Highest paid college coach

[Cooter]

I don't have a clue what the top coaches make but am curious, anyone know? Guessing coach K or Williams aren't eating leftovers very often.

[Scott M]

Cooter, this article should help:

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Reaching for the check

Crean ranks among highest-paid coaches

by Don Walker, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

March 14, 2006

Tom Crean, in his seventh season as men's basketball coach at Marquette University, was paid $1.65 million for the year ending June 30, 2005, easily placing him among the highest-paid coaches in the ultra-competitive Big East Conference and in the country.

Based on a review of publicly available tax returns and media reports detailing salaries and other compensation for coaches, Crean's pay puts him in an elite category among the nation's coaches.

However, coaches are paid in different ways and can earn tens of thousands of dollars in so-called outside income. That makes exact comparisons difficult.

Marquette officials, for example, say Crean's pay represents his entire pay, including compensation for holding basketball camps, and TV and radio shows. Other schools might report a base salary, but are not obligated to report outside income.

Crean's salary appears in a tax document that Marquette, a non-profit organization, must file each year with the Internal Revenue Service. In addition to a salary of $1,655,819, Crean also made $28,884 that was placed in a benefit plan, and was given an additional $3,784 for expenses.

Crean has coached the Golden Eagles to three NCAA tournament appearances, including a Final Four appearance in 2002-'03. This season, the team surprised many by going 20-10 overall and finishing the regular season in the tough Big East with a 10-6 record, and gained a bid to the NCAA tournament. The Golden Eagles will meet Alabama on Thursday in San Diego.

John Marinatto, senior associate commissioner at the Big East and a former athletic director at Providence College, said Crean was in the upper echelon of highly compensated coaches in the 16-team conference.

Mary Pat Pfeil, a spokesman for Marquette, issued a statement about Crean's pay:

"Seven years ago, Marquette University made a conscious decision to upgrade its athletic programs, including the recruitment of outstanding coaches, development of new facilities and, this year, the move to the Big East Conference.

"This is an investment from which the university is reaping returns . . . in the form of national media exposure, in the significant revenues generated by the men's basketball program, in the number of prospective students who become familiar with Marquette through its athletic program, in student excitement, and in the alumni and community support generated by a successful athletic program."

Noting Crean's success at Marquette, the statement continued: "The university makes fair and competitive compensation a key priority in attracting high quality faculty and staff in all areas. Salary differentiations among employment categories are, to a large degree, a function of the marketplace.

"College basketball is a competitive market, particularly at the Division I level. In keeping with our commitment to attract and retain the best faculty and staff, we believe Coach Crean's position is important to the university."

Crean's salary dwarfs the compensation paid to the coaches at two other tournament-bound teams in Wisconsin.

Bo Ryan, coach at Wisconsin, has a base salary of $400,000. In addition, he is paid an additional $300,000 for his TV and radio work and for work with Adidas. UW officials also said Ryan received compensation for endorsement work and conducting basketball camps.

At UW-Milwaukee, coach Rob Jeter is paid a base salary of $300,000. But Jeter has a variety of performance incentives, including a 2% bonus for winning the Horizon League regular-season title, a 3% bonus for winning the Horizon League tournament and a 5% bonus for an NCAA bid.

UWM officials said Jeter also had additional incentives in his contract, including bonuses for coach-of-the-year honors or winning an NCAA tournament game.

Crean's salary has increased markedly in just a few years. In the fiscal year ending June 30, 2004, he was paid $1,125,815. In fiscal year 2003, he was paid $776,830, and in the year ending June 2002, Crean was paid $565,364.

Pfeil, citing college personnel policy, declined to comment on whether Crean received a raise in the current fiscal year, which ends June 30.

Crean also received compensation from Nike as part of a shoe and apparel contract. Press reports have indicated that some top coaches in the game receive as much as $200,000 or more through such contracts. However, Mike Broeker, a spokesman for the athletic department, said the money Nike paid Crean was "not at the level you read about."

In the past few years, some universities have prohibited direct contracts between coaches and apparel companies. Instead, the compensation paid by Nike, Reebok or some other shoe company is paid directly to the university.

The Big Ten Conference has a policy that bans contracts between shoe companies and coaches. Marinatto said the Big East let individual schools decide what is best.

In the Big East, Crean's pay is competitive with other top coaches. Most likely the closest person to Crean is Connecticut coach Jim Calhoun. Media reports last year indicated that Calhoun had received a raise by the university to $1.4 million a year. However, Calhoun reportedly receives additional compensation from Nike, which some media have estimated runs in the hundreds of thousands of dollars.

According to tax returns filed by the University of Louisville, coach Rick Pitino was paid $1,649,568 in the year ending June 30, 2005. An additional $67,031 was put into a benefits plan for Pitino.

COACHING FOR PAY

Here's a rundown of some of the major men's basketball coaches and their pay. Some salaries do not reflect total income because of different reporting requirements or undisclosed outside income.

Coach School Income

Tubby Smith Kentucky $1.9 million

Tom Crean Marquette $1.65 million

Rick Pitino Louisville $1.64 million

Tom Izzo Michigan State $1.6 million

Jim Calhoun Connecticut $1.4-$1.5 million

Mike Krzyzewski Duke $1.4 million

Roy Williams North Carolina $1.4 million

Bo Ryan Wisconsin $700,000

Jim Boeheim Syracuse $377,387

Rob Jeter UW-Milwaukee $300,000

Sources: Internal Revenue Service records, Journal Sentinel research, Wall Street Journal, media reports

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They're only going up, just like college football. With schools getting bigger complexes and selling more seats they are going to get bigger contracts. Most big time football and basketball schools are paying for all their other athletics through their basketball and football. This article makes a good point that some of these salaries don't include side endorsements and benefits. They aren't eating leftovers is right!

[Mudcutter]

Izzo at MSU, Alford at IOWa (now NMU) and Calpari at Memphis are not doing too bad.

Self has been offered nearly 4mil a year ot OSU his alma matter.

Don't be surprised if Self jumps ship ala Saban.

[Coach1310]

No way Self is leaving Kansas for OSU! Well I guess there is a chance, but I don't see it.

[Cooter]

Interesting, thanks.

[Northlander]

No way thats all Boehiem makes at Syracuse. I bet he is in the million $ club as well.