College coaching salaries

[rwsaunders]

I spent a few days this week with a client in Baton Rogue and of course, the big news was Brian Kelly coming to Tigerland for $100M. Something like $9.5M/year, a $500K raise every year, $1.2M for a house, 2 cars and 50 hours of private jet use/year…that’s what was published, so who knows what else lurks out there. The top ten college football coach’s salaries were published as well and #10 was making $7.5M/year plus percs. Hell, Stanford’s football coach is making $9M and I wonder how that compares to a top researcher’s earnings in Palo Alto? They don’t even mention the trickle down salaries of the other coaching staff members. Nuts I tell you.

On a side note, I’m going to send a letter to the editor of the student newspaper and suggest that they take advantage of the spell check option on Word…

[Tim Porter]

RW, they probably can't affod that spell check option. . . .

[claritycycler]

A coach at a bigtime program is basically a CEO, top level football is a huge business/moneymaker. That said imo it's still insane, then there's the ongoing discussion about the relatively free labor the athletes provide to fuel the machine.

[monadnocky]

I wish I was affoded such admiration.

[JoB]

A coach at a bigtime program is basically a CEO, top level football is a huge business/moneymaker. That said imo it's still insane, then there's the ongoing discussion about the relatively free labor the athletes provide to fuel the machine.

I thought so as well, but then I learned that this is not actually the case. AFAIK, many D-1 programs barely scrape by, even athletically successful ones.

[claritycycler]

..many D-1 programs barely scrape by, even athletically successful ones.

So true. I'm referring to the elite of D1, being a D1 school does not mean its a "bigtime program" or even close to it.

[echappist]

So true. I'm referring to the elite of D1, being a D1 school does not mean its a "bigtime program" or even close to it.

Only issues is that even the head coach of schlub programs are often the highest paid public employee of that state.

All this should be spun-off and privatized.

[monadnocky]

Only issues is that even the head coach of schlub programs are often the highest paid public employee of that state.

All this should be spun-off and privatized.

Yup. As of 2020, all but about ten states' (you can probably identify which ten) highest paid public employees were basketball or football coaches. For the usual suspects, by a lot.
Absurd.

[Saab2000]

Any one of us who tunes in on Saturday or watches college sports (I don't watch much, but more than nothing) is helping to feed that beast.

[echappist]

Any one of us who tunes in on Saturday or watches college sports (I don't watch much, but more than nothing) is helping to feed that beast.

I used to love it. I then realized what a sham NCAA sports is, even in the Ivy League and for non-revenue-generating sports.

The only thing I have “watched” in the last ten years was an accidental glimpse of a Notre Dame home game in fall of 2020, and i stopped at my channel surfing only b/c i was a bit surprised at the spectacle of a full stadium at the height of the pandemic (thankfully, most students were masked, but i think they rushed the field afterwards).

[Saab2000]

I used to love it. I then realized what a sham NCAA sports is, even in the Ivy League and for non-revenue-generating sports.

The only thing I have “watched” in the last ten years was an accidental glimpse of a Notre Dame home game in fall of 2020, and i stopped at my channel surfing only b/c i was a bit surprised at the spectacle of a full stadium at the height of the pandemic (thankfully, most students were masked, but i think they rushed the field afterwards).

Yeah, I watch almost no college sports. It’s clearly an exploitative entity with wildly inflated coaching pay and essentially free labor. The student athletes are an expendable commodity.

I greatly prefer Sunday football and the Packers specifically, but even that interests me less and less each year. At least in the NFL the players are getting paid to be exploited and have their lives ruined by joint and head injuries.

[Scott G.]

IIRC the "Management Secrets of the late Roman Emperors" seminar I attended
back in 20AD, a key learning was "III. Budget Bread & Circuses First"

[vertical_doug]

A coach at a bigtime program is basically a CEO, top level football is a huge business/moneymaker. That said imo it's still insane, then there's the ongoing discussion about the relatively free labor the athletes provide to fuel the machine.

I don't think argument holds. A CEO of a company with $140mm in annual revenue and no profit, is not being paid $10,000,000. I think what you will find is in actuality, the CEO pay is a smaller % of annual revenue.

[thollandpe]

Only issues is that even the head coach of schlub programs are often the highest paid public employee of that state.

Yup. As of 2020, all but about ten states' (you can probably identify which ten) highest paid public employees were basketball or football coaches. For the usual suspects, by a lot.
Absurd.

And they often qualify for those states' retirement programs, which gives them a portion of that exorbitant salary. Or they get some massive portion as severance pay when they're asked to leave. Obscene.

[echappist]

Yeah, I watch almost no college sports. It’s clearly an exploitative entity with wildly inflated coaching pay and essentially free labor. The student athletes are an expendable commodity.

I greatly prefer Sunday football and the Packers specifically, but even that interests me less and less each year. At least in the NFL the players are getting paid to be exploited and have their lives ruined by joint and head injuries.

I eschew from the latter as well, as those are almost always funded by tax payers. We are moving to the Milwaukee area next year, and thankfully, all those stadia levies have phased out. I certainly would not be amused to pay them for the benefit ofsome rich billionaire owner.

/topic drift

[echappist]

IIRC the "Management Secrets of the late Roman Emperors" seminar I attended
back in 20AD, a key learning was "III. Budget Bread & Circuses First"

Except today, there’s very little budget for bread, but the circus must go on.

[72gmc]

I’m an alum of the University of Washington, which is paying its former coach 9.9M to leave. I am nowhere near the fan I used to be.

I do get sarcastic joy from the new contracts. Use of the U’s private jet is now written into the contract? Saves it from becoming a scandal later, I guess. I also noted USC’s apparent agreement to buy the Oklahoma homes (plural) still owned by Riley at some large measure above market value. That’s a creative cost of living adjustment.

[Moke]

I think it is crazy town to spend that kind of money. on a coach....but Not many CEOs can put 100,000 butts in seats most every Saturday in the fall. There is so much money and exploitation going on in the NCAA it boggles my mind. People paint rooms in their houses school colors, fly flags, have shirts, ties, hats, coats, slippers, bathrobes and a team bar in their house to root for their school. I have even seen $500k plus busses to party in at tailgates. Winning teams sure make happy donors. At a lot of schools you have to donate to the AD dept in addition to paying for your tickets. Crazy stuff out there, but it sure is a pastime for a lot of folks. I get donor solicitations from college several times a year. I give to the school but not the AD.

[bigbill]

My cousin's kid played for Kliff Kingsbury at Texas Tech. He only had one good season capped off with a win in the Holiday Bowl. The Arizona Cardinals hired him as a head coach and he's done okay, but I'm not sure how they justified his salary.

[zachateseverything]

Coaches salaries are insane. Boosters at the big programs can throw all kinds of money at whoever they want. The issue though is that raises the raises the expectations at every school in the country. all but about 20 athletic divisions in the US operate at a loss. you can't tell me that it's in the best interest of the University of Akron student body to pay the head football coach $500k-$1M a year.

and don't even get me started on stadium subsidies.