introduced in the Golden Hawk room, he told supporters he was tired of moving his family. He wanted to grow roots here, revive a once proud program in a mid-major conference that was strong enough to put multiple teams into the NCAA tournament.

Peterson signed a contract that paid him more than the median salary in the CAA, ratcheting up the scrutiny from day one. With George Mason, Old Dominion and VCU leaving the conference since last May, he's believed to be the highest-paid coach in the now nine-team conference, scheduled to make $430,000 in the new contract year that begins Monday.

He told me he wants to finish this rebuilding project, see the resurgence through, resuscitate the program. He says he feels support from Chancellor Gary Miller and athletic director Jimmy Bass.

Peterson felt the recent widespread changes were necessary. The time had come to inject new life into the program, shake up his staff, change the culture, etc.

Was it a move born of desperation? Maybe. Peterson needed to send a concrete sign that he was fed up with losing. Road game misery, back-to-back 20-loss seasons and the graduation of a two-time All-CAA player had some fans barking for Peterson's dismissal.

The terms of his contract made that unrealistic. If UNCW terminates the contract without cause, the university is on the hook for the $1.3 million he's set to earn over the next three years. It doesn't have $1.3 million lying around and no deep-pocketed boosters eager to stroke a buyout check. He can't be reassigned to another position on campus either, the dubious fate his predecessor, Benny Moss, endured before eventually accepting a negotiated buyout.

And, really, Peterson can't afford to leave.

Granted, as long as his former college roommate owns the Charlotte Bobcats, there will be rumors of his return to that struggling NBA franchise to serve in a front office capacity. Perhaps that's still an option. But if Peterson opts to bail, it's going to cost him.

First, he's unlikely to land another job where he could earn a similar salary, even working for Michael Jordan. And, were he to depart before June 1 of this year, he'd owe UNCW $300,000.

That's one reason he's been grinding lately. Why he planned to remain in his office until 7 on the evening we met earlier this week. Why he's been on the road recruiting for much of the last month. Why he hoped a particular team or two lost in the NCAA tournament this weekend so he could move on with interviewing and hiring assistants.

The phone kept ringing and those paper stacks were sure to grow. UNCW needs Peterson to turn the program around and Peterson needs to show he can. If not, his days as a head college coach are probably done, and the Seahawks are just floundering about in a one-bid league with no true rival, trying to become relevant again.


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