The Portland Trail Blazers have hired a new coach. Their deal could, you know, blaze a trail for other professional sports teams.
The Trail Blazers have signed long-time Minnesota Timberwolves assistant Micah Nori to a one-year deal with a team option for the next two seasons beyond that. It gives the team, now owned by Tom Dundon, the ability to make a year-to-year decision on Nori — and to owe him nothing if they decided not to continue the relationship.
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The question is whether the approach will catch on, with other NBA teams or in other sports. NFL head-coaching contracts are typically fully guaranteed, with some coaches having non-guaranteed option years at the back end of their deals.
For NFL coaches, one-year guarantees are incredibly rare. In 2014, Jets coach Rex Ryan agreed to a multi-year extension that guaranteed his pay through 2015 only. (Ryan was fired after the 2014 season.)
With the supply of capable coaches far outweighing the demand, NFL teams could decide to offer deals that guarantee only the first year on a take-it-or-leave-it basis. If that ever happened, far more candidates for head-coaching jobs would take it rather than leave it.
