No Subterfuge At Work Price Just Wants His Contract To Be Right

One can only guess what might be keeping Mike Price and Rick Dickson from reaching a formal agreement on Price’s glittering new contract.

The possibilities are intriguing.

Perhaps Price is holding out for snow tires on the Ferrari, and Dickson has decided to wait out the winter. Or maybe WSU’s 10th-year football coach has demanded prime rib at his weekly press conference - there’s an idea - instead of the usual grub from Godfathers.

Or could it be that Price, flattered by WSU’s multi-year offer, has upped the ante further yet, setting his sights on Forbes’ annual ranking of the world’s leading tycoons?

Help us out here, Coach Rockefeller.

“It’s none of those kinds of things that are holding up the contract, I assure you,” Price said Monday, in between recruiting trips. “I’ve got enough color TVs and cars. I just want to make sure that the contract is the right way, because if it’s going to be an extended contract, I’m going to be living with it for a while.”

WSU is offering a long-term extension that will pay Price roughly $450,000 annually, $200,000 more than what he earns on a deal that runs through 2000. WSU’s offer is for more than five years.

By all accounts, the demands of recruiting have made it difficult for Price and Dickson to hammer out the details. National letter-of-intent day is Feb. 4.

“I want to make sure that we just take the time,” Price said. “I’m not going anywhere and Rick’s not going anywhere. I want to get recruiting wrapped up.

“However,” he offered, “I probably will be meeting with Rick today (Monday) and going over some things, and then I want an attorney to look over my contract.”

With 20 recruiting commitments lined up and Price’s oldest son, Eric, having become a recent addition to the staff, there seems little doubt as to whether Price will return for his 10th season at WSU.

And so the waiting continues.

“I don’t think I could accurately say when it could be,” Price said, “but I’m optimistic about it and the process is continuing.”

Coaching note

Eric Price, hired to fill the vacancy created when running backs coach Buzz Preston became offensive coordinator at UNLV, will assist his father in coaching quarterbacks.

“He helped with the quarterbacks at Northern Arizona, so he’ll be able to relieve me of a little bit of pressure there,” said Mike Price, who has served as his own QB coach since 1991. “And maybe, eventually, he can take over that position.”

Eric Price joins the staff just as his younger brother, Aaron, is leaving.

Aaron Price, the former WSU kicker and a graduate-assistant last season, has landed a job coaching quarterbacks at a Division II school in the Midwest. An official announcement is expected this week.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Photo