detlef Posted December 12, 2006 Share Posted December 12, 2006 Driving home last night I was listening to sports radio and they spoke about Miles Brand suggesting that coaching salaries were "getting out of control". Is that so? Think about it for a moment. Now obviously compared to teachers, policemen, fire fighters, etc. the thought of paying that much jack to someone who coaches football or basketball is a bit insane. However, that's not a very realistic way of looking at it. I mean, the guys who came up with "Life Is Good" apparel are making mad jack and they're not exactly curing cancer either. In reality, how many coaches are making $1 mil plus per year? Between football and hoops, my guess is probably around 100. I get this number because I looked into football salaries and the average of the 119 D-1A schools was $950. Considering that there are coaches making $3 mil (which pull the average up faster than those on the other making $200. So it would seem that about 50 are above the $1 mil mark. Let's say it's about the same for hoops. That means there are two coaches per state on average making that kind of money. That's not a whole lot of people and as a percentage of the total number of people coaching football and basketball (even soley on the college level) that's a pretty small percentage. Here in NC, we've got 4 coaches who make over 1 mil (Coach K, Roy Williams, Butch Davis, and O'Brian) of course the last two replaced guys who were making just below. At the same time, we've got numerous industries in the state with CEOs, CFO, COOs, etc all making money in the same neighborhood. Now, in many cases, they may be doing something more important like developing spam or IT infrastructure, but are they under any more stress? Do they actually work any harder? Does anyone actually work harder than a coach of a major school? Just because lives or industry aren't at stake doesn't give them a free pass from working insane hours because the community will turn on them in a nanosecond if they start to slip or even catch a series of bad luck. I say they are "earning" that crazy money about as much as anyone else who makes that kind of jack. At any rate, just some food for thought. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wildcat2334 Posted December 12, 2006 Share Posted December 12, 2006 Yeah, I don't have a problem with it- but many peeps do, and I think it has to do with an old school mentally towards NCAA sports, and college athletics, and the fact that the state pays the salary, and typically these coaches will be the highest paid state employess by far..... You always hear the comparisoon between a coach and the school president, and how out of whack it is that coach makes 1 mil, and the U president makes 250k..... not really applicable, but peeps like to throw this out. Another topic for another day is the fact that these coaches making bank, directly related to the revenue of their given sport, yet the student/athlete makes nada. Kinda makes it even more unequitable, and lopsided. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muggsy Posted December 12, 2006 Share Posted December 12, 2006 bottom line is, people pay money to come watch these guys lead their teams, and the coaches (right or wrong) are held personally responsible for the way their teams finish. As soon as thousands of people are willing to pay to watch a teacher teach a physics class the teachers will start making more $$ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muggsy Posted December 12, 2006 Share Posted December 12, 2006 yet the student/athlete makes nada. Kinda makes it even more unequitable, and lopsided. that's not exactly true, many of these athletes are getting quailty education for free(whether they choose to take advantage of it is another matter), not to mention room&board, etc. whereas a normal student is paying a tremendous amount of money for it and in a lot of cases paying for it well after they have stopped setting a foot on campus. So to say these student athletes get nothing is a bit misleading. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coffeeman Posted December 12, 2006 Share Posted December 12, 2006 Private schools have more leeway, but even public schools have large booster groups that contribute to the large fund$ available to pay coaches. (I'm pretty sure they are used to pay Carroll and Floyd here at USC.) The Cardinal & Gold club requires at least $2-3K/year, and there are plenty of people lined up to do that - the best seats in the Coliseum, the best tailgate parties, inside track for bowl tix, other private parties with the coaches, etc. There are plenty of wealthy folks from UCLA who do the same across town, yet the salaries paid to their coaches is much smaller. Does anyone know if the athletic department fund donations are used to pay salary at public schools? If not, why not? Is there some rule against it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
detlef Posted December 12, 2006 Author Share Posted December 12, 2006 Private schools have more leeway, but even public schools have large booster groups that contribute to the large fund$ available to pay coaches. (I'm pretty sure they are used to pay Carroll and Floyd here at USC.) The Cardinal & Gold club requires at least $2-3K/year, and there are plenty of people lined up to do that - the best seats in the Coliseum, the best tailgate parties, inside track for bowl tix, other private parties with the coaches, etc. There are plenty of wealthy folks from UCLA who do the same across town, yet the salaries paid to their coaches is much smaller. Does anyone know if the athletic department fund donations are used to pay salary at public schools? If not, why not? Is there some rule against it? This chart seems to say that most coaches are paid by outside sources, so I think the answer is that they can do what the hell they want. Money money money money...muhney Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
junebugz Posted December 12, 2006 Share Posted December 12, 2006 that's not exactly true, many of these athletes are getting quailty education for free(whether they choose to take advantage of it is another matter), not to mention room&board, etc. whereas a normal student is paying a tremendous amount of money for it and in a lot of cases paying for it well after they have stopped setting a foot on campus. So to say these student athletes get nothing is a bit misleading. to say they have a quality education for free is probably misleading as well. nowhere close to 100% of the team graduates in most schools. do the have an education available to them, yes, but what are many if not the majority of the players there to do ... get a quality education? or play ball? i think the answer in most cases is rather obvious. as far as coaches go, the reason they bring in the bling is because there is a lot of money and funding that flows into the college from sports doing well. if a school is doing well in a sport then ticket sales are up, tv contracts, any sort of profit sharing between conferences, royalties on apparell and such ... all that increases and the school makes more money. bottom line is that if you have a big name coach that consistently puts competitive teams out there, then the money flow is increased because of the sport ... that is why the coach is so valueable and why they are paid what they are paid. if they were not bringing in as much cash as they were getting paid i would think the universities would take a look at correcting that problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
detlef Posted December 12, 2006 Author Share Posted December 12, 2006 to say they have a quality education for free is probably misleading as well. nowhere close to 100% of the team graduates in most schools. do the have an education available to them, yes, but what are many if not the majority of the players there to do ... get a quality education? or play ball? i think the answer in most cases is rather obvious. OK, so maybe the education they're getting is how to notice and exploit a two-deep zone. The right guy can put that knowledge to very profitable use down the road. Guys who are smart enough to realize they don't have the stuff to make it at the next level use the free education and positive association with a popular sports program to good use in the business world. If you have a good college career at, say USC, you are either destined for a good paying job in the NFL or a good paying job from some USC alum. Doesn't suck to be you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
junebugz Posted December 12, 2006 Share Posted December 12, 2006 OK, so maybe the education they're getting is how to notice and exploit a two-deep zone. The right guy can put that knowledge to very profitable use down the road. Guys who are smart enough to realize they don't have the stuff to make it at the next level use the free education and positive association with a popular sports program to good use in the business world. If you have a good college career at, say USC, you are either destined for a good paying job in the NFL or a good paying job from some USC alum. Doesn't suck to be you. what about the other 50% of the team? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
detlef Posted December 12, 2006 Author Share Posted December 12, 2006 what about the other 50% of the team? Nobody is telling them not to go to class. They may be there for sports but nobody is going to get in their face if they decide to step into the classroom. Even if they're complete morons and have no business being there, somebody is subsidizing their chance to make it in sports. They wont be any worse for it after four/five years and if they're a good kid, I imagine some booster will give them a warehouse job or something. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muggsy Posted December 13, 2006 Share Posted December 13, 2006 what about the other 50% of the team? most big programs have only a handful of walk-ons if that, to say that 50% of any team is non-scholarship is silly. and I did mention that I didn't neccecarily believe that all these kids are taking advantage of what they get, but the oppurtunity IS there for them. Just because these kids don't get a "paycheck" doesn't mean they aren't being handsomely rewarded for what they do for the university. Have you seen the cost of a years tuition recently. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
junebugz Posted December 13, 2006 Share Posted December 13, 2006 most big programs have only a handful of walk-ons if that, to say that 50% of any team is non-scholarship is silly. and I did mention that I didn't neccecarily believe that all these kids are taking advantage of what they get, but the oppurtunity IS there for them. Just because these kids don't get a "paycheck" doesn't mean they aren't being handsomely rewarded for what they do for the university. Have you seen the cost of a years tuition recently. I never said they didn't get anything, just that they may not take advantage of it. If they go to college and end up with a crappy gpa and no degree what good was the scholarship? My point is that just because someone gets a sports scholarship it does not set them up for success in life. Do they have an advantage over kids who have to work and go to school at the same time? Yes, but do most of them make use of that oppurtunity to the max Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
junebugz Posted December 13, 2006 Share Posted December 13, 2006 Nobody is telling them not to go to class. They may be there for sports but nobody is going to get in their face if they decide to step into the classroom. Even if they're complete morons and have no business being there, somebody is subsidizing their chance to make it in sports. They wont be any worse for it after four/five years and if they're a good kid, I imagine some booster will give them a warehouse job or something. I am not saying people do not take advantage of a sports scholarship, I am only saying to make a blanket statement that all who have one are set up for success is pulling the trigger a little too quickly IMO. There are individuals that both use and abuse the opportunity and I think that is fairly clear to see. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muggsy Posted December 13, 2006 Share Posted December 13, 2006 I never said they didn't get anything, just that they may not take advantage of it. If they go to college and end up with a crappy gpa and no degree what good was the scholarship? My point is that just because someone gets a sports scholarship it does not set them up for success in life. Do they have an advantage over kids who have to work and go to school at the same time? Yes, but do most of them make use of that oppurtunity to the max I think we're agreeing here and just saying it different ways. Anyone can get handed a bag of $50s, but if you choose to throw that bag in the trash, who's fault is that? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
detlef Posted December 13, 2006 Author Share Posted December 13, 2006 I am not saying people do not take advantage of a sports scholarship, I am only saying to make a blanket statement that all who have one are set up for success is pulling the trigger a little too quickly IMO. There are individuals that both use and abuse the opportunity and I think that is fairly clear to see. I don't think anyone here ever claimed that getting a sport scholarship was the golden ticket to certain prosperity and happiness. I think the argument is that the kids aren't getting the shaft. How's this breakdown? Some tiny percentage get specific training to help them land an insanely well paying job as a pro athelete Others who are good enough students to take advantage of the education but not so great that they would have landed an academic scholarship get to go to a school they otherwise may not have been able to afford and graduate into the open arms of an adoring network of alumni. Others who were pretty bad students in HS actually find an academic niche as they mature a bit and go on to things that nobody would have expected. (I was a coaching intern at a large school and saw this happen first hand). Others are just plain stupid or otherwise incapable of any sort of scholastic success. As I mentioned before, provided they're good kids, they'll have a better chance getting a decent job after the connections they made at the school then they would have right out of HS. The last batch. I can't imagine that Maurice Clarett would have gone on to much better things had he not wasted a year at OSU. He simply squandered and opportunity to make something of his life. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
godtomsatan Posted December 16, 2006 Share Posted December 16, 2006 Nobody is telling them not to go to class. They may be there for sports but nobody is going to get in their face if they decide to step into the classroom. Actually, if it gets in the way of their practice and workout time, yeah they will. Even if they're complete morons and have no business being there, somebody is subsidizing their chance to make it in sports. They wont be any worse for it after four/five years and if they're a good kid, I imagine some booster will give them a warehouse job or something. And this is true as well, but not always the case. I'm not going to make excuses for anyone who gets an opportunity and fails to take advantage of it, but if you're a Long Beach, CA native playing collegiate football in Corvallis, OR, you going to take a job in a pea warehouse at age 22, or go back home? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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