We run into a number of agents in this business - if you want advice, call us anytime - and Steve Berkowitz's recent piece for USA Today does a great job illuminating the work good agents do for their clients, and vice versa.
In looking at the bonuses college coaches are set to receive, Berkowitz noted that Louisville head coach Bobby Petrino is in line for a $500,000 bonus as long as the Cardinals post an APR of 935 or higher. A 935 in the eyes of the NCAA is the equivalent of scoring a 70 in middle school, a simple, passing grade. The Cardinals posted a 947 in the most recent APR report. And here's the kicker: scores are reported at the beginning of next week, which means the players Petrino signed in February will not factor into Louisville's score. Petrino is set to score half a million bucks off of Charlie Strong's work. Now that is an agent earning his fee.
On the other hand there's poor Trent Miles at Georgia State. Miles left Indiana State for a program coming off a 1-10 season while moving up to FBS. Miles gets a paltry $1,000 bonus for every Panthers win. Winning one game at Georgia State is the equivalent of winning three or four elsewhere.
Let's put it this way: it's about 500 times harder to win a game at Georgia State than it is to make sure players you didn't recruit keep an APR score you didn't build from careening into the ditch.
There are a number of other great nuggets in Berkowitz's piece (including the fact that 10 months later Dino Babers still hasn't signed his contract with Bowling Green???), we encourage you to check it out.