High school mailbag: Will CMS keep losing coaches like Mike Palmieri due to low pay?
From time to time, we’ll answer reader’s questions about high school sports. Have a question? Email lwertz@charlotteobserver.com or DM at twitter.com/langstonwertzjr
Q. Mecklenburg County has lost another great coach. Did Mike Palmieri leave Mallard Creek because of money? And will CMS keep losing its best coaches?
It’s certainly possible. The district has lost some good football coaches over the years, including three of the best in CMS history: Tom Knotts of Independence, Aaron Brand of Vance and Palmieri of Mallard Creek. Pay and responsibilities have contributed to their departures.
Knotts retired from CMS 11 years ago and more than doubled his salary, which included his retirement earnings and new wages, when he started coaching at Dutch Fork High in Irmo, S.C. . His salary when he was hired was $104,142 plus playoff incentives, the Observer reported at the time. Knotts also said he would draw more than $3,000 per month from his N.C. retirement. At his new school he also had fewer teaching responsibilities, better facilities and a secretary.
Brand doubled his salary when he left for Irmo High South Carolina last year, the Observer reported in 2019. When he was hired, his salary was $100,000 and he didn’t teach any classes. He taught three at Vance.
Palmieri is getting a pay boost, too. According to Open Georgia, a State of Georgia public records database, Terry Crowder, the coach Palmieri is replacing at Denmark High in Alpharetta, Ga., made $98,967.36 in fiscal year 2019.
Palmieri spent 14 years coaching and teaching at CMS. According to numbers provided to the Observer by Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, a teacher with 14 years of experience and a bachelor’s degree earns $57,725 as a 10-month employee. Because football coaches, like Palmieiri, are paid on an 11-month scale, that 14-year employee would get $63,497.50. Add in the head football coaches stipend of $5,006.40 and that person would gross $68,504 annually.
When Palmieri announced his job change earlier this week, he told the Observer he is “definitely” getting a pay raise, but said the amount of his new income hasn’t been finalized.
Palmieri also said money was a factor in his decision to leave Mallard Creek for Denmark.
“Of course it’s a factor,” Palmieri said. “If CMS was paying better, I would look (at staying). But a coach stays at one place 13 years, it’s tough. But if CMS was paying what I couldn’t refuse, probably not (leave). I’ve had opportunities to take jobs that paid more than CMS. But my family is getting older and I have more needs, so it is a factor. Money is a big factor. There’s lots of great athletes in this city and lots of great people, but eventually coaches have to take care of their families.”
Q. How good is North Meck’s basketball team?
This week, the Vikings, who are deep and stocked with college recruits, moved into the ESPN national top 25 poll. Tristan Maxwell, a 6-2, 190-pound senior guard, is a clutch scorer who signed with Georgia Tech. Junior forward Chris Ford, who is 6-5 and 200 pounds, is a do-everything mid-major recruit, and 6-7, 235-pound sophomore power forward Jeremy Gregory provides the interior size and bulk North Meck has been missing of late. The Vikings, who haven’t been to the state finals in 14 years, check a lot of boxes and seem equipped to make a serious state title run.
Q. Why was Dorman allowed to potentially go to the GEICO national championship but in the past public school teams like Myers Park and Olympic were not?
Dorman is ranked No. 2 in ESPN’s national poll, which is rare for a public school team. Last week, the school won an appeal, a 17-0 vote from the S.C. High School League, to be allowed to play in the invitational tournament in New York April 2-4.
That’s usually a dead period for outside competition per state rules, which also prohibit teams from playing an “out-of-state game that is construed as a postseason or bowl game.”
After SCHSL commissioner Jerome Singleton initially denied Dorman an exception, it appealed to the executive committee. Dorman proposed to forfeit practice time during the September-October open period and up to three games during its 10-day summer allotment. This was done to negate any competitive advantage due to extra practices leading up to the GEICO tournament, which includes educational and cultural experiences like visiting famous New York landmarks. The tournament will pay Dorman’s expenses and provide a $10,000 check to the S.C. league.
In 2014 and 2016, Northside Christian’s and Providence Day’s boys went to the event, then called the DICKS’ Nationals after ending their seasons nationally ranked with state championships. Both are private schools governed by the N.C. Independent Schools Athletic Association.
But in 2015, the N.C. High School Athletic Association board of directors denied Myers Park’s appeal for its state championship girls basketball team to go to the DICKS’ Nationals. Myers Park was ranked No. 4 nationally. After a lengthy debate, the vote was unanimous.
Then-NCHSAA commissioner Davis Whitfield said the request was originally denied due to a rule that was then more than 40 years old, one that prevented teams from continuing to play after their N.C. sports season ends. After the appeal, Whitfield said the board felt there was more to consider than just the rule.
“This event has not been sanctioned by the NCHSAA nor by the National Federation, which also means there could be insurance ramifications,” he said via a statement. “The Board felt there were lots of layers to this other than just waiving the policy itself.”
That same year, Callaway (Miss.) High, ranked No. 4 among boys teams, couldn’t go because the Mississippi High School Activities Association wouldn’t approve a rule change to allow it. But Georgia’s high school sports association overturned an earlier decision to allow Wheeler High, another nationally ranked public school, to play.
It will be interesting, if this situation arises again, to see how the NCHSAA would handle it, given the new S.C. ruling.
Q. Why did the Observer remove the high school box scores?
They are back for the basketball playoffs. You can see the box scores from Wednesday’s games here.
Q. Are you going to do player of the week and Talking Preps in the spring sports season?
Definitely doing player of the week. We’ll have a separate baseball POTW and then an athlete of the week to encompass golf, lacrosse, soccer, softball, tennis, track. We’ll increase the number of finalists for the athlete of the week as well.
As for Talking Preps, not sure. We may continue it but not weekly.
Q. I thought the NBA All-Star Game was fantastic and loved how in the fourth quarter they played to a score, instead of to the clock. Do you think that would work in high school?
Very interesting question. The final quarter of Sunday’s NBA all-star game became pretty dramatic due to a rules change. The first team to 157 points won. It’s a version of the rules used in The Basketball Tournament, a single-elimination, 64-team nationwide tournament that pays $5 million to the winning team.
In The Basketball Tournament, the clock turns off at the first stoppage with under four minutes to play. You add eight points to the point total of the team that’s winning. That becomes the target score. The first team to hit that number wins.
So if the Magic is beating the Hornets 100-97, the first team to 108 wins.
I enjoyed the all-star game and how hard the guys played at the end, but I also know people are very resistant to change. I can see the benefits of this rule, like teams won’t be fouling intentionally to put guys on the free throw line nearly as much. For now, it might be cool to see it in various high school summer leagues or maybe even in one of the Phenom Hoops showcase events, which have used shot clocks, something not commonly used here. But with some tweaking through that type of experimentation, I wouldn’t be against it.
Q. Did you see the big fight between Jackson State and Prairie View A&M? I think teams should shake hands before the game, not after. Agree?
Actually I do. I’ve seen postgame handshakes cause major issues at high school events from football to soccer. Things can get so emotional at some of these games, and when a team hits a buzzer-beater or wins state, you have to temporarily tamp down those emotions — win or lose — and shake hands with the other team’s players. I’d bet the last thing the losing teams wants to do in those situations is shake.
So yes, would love to see a tradition of pre-game and not postgame shaking.
This story was originally published February 20, 2020 at 5:07 PM.
