Alabama Coaching Salaries
by kleph on Jun 24, 2010 1:02 PM CDT
in Football
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Print"I don't hire anybody not brighter than I am. If they're not smarter than me, I don't need them." - Paul W. Bryant
The ability of a head coach to succeed in college football often has less to do with what players he puts on the field than the coaches he assembles to lead them. The sheer size of a successful program like Alabama makes it impossible for one coach to be involved in every aspect of the teams preparation.
And once a team starts winning with regularity, those assistants become highly coveted by other programs wanting to replicate that success. Nick Saban is certainly aware of this and every year he has successfully lobbied the University of Alabama trustees for raised to ensure the retention of his staff.
"Our guys do a great job, and they should be compensated for it," he said in April after the latest raises were approved. "I’m pleased that we’re in a position that we can pay them what they’re worth."
The SEC has seen the pay for assistants balloon dramatically in recent years and the growth isn't confined to the conference. The trend, in turn, has prompted folks such as The Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics to begin wringing their hands about how all this filthy lucre is destroying the sport.
In a report released last week the group bemoaned the increasing amount of athletic spending by NCAA football bowl championship series schools in comparison to academics (and conveniently overlooked the fact that the most profitable programs, such as Alabama's, give funding back to the academic side of the institution).
So, in an effort to keep the record straight, I've culled through various reports on the salaries for Alabama's coaching staff and collected the numbers I could find into one handy chart.
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Sources:
"Trustees approve raises for five Tide assistant football coaches" - The Mobile Press-Register, April 22, 2010
"2009 NCAA Football Coaches Contracts" - USA Today, Nov. 9, 2009
"Alabama football assistant coaches receive raises" - The Birmingham News, March 30, 2009
"Tide football staff gets pay increases" - The Huntsville Times, March 20, 2008
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Add all those numbers up and
it doesn’t even come close to hitting the amount of money UA makes on football alone. I agree that teachers should get paid more but its not the coaches fault that the football program makes millions…and the fact is, without them the program wouldnt be nearly as successful and we wouldn’t be able to invest back into the university.
"You stay bought into it when you see your opponent sucking air and physically failing and you're still fit and ready and you know you own his ass."- Corey Reamer speaking about Coach Cochran
coaches pay gets singled out...
because it’s seen out of whack with what teachers and administrators are paid. but the bulk of the athletic budget goes into items such as facility upgrades and expansion.
the tuscaloosa news had a very good article last week looking at the issue in the wake of the release of the knight report.
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As a faculty member at UA
I have no problem with the pay of these coaches. I always heard Coach Bryant earned $1 less than the UA President. Of course that was a different time. Also, the faculty are not “teachers.” Teaching is only 1/3 of our job description and quite frankly the easiest thing I do in a typical day.
I wouldn't piss off the boys from Alabama . . . DBT
There's
an old saying in business that those who “touch the money” are always going to out earn those who don’t. I’m not saying I agree or disagree, but from a business perspective, it makes sense.
"A demagogue is one who preaches doctrines he knows to be untrue to men he knows to be idiots." -H. L. Mencken
by Bens4vcobra on Jun 25, 2010 10:02 AM CDT up reply actions
CNS mentioned this at the P'cola caravan
he said IT REALLY PISSES HIM OFF when folks complain about how much the coaches make since the last time he checked, the football team had made the university 32 mill just this year. he was hilarious.
"You have to create 6 seconds of hell each play..."
Coach Nick Saban
Double that comment...
…and his salary….
"High standards come from passion within...." --Coach Nick Saban
by NiceLittleSaturday on Jun 24, 2010 9:55 PM CDT up reply actions
when will people realize fair market value?
It is simple supply and demand. If another school was willing to pay a professor 4mil and we wanted to keep them, we would pay 4 mil. But tuition would cost more. Some people forget that athletic departments function almost as separate entities. But these are usually egg heads who chose majors that were not in demand and are now bitching about not getting paid a lot with a philosophy or english degree. It has less to do with fairness or what is right and more to do with their own unhappiness with their pay scale.
One salary stod out to me
Scott Cochran @ $210K. Takes a certain kind of man to push this kids hard enough to get the results he’s gotten w/o pushing them over the edge. Give him a raise. Just saw Tiderin TN posted the same.
"Defense"
also note...
he’s the only one on the staff from before saban’s arrival.
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I thought he came with Saban?
per the article that is linked here:
http://www.rollbamaroll.com/2010/6/24/1534255/the-secs-strength-conditioning#comments
you are right...
i’ve edited with the correct date.
i got confused since the date of his hire is not the same as the date of the news item announcing it.
his resume as per the UA 2009 Football media guide:
Alabama, Strength and Conditioning Coach – 2007-present
New Orleans Hornets, Assistant Strength Coach – 2004-06
LSU, Assistant Strength Coach – 2003-04
LSU, Graduate Assistant – 2001-03
the one thing i’m still unclear on is when he became HEAD strength and conditioning coach since the information i have indicates he was hired as an assistant.
to make up for the error, i offer you this link to the extra quotes from cochran that didn’t make it into rapoport’s 2008 story.
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It's interesting
that we have a defensive mastermind in Nick Saban making top money, but right under him is Kirby Smart making $750,000. Obviously defense wins championships, and that’s what we’re shelling out top dollar for. Worth every dime, without a doubt.
"Let's go be champions, boys!" - Greg McElroy
(Formerly SugarBowl93)
by RememberTheRoseBowl on Jun 24, 2010 2:11 PM CDT reply actions
the concern is that someone will hire smart as a HC somewhere...
so to retain him as an assistant, he’s gotta be making the top tier for the position. keep in mind, he got the raise when georgia tried to lure him away at the DC spot and ended up paying another saban protegee, todd grantham…. wait for it, $750,000.
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Puts pressure on Jordan Jefferson and Aaron Murray
Richt and Miles have a lot riding on those guys this season, and if they fail, you know Smart and Muschamp’s numbers are on the respective AD’s speed dials. 750k can’t match a program with deep pockets that decides it’s time to “rebuild.”
"Yeah, it's Tennessee, that's the way it is sometimes." - Corey Zickefoose, Pulitzer Prize winner and robbery victim
"This is not the end. This is the beginning." - The Great and Powerful Saban
by Thomas Walker Esq on Jun 24, 2010 2:51 PM CDT via mobile up reply actions
First of all
Scott Cochran needs a rasie. Burns is also a bit underpaid. The rest look about right.
I don’t know what tenured profs make at Bama but they are not hurting. But really the discussion is insignificant because these coaches are putting 100,000 in the seats and if they win they get money, if they lose they get fired.
And finally, we might all think it would be great to be making 400k to coach football but this is a hard life. I’m not sure I’d trade the relatively comfortable life I have to work and live the way they live. They give up a lot to do their job. Now, I’m off work and I think I’m going to go play a little golf and be glad I don’t have to be working 12-14 hour days.
If we have to expand...let's keep it to 14.
Not
to mention…Nick Saban would be your boss.
"A demagogue is one who preaches doctrines he knows to be untrue to men he knows to be idiots." -H. L. Mencken
by Bens4vcobra on Jun 25, 2010 10:09 AM CDT up reply actions
Can we get Cochran and Burton a raise?
Cochran for obvious reasons, but also Burton for his mentoring of the backs and his excellent recruiting
"Hush now, let it go now. I know it's time to go. Time to let this fall from my hands" VNV Nation, "From My Hands"
by Stuck in the Plains on Jun 24, 2010 6:12 PM CDT reply actions
Isn't Curt Cignetti...
…our ‘recruiting coordinator’? I’d bump up that salary, too….
"High standards come from passion within...." --Coach Nick Saban
by NiceLittleSaturday on Jun 24, 2010 9:58 PM CDT reply actions
I know he's from Auburn, and that's what they do over there,
but why are we still paying James Willis?
because i was focusing on pay rates...
and not employment status. i’ve edited him out of the list but his info is here…
James Willis, Associate HC/Linebackers, hired Jan. 2009, $275,000
thanks for the catch.
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Just
out of curiosity (and I apologize in advance if one of the above articles mentions it), but do the assistant coaches get any kind of performance-based incentives like Saban does?
"A demagogue is one who preaches doctrines he knows to be untrue to men he knows to be idiots." -H. L. Mencken
yes.
if you follow back those links to the source articles, they discuss them. i left them out of my chart because it was whipping my ass to just figure out the salary numbers for the comparison.
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and i've seen some folks adding these numbers up...
and saying that’s the total cost of the coaching staff. which is incorrect. this list includes everyone associated with the football program who has had a salary approved by the trustees in the stories i provided the links for. i believe it encompasses all of coach saban’s official full time coaching staff but it clearly includes more than that. mike vollmar, for example, is obviously not a coach but works in an administrative capacity for the program.
i’m still doing the research to break down these numbers to the immediate coaching staff and ancillary support staff. the reason i posted it now is to collect all the info i had on hand and have it available.
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Alabama is one of the few schools where...
the excess cash in the sports department goes to the Schools general fund. Also that profit is after paying the school for the scholarships for each of those football programs. It is my understanding that niether of those practices are the norm, especially the profit each year going to the school’s general fund and the athletic department starting over from scratch. To me that makes Saban (and the coaches) an even better investment for the school as compared to the other BCS schools who generally have the AD separate except when it needs money.
if you got a link for that...
i’d be very appreciative.
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