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College football coaching salaries

Interesting look at the diversity of $$$ in todays college football

It is a pretty wild disparity. And when people complain about our coaches, I feel like a lot of them don't realize just how underpaid our assistant coaches and coordinators are when compared to FBS gigs.
 
It is truly amazing that the highest paid state employee in 49 states is a college football coach.

Every single coach in college football is so over paid it is gross. No way a rational person can justify their compensation for what they actually do.
 
It is truly amazing that the highest paid state employee in 49 states is a college football coach.

Every single coach in college football is so over paid it is gross. No way a rational person can justify their compensation for what they actually do.
Compare it with necessary jobs in our society and their compensation is even more disgusting. A cardio thoracic surgeon for example makes somewhere in the neighborhood of $750,000 to $1,000,000 a year. They literally hold someone’s heart/life in their hands day in and day out. A front line EMT or paramedic makes $39k-$59k a year. There are many other examples of more critical jobs that get compensated way less in our society, and it is outrageously disproportionate when comparing coaching and athlete salaries to these jobs.

However, when you remove emotion and fairness from that equation and look at it through an economic lens it is possible to justify it otherwise they wouldn’t do it. Here’s an article on the financial impact Nick Saban had at Alabama. It’s not insignificant, and the return on investment was very high for them.


Now, to be competitive other universities have to raise compensation to try and be competitive, and many institutions are not seeing anywhere close to that return on investment. In fact many are running in the red. It’s exactly why the top end of football must separate yet again. It’s unsustainable for the majority of D1 programs to operate like the Alabama’s and Georgia’s of the world.

We may not like that the world looks or works like this, but the only way to change it would be to stop consuming the product in a capitalistic society. Since we are all wasting our time on a fan board of a college team that isn’t at the level of the top 20% (purely by definition of FBS vs FCS designation out of 673 NCAA football programs), and our fanbase is a drop in the bucket to an SEC or B1G fanbase, I don’t think that’s ever going to happen.
 
It is truly amazing that the highest paid state employee in 49 states is a college football coach.

Every single coach in college football is so over paid it is gross. No way a rational person can justify their compensation for what they actually do.
I disagree. It’s all supply and demand. We live in a capitalist society, like it or not. Russian football coaches are starving.
 
... the only way to change it would be to stop consuming the product in a capitalistic society. ... I don’t think that’s ever going to happen.
Actually, it does not seem to matter what economic system is in place. Remember how much the old Soviet bloc countries poured into their sports programs? Not sure how old you are, but I remember huge squads (and Polish female athletes being essentially force fed hormones to enhance their performance). Today, China has an enormous (basically professional) sports program. The reality is that humans pay better for their entertainment than just about anything else. Why else would Taylor Swift have a net worth of over a billion dollars? Anywhere you look, it's about how many people are interested in what you, the athlete/performer, do. Many athletes (and coaches too, I suspect) seem to not understand that ... in the end, they are competing against every other form of entertainment. There's a big thing going on with the WNBA ... they want better salaries. Sorry ladies, until you draw more butts into the seats and eyeballs for broadcast, the money won't be there. Same issue arises in U.S. soccer. The women's team is way much more competitive in their "division" than the men's team. And they draw better here. Trouble is, women's soccer does not draw fans internationally, where most of the money is made.

End of rant: But the ignorance about where the real competition in sports is, has bugged me for a long time. FWIW: The NFL seems to understand this very well. Not totally sure, but the NBA not quite as well.
 
Actually, it does not seem to matter what economic system is in place. Remember how much the old Soviet bloc countries poured into their sports programs? Not sure how old you are, but I remember huge squads (and Polish female athletes being essentially force fed hormones to enhance their performance). Today, China has an enormous (basically professional) sports program. The reality is that humans pay better for their entertainment than just about anything else. Why else would Taylor Swift have a net worth of over a billion dollars? Anywhere you look, it's about how many people are interested in what you, the athlete/performer, do. Many athletes (and coaches too, I suspect) seem to not understand that ... in the end, they are competing against every other form of entertainment. There's a big thing going on with the WNBA ... they want better salaries. Sorry ladies, until you draw more butts into the seats and eyeballs for broadcast, the money won't be there. Same issue arises in U.S. soccer. The women's team is way much more competitive in their "division" than the men's team. And they draw better here. Trouble is, women's soccer does not draw fans internationally, where most of the money is made.

End of rant: But the ignorance about where the real competition in sports is, has bugged me for a long time. FWIW: The NFL seems to understand this very well. Not totally sure, but the NBA not quite as well.
Not really making a statement of capitalism versus other systems, just the only way that that engine slows down in our country. Profits decrease, so do salaries. I had the WNBA as an example and deleted it, but that is the best argument for how what you provide for your company matters ala the Saban example.

I would say the economic model does matter though. How much did they pay those coaches in the old USSR? Or now in Russia or China? Don’t think those guys were/are becoming rich. They were/are essentially government employees or property. There is a reason Russian hockey players or Cuban baseball players defected to the US. Don’t have to go too far to see other countries where soccer athletes are the highest paid athletes in the world. Mostly in free market economy countries.

I agree that humans inherently would rather spend money on an escape of entertainment than a necessity. Hell people would rather spend $5 on a lotto ticket instead of a necessity for the chance at an escape from reality.
 
Probably because they made the CFP in his first year and are undefeated and ranked in the top 10 in his second year and will likely be in the CFP again. All for a $3.5 million a year investment in Cignetti(not accounting for other staff costs). Now they did just have to pay out through the nose to keep him, but if their student base increases and football sales and revenue continue to increase it could be a boon for the Hoosiers. They set a record with overall revenue in 2024 at $173.5 million (up $28.8 million from 2023).

 
Because they have no AD at this time and in their state university structure, the governor is next man up.
Probably will make him pretty popular when he runs for re-election with the amount of that buyout. Don’t know how much or if any comes from the state coffers.
 

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