Dickson Rejects Tcu, Big Money WSU A.D. Says $3 Million Offer Tempting, But Came At The Wrong Time
Washington State University athletic director Rick Dickson reluctantly declined a seven-year, $3 million offer from Texas Christian University after news of the impending deal threatened to tarnish WSU’s first Rose Bowl appearance in 67 years.
Dickson, who had denied rumors linking him to TCU as recently as Wednesday afternoon, confirmed them Thursday after a television station in Texas made the speculation public.
“I couldn’t do it if it was going to be a bloodletting thing here,” said Dickson. “The issue with Mike Price and his contract, and being in the face of the Rose Bowl, I just couldn’t do it.”
If news of the deal had not become public, and had TCU been willing to delay its announcement until after the Jan. 1 Rose Bowl, Dickson would have signed the contract.
In doing so, he probably would have become the nation’s highest-paid athletic director, since none of his counterparts is believed to earn more than $300,000 annually.
According to sources familiar with TCU’s offer, Dickson would have received:
$250,000 in base salary, compared to the $140,000 he earns at WSU.
$75,000 per year in potential bonuses. $58,000 in relocation compensation (in addition to moving costs).
$31,250 annually in annuities, more than double his current retirement plan.
a signing bonus of $10,000.
Membership in the Colonial and Rivercrest country clubs.
Additionally, Dickson’s four children, aged 11-15, could have had their college tuition covered standard practice at many private universities.
“I’m not a huge material guy,” Dickson said, “but to know that the minute I sign that, that my four kids’ college education was done at a private institution, that weighed on me pretty heavy.”
TCU also offered a more favorable location, since Fort Worth is only a 4-hour drive from Oklahoma, where Dickson’s relatives reside.
The deal seemed too good to refuse, but Dickson said the timing could not have been worse. He is currently negotiating a new contract with Price, and he has been consumed by Rose Bowl preparations. To leave now would put WSU in a difficult position.
“I can’t do this to this place,” Dickson said. “This place has treated me great. And in one of their finest moments, to pull the rug out … I don’t want to be the story.”
TCU wanted to make a hire quickly, in part because of public pressure to name a successor to football coach Pat Sullivan, who resigned last month.
Against that backdrop, TCU approached Dickson a few days before WSU clinched a Rose Bowl berth by beating Washington on Nov. 22.
Discussions intensified when TCU regents spent several hours visiting with Dickson and his wife, Brenda, in the couple’s Pullman home. The next day, TCU presented Dickson with its mind-boggling offer.
Within a week, the Dicksons were being whisked around the TCU campus.
The deal was done, or so Dickson thought. Everything changed, Dickson said, when news of his impending hire made Wednesday’s evening news in Fort Worth.
“If it becomes public, it takes precedence over what I’m doing now, and if it can’t be deferred, then we can’t do it,” said Dickson, who came to WSU from the University of Tulsa in 1994. “I can’t live with it.”
In an effort to keep the TCU offer secret, Dickson lied to reporters Wednesday.
“I felt bad all yesterday,” Dickson said. “I wasn’t completely forthright, but I didn’t know this thing was coming to a head like it was.”
Dickson defends ticket policy
Dickson, who has come under increasing criticism for the athletic department’s handling of Rose Bowl tickets, spent part of Wednesday on the telephone with disgruntled supporters.
“When you get through talking to them, they have a better sense, a better understanding,” Dickson said. “But right now, this isn’t a wonderful thing, because you’ve got 67 years of not dealing with this.
“People in Michigan know,” he added. “They have 100,000 season-ticket holders and more than 40,000 students, but they only get 27,000 tickets.”
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