On Dec. 21 USA Today ran an update on the salaries paid by Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS)) college football programs to coaches. The complete list can be found by going to the following link http://www.usatoday.com/sports/college/football/story/2011-12-19/college-assistant-salaries-package/52123650/1.
There appears to be no end in sight. Washington State, Arizona and New Mexico all recently hired new head coaches. As part of the negotiations with the new coaches these schools agreed to increase the pay next season for assistant coaches by 41%, 38% and 17% respectively.
Clemson was concerned that its offensive coordinator, Chad Morris, might leave for a head coaching job. To counter this they have agreed to a new contract with him that will pay him $1.3 million per season for six years beginning in 2012. Arkansas just hired new offensive and defensive coordinators and increased the salaries of those positions by 19% over what was paid out in 2011.
In 2009 only five assistant coaches made over $500,000. This number increased to 23 this season. All of this comes at a time when only about 14% of the athletic departments at FBS schools make a profit; yet schools all over the map continue to shell out the money. In 2011 Arkansas State’s head coach, Hugh Freeze, earned $202,500, the lowest salary for an FBS head coach. After Freeze took the head coaching job at Ole Miss (with a base salary of $1.5 million) Arkansas State hired Auburn Offensive Coordinator, Gus Malzahn, at a base salary of some $850,000—an increase of well over 400% at a school that averaged just over 20,000 fans per home game this past season.
Readers, should anyone really care about this trend?
This is rather tircky since success has different meanings to different people and especially at different levels. When coaching children is it a success when only when you win, only when they learn, only when they are enjoying the activity or some combination? In my opinion for children improvement and enjoyment are more important than wins, but the competition is needed for an evaluation of the improvement.In that context a successful coach is one that makes coaching about teaching, that connects with the players, and most of all that looks at success from the perspective of the players and doesn’t make it an ego driven activity.
No one should choose a career because of money.
No one should choose a career because of money.