CMU Head Coach Butch Jones/Photo: Jim Klapthor
For the second straight year the average annual compensation packages for Mid-American Conference football coaches were the lowest among all Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) conferences according to a study released by USA Today.
According to the published report, MAC coaches salaries, when including both base salary and other guaranteed income such as radio, TV, and paid appearances, averaged $253,281. The most highly compensated coach in the MAC appears to be Al Golden of Temple who is earning a reported $575,000 per year however Temple University was one of eleven institutions not to report official salary figures in the USA Today study so this figure could not be independently verified. Among the actual figures reported for the other twelve MAC head football coaches, Toledo's Tom Amstutz topped the conference with an annual guaranteed compensation package of $313,300.
Total compensation could also substantially increase for each coach when bonuses are considered. Typical bonus items include monetary rewards based upon wins, conference championships, attendance and academic achievement.
In illustrating the unique circumstances of each coach's benefit package, USA Today noted Western Michigan head coach Bill Cubit's recently amended contract. As reported previously, Cubit had his compensation package restructured in the offseason that added, according to USA Today, $61,050 in guaranteed salary plus bonuses such as $8,000 for each victory over MAC West rivals Northern Illinois, Central Michigan and Toledo.
 Western Michigan athletics director Kathy Beauregard told USA Today that the incentive package was "the only way that we could afford it," thus reaffirming earlier reports that Cubit's additional compensation and incentive pay was being covered by boosters who make will make their donations once Cubit's incentives for the year are determined. "You reward success. It's not like he works any harder. It's just what makes fiscal sense for us," Beauregard also told USA Today.
The nature, and method of funding, of the Broncos' head coach's pay also demonstrates the creative means by which MAC schools must engage in using resources that are far more limited than what are available to the automatic BCS qualifying schools, whose coaches earn an average of over $1.4 million in guaranteed annual compensation.
The table below shows the breakdown for each Mid-American Conference head coach. The total compensation figure is a combination of each coach's base salary plus other guaranteed contract income. The bonus amount is not figured into the total compensation figure as this can fluctuate and in many cases has not been finalized for the immediate reporting period.
|
Coach
|
School
|
Contract Expiration
|
Base
|
Other Income
|
Maximum Bonus
|
Total Guaranteed Compensation
|
|
Al Golden*
|
Temple
|
NA
|
$ 575,000
|
$ NA
|
NA
|
$575,000
|
|
Tom Amstutz
|
Toledo
|
12/31/09
|
195,000
|
118,300
|
227,000
|
313,300
|
|
Joe Novak
|
N. Illinois
|
Retired
|
305,136
|
-0-
|
-0-
|
305,136
|
|
Frank Solich
|
Ohio
|
12/31/09
|
257,162
|
11,900
|
190,006
|
269,062
|
|
Bill Cubit
|
WMU
|
2/28/10
|
191,000
|
75,000
|
222,000
|
266,000
|
|
Butch Jones
|
CMU
|
12/31/10
|
200,850
|
65,000
|
140,000
|
265,850
|
|
J.D. Brookhart
|
Akron
|
12/31/10
|
188,888
|
55,000
|
229,960
|
243,888
|
|
Jeff Genyk
|
EMU
|
10/17/09
|
183,000
|
13,000
|
86,000
|
196,000
|
|
Turner Gill
|
Buffalo
|
1/21/11
|
187,700
|
3,000
|
100,592
|
190,700
|
|
Gregg Brandon
|
BGSU
|
12/31/08
|
163,909
|
20,000
|
54,000
|
183,909
|
|
Doug Martin
|
Kent St
|
6/30/11
|
170,000
|
-0-
|
84,000
|
170,000
|
|
Brady Hoke
|
Ball State
|
1/31/11
|
164,289
|
5,345
|
62,500
|
169,634
|
|
S.Montgomery
|
Miami
|
1/31/08
|
131,325
|
12,900
|
91,484
|
144,225
|
|
Average
|
|
|
$224,097
|
|
|
$253,281
|
Source: USA Today
*No official figures available. Estimate based on reports.
Non-BCS Averages
Comparing average salaries among the five non-automatically qualifying Bowl Championship Series Conferences; the MAC, Mountain West Conference; Conference USA; Western Athletic Conference and Sun Belt Conference demonstrates a significant disparity even among the non-qualifying BCS Conferences.
|
Conference
|
Average Base
|
Average Total
|
|
Conference USA
|
$ 278,386
|
$ 649,552
|
|
Mountain West Conference
|
450,324
|
645,632
|
|
Western Athletic Conference
|
374,916
|
546,508
|
|
Sun Belt Conference
|
230,248
|
264,503
|
|
Mid-American Conference
|
224,097
|
253,281
|
|
Average
|
$ 311,594
|
$ 471,895
|
Source: USA Today
BCS = Big Bucks
With a larger fan base, the lion's share of BCS funds and large television contracts, the disparity becomes even more significant when comparing coaches' salaries among the BCS conferences:
|
Conference
|
Average Base
|
Average Total
|
|
Southeastern Conference
|
$ 363,530
|
$ 1,941,612
|
|
Big 12
|
529,793
|
1,516,722
|
|
Atlantic Coast Conference
|
559,272
|
1,417,450
|
|
Big Ten
|
842,640
|
1,353,763
|
|
PAC 10
|
697,512
|
1,311,968
|
|
Big East
|
846,289
|
1,184,851
|
|
Average
|
$ 639,839
|
$ 1,454,394
|
Source: USA Today
Note: The following schools did not provide official salary information:
Brigham Young; Northwestern; Vanderbilt; Tulsa; Boston College; Army; Tulane; Miami (Fla.); Temple; Stanford; Rice
Millionaire's Club Grows
This season 50 out of the 119 coaches at Football Bowl Subdivision schools will have earned $1million or more with Oklahoma's Bob Stoops topping the charts, earning a cool $3.62 million. Stoops will earn $970,000 in base salary but will earn $2.65 million in additional compensation from radio, television and other ancillary fees that are guaranteed under his deal.
Such a deal among the BCS coaches is quite common with Virginia's Al Groh possibly possessing the most back-loaded contract, earning a base salary of $264,600 while earning an additional $1,609,650 in other compensation, not inclusive of any year-end bonuses, which could total as much as another $940,000 annually.
On The Flip-Side...
 On the low end of the base pay scale was Miami head coach Shane Montgomery. The coach of the 2007 MAC East Champion RedHawks will earn $131,325 in base salary plus another $12,900 in other guaranteed income. However Montgomery will likely hit several bonuses this year as a result of the RedHawks' earning a divisional title.
With a significantly smaller fan base, a smaller chunk of the BCS pie and lower television revenues, the MAC and other non-automatic BCS qualifying conferences will continue to be on the low-end of the collegiate football pay scale and forced to use creative means to adequately compensate their head football coaches.
What remains a bit mystifying however is the fact that the MAC continues to lag behind the Sun Belt Conference in coaches' compensation. The MAC receives greater television exposure through its ESPN and ESPN Regional packages than the Sun Belt and has three guaranteed bowl slots as opposed to one for the Sun Belt.
Considering too the MAC's success on the field against the Sun Belt and Conference USA, the league needs to bring its coaches' salaries at least in line with the middle of the non-BCS pack. Until then, coaches will continue to simply use the MAC as a stepping stone.
Not that anybody could blame them.
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