“It’s your job. … That’s what the money is for.” – Don Draper, “Mad Men”
You’ve probably heard this is a frustrating time to coach college football. That’s the narrative, anyway, megaphoned by some coaches and media types who struggle to accept NIL and free transfer movement and the headaches they might cause.
To be sure, college sports evolved throughout these past few years. Roster management is a chore. Players enjoy more power. The recruiting calendar is unrelenting.
In financial terms, though, there has never been a better time to coach college football.
Steve Spurrier became the first college football coach to reach a $2 million salary. He earned that pay bump after leading the 1996 Florida Gators to the program’s first national championship.
By 2000, he remained the only $2 million college coach. Several others earned seven figures annually, including Florida State’s Bobby Bowden ($1.5 million). In the SEC, two coaches joined Spurrier with salaries topping $1 million: LSU’s Nick Saban ($1.25 million) and Tennessee’s Phillip Fulmer ($1.05 million).
Those salaries raised eyebrows.
“Maybe 30 years from now, they’ll be getting $4 million,” former Oklahoma coach Barry Switzer predicted to The Oklahoman newspaper.
Switzer was off — by several million. He miscalculated the timeline, too.
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Adjusting for inflation, a salary of about $2 million in 2000 would equate to about $3.6 million today. Most Power Four coaching salaries far exceed that figure. Soaring salaries are a byproduct of ballooning media rights revenues, while the athletes continue to not earn wages.
Today, $3.6 million would get you about one-third of a good SEC coach, or if you’re lucky, two SEC coordinators.
Last season, 12 SEC coaches earned at least $6…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/cost-hire-steve-spurrier-enough-110612225.html
Author : The Gainesville Sun
Publish date : 2024-02-23 11:06:12
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