Is Your State's Highest-Paid Employee A Coach?

[Tugg Speedman]

Infographic: Is Your State's Highest-Paid Employee A Coach? (Probably)

http://deadspin.com/infographic-is-your-states-highest-paid-employee-a-co-489635228

You may have heard that the highest-paid employee in each state is usually the football coach at the largest state school. This is actually a gross mischaracterization: Sometimes it is the basketball coach.

Based on data drawn from media reports and state salary databases, the ranks of the highest-paid active public employees include 27 football coaches, 13 basketball coaches, one hockey coach, and 10 dorks who aren't even in charge of a team.

So are my hard-earned tax dollars paying these coaches?

Probably not. The bulk of this coaching money—especially at the big football schools—is paid out of the revenue that the teams generate.

So what's the problem then? These guys make tons of money for their schools; shouldn't they be paid accordingly?

There are at least three problems.

1. Coaches don't generate revenue on their own; you could make the exact same case for the student-athletes who actually play the game and score the points and fracture their legs.

2. It can be tough to attribute this revenue directly to the performance of the head coach. In 2011-2012, Mack Brown was paid $5 million to lead a mediocre 8-5 Texas team to the Holiday Bowl. The team still generated $103.8 million in revenue, the most in college football. You don't have to pay someone $5 million to make college football profitable in Texas.

3. This revenue rarely makes its way back to the general funds of these universities. Looking at data from 2011-2012, athletic departments at 99 major schools lost an average of $5 million once you take out revenue generated from "student fees" and "university subsidies." If you take out "contributions and donations"—some of which might have gone to the universities had they not been lavished on the athletic departments—this drops to an average loss of $17 million, with just one school (Army) in the black. All this football/basketball revenue is sucked up by coach and AD salaries, by administrative and facility costs, and by the athletic department's non-revenue generating sports; it's not like it's going to microscopes and Bunsen burners.

But wait. I looked up my coach's pay in a state salary database and he wasn't on top. What gives?

Most of these databases include only the coaches' base salaries, which are drawn directly from the state fund. This is how you could be led to believe that Virginia's offensive coordinator earns more than its head coach.

Far exceeding these base salaries is the "additional compensation" that almost all of these coaches receive, which is tied to media appearances, apparel contracts, and fundraising. While this compensation does not come directly from the state fund it is guaranteed in the coaches' contracts; if revenue falls short, the school—and thus the state—is on the hook to cover the difference. Plus, even it doesn't come directly from taxpayers, this compensation is still problematic for all the reasons listed above.

Beyond salary and additional compensation, coaches earn money from bonus incentives tied primarily to the team's performance. This analysis ignored those bonuses and focused on guaranteed money, as it's impossible to guess at whether a coach will hit his benchmarks. And we're not even touching the ridiculous amounts of money coaches can get if they're fired before their contract ends.

Regarding the asterisks on the map:

 * Penn State is technically "state-related" and not truly public, and as a result the school does not receive as much state funding as a typical public school (leading to higher tuition) and does not have to disclose as much information about its employees. You can read the details here.

** It's difficult to track down salary information for employees at Ole Miss and Mississippi State, but the highest non-coach salaries we could find top out at around $500,000. While we can't prove that nobody at these schools earns more than Dan Mullen's $2.65 million per year, we think it's very unlikely.

[77ncaachamps]

Top three in CA in no particular order were: Mike Montgomery (Cal BKB), Jeff Tedford (Cal FB), and Ben Howland (UCLA BKB)

[Tugg Speedman]

Who is second after Bo in Wisconsin?

[Chili]

Who is second after Bo in Wisconsin?

Gary Anderson...the new football coach is my guess.

[77ncaachamps]

Who is second after Bo in Wisconsin?

"Deadspin put together a graphic of the highest-paid public employees for each state in the country, and Wisconsin is one of 10 where a basketball coach tops the list. The short piece casts a skeptical eye on these athletic salaries, so it's worth noting that Wisconsin is hardly alone in having an athletic coach top the public employee pay chart. That's true in 40 of the 50 states in this analysis.

Here, Badgers men's basketball coach Bo Ryan makes more than $2.1 million per year, while Bielema was scheduled to make $2.8 million in 2013 before he left for Arkansas in December. In contrast, new football coach Gary Andersen's salary will be $1.8 million this season and Badgers athletic director Barry Alvarez will make $1.05 million in the 2013-14 academic year.

By comparison, the academic side at UW-Madison isn't as lucrative. Incoming Chancellor Rebecca Blank will earn a base salary of $495,000."

Read more: http://host.madison.com/news/local/city-life/wisconsin-s-top-paid-public-employee-shifts-from-the-football/article_a4a4691a-b8eb-11e2-adfc-0019bb2963f4.html#ixzz2TDhNsqBQ

[Tugg Speedman]

By comparison, the academic side at UW-Madison isn't as lucrative. Incoming Chancellor Rebecca Blank will earn a base salary of $495,000."

I can she why she will be Chancellor, her "Friday" video is perfect for Madison.

(Sorry, I could not help myself)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kfVsfOSbJY0

[GGGG]

"Deadspin put together a graphic of the highest-paid public employees for each state in the country, and Wisconsin is one of 10 where a basketball coach tops the list. The short piece casts a skeptical eye on these athletic salaries, so it's worth noting that Wisconsin is hardly alone in having an athletic coach top the public employee pay chart. That's true in 40 of the 50 states in this analysis.

Here, Badgers men's basketball coach Bo Ryan makes more than $2.1 million per year, while Bielema was scheduled to make $2.8 million in 2013 before he left for Arkansas in December. In contrast, new football coach Gary Andersen's salary will be $1.8 million this season and Badgers athletic director Barry Alvarez will make $1.05 million in the 2013-14 academic year.

By comparison, the academic side at UW-Madison isn't as lucrative. Incoming Chancellor Rebecca Blank will earn a base salary of $495,000."

Read more: http://host.madison.com/news/local/city-life/wisconsin-s-top-paid-public-employee-shifts-from-the-football/article_a4a4691a-b8eb-11e2-adfc-0019bb2963f4.html#ixzz2TDhNsqBQ

How about this:

Ryan makes more than his boss Alvarez
Alvarez will make more than his boss Blank
Blank will make more than her boss Kevin Reilly

[77ncaachamps]

How about this:

Ryan makes more than his boss Alvarez
Alvarez will make more than his boss Blank
Blank will make more than her boss Kevin Reilly

That's Bizarro World.

[ChicosBailBonds]

How about this:

Ryan makes more than his boss Alvarez
Alvarez will make more than his boss Blank
Blank will make more than her boss Kevin Reilly

We have some sales guys that make more than their bosses.  If they can land some big deals, it can happen.  Risky job where if you don't make your numbers, you're gone.  Risk \ reward.

[MUSF]

Basketball coaches are the highest paid in both Florida and Michigan. That's a pretty big indicator of the decline of some great football programs.

[GGGG]

We have some sales guys that make more than their bosses.  If they can land some big deals, it can happen.  Risky job where if you don't make your numbers, you're gone.  Risk \ reward.

I am fully aware of that.

I just find it interesting that in a straight reporting line at four different levels of employees, each earns a higher *salary* than their respective bosses.

[keefe]

Infographic: Is Your State's Highest-Paid Employee A Coach? (Probably)

http://deadspin.com/infographic-is-your-states-highest-paid-employee-a-co-489635228

I just noticed the highest paid state employee in Nevada is a Plastic Surgeon. Figures. Dignity is an increasingly rare commodity in this once genteel Republic.

[MUBurrow]

keefe, arent those pictures examples of why a really good plastic surgeon *should* be highly paid?

[forgetful]

We have some sales guys that make more than their bosses.  If they can land some big deals, it can happen.  Risky job where if you don't make your numbers, you're gone.  Risk \ reward.

Your sales guys make far less if they don't have success.  The people making money in this example get paid the same whether they succeed or fail.  Worst case scenario, they do poorly and receive a big payout to walk away.  They will then likely get another high paying position before the payout runs out.

Big difference.  Compensation at the top is way out of line in college sports. 

[ChicosBailBonds]

Your sales guys make far less if they don't have success.  The people making money in this example get paid the same whether they succeed or fail.  Worst case scenario, they do poorly and receive a big payout to walk away.  They will then likely get another high paying position before the payout runs out.

Big difference.  Compensation at the top is way out of line in college sports. 

Yes, but let's not forget that a coach's shelf life to make that kind of money is short, similar to a pro athlete.  For every coach out there that does this and hangs on 20 years, most get a 4 or 5 year run and they never smell a head coaching position like that again....relegated to assistant status.