So you want to become a millionaire, eh?
What do you do?
A) Feed the one-arm bandits at the nearest Indian casino.
B) Sell your soul to the Devil.
C) Play Powerball.
D) Become a private college coach or athletic director.
If you guessed “D”, then you guessed right.
A recent analysis of federal tax records by the Chronicle of Higher Education finds that 33 coaches and athletic directors at private colleges made $1 million minimum in 2011. Of those, 14 pulled down more than $2-million in total compensation.
The BMOC on private college campuses, typically, are coaches and athletics leaders who accounted for nearly 1 of 5 people whose pay totaled $1-million or more.
So who got the most bank, you ask? That’d be Duke University men’s basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski. He raked in $9,682,032. His pay included $5.6-million in bonus pay—the highest bonus paid out at a private university in 2011.
Of course, Krzyzewski, is a household name, leading the Blue Devils to four national titles and 11 Final Four appearances in more than three decades roaming the court.
The next four highest-paid private-college coaches in 2011:
- Gary Patterson, head football coach at Texas Christian, $3.1-million;
- John R. Thompson III, head men’s basketball coach at Georgetown, $2.7-million;
- Lane Kiffin, former head football coach at Southern California, $2.6-million; and
- Jay Wright, head men’s basketball coach at Villanova, $2.5-million.
The top-paid athletic directors, who happened to be the only ones who earned more than $1 million:
- Patrick C. Haden, of Southern California, $2.2-million;
- David Williams, of Vanderbilt, $1.2-million; and
- Notre Dame’s Jack Swarbrick, Notre Dame, $1.1-million.
To learn more about all 203 private-college employees who made at least $1 million in 2011, click here.
To use the Chronicle database, click here. Results for coaches and athletic directors can be found by searching each institution’s president and clicking on the “Compare key employees” tab.