Athletic director Chris Hill visited football coach Ron McBride in McBride's office Tuesday afternoon. Afterward, McBride said his contract, up for extension, was among the things discussed and that he is optimistic agreements will be reached by his self-imposed deadline of Friday. McBride said he'll pay attention to the dealmaking — which is being done by attorneys for himself and for the school — and if nothing happens by his deadline, he'll devote his resources to coaching and not worry about it.
McBride, who is under contract through 2001, clearly doesn't want to go into the season without a contract extension.
For this renegotiation, ongoing for 10 months now, McBride was advised by friends to hire an Eastern attorney who has done contracts for a number of big-name coaches, and that attorney found a few things in McBride's old contract that he wanted to change.
Money may also be an issue as many Mountain West coaches make in the $350,000 to $400,000 range, and that's what Hawaii of the WAC is paying, too. McBride was among finalists for the Hawaii job in December 1998 before taking his name out of contention because recruiting season had started.