College football coaches in Texas make the big bucks. But they’re not the only ones
If you are lucky enough to be the head golf coach at Texas A&M, you are down to make $209,100, which is dog food compared to the head men’s golf coach at the University of Texas, who makes $275K.
The head women’s basketball coach at UTEP makes $246,000, or $700 less than the defensive coordinator for a Miners football program that is 1-4.
And if you are the the head women’s bowling coach at Sam Houston State university you pull in $73,584.
These are a few examples taken from state schools in Texas, but they reflect the entire country.
If you want to look at least one reason why the NCAA and its member schools are in an alligator-fight against student-athletes being paid, look no further than the ledgers and just how much money is spent to pay coaches and staffers.
“The other side of student-athlete benefits has always been coach and staff compensation,” Big 12 Commissioner Bob Bowlsby said.
While the men’s basketball and football coaches are routinely roasted for their bloated salaries, they are hardly alone. They are merely the ones who are noticed.
With coaches’ salaries in virtually every sport spiraling toward the outer edges of insanity, finding logic and reason to claim that athletic departments are broke is absurd.
I submitted open records requests to eight public universities in Texas to see how much an array of coaching positions in varied athletic departments were paid for the previous academic calendar year. Included are the University of Texas, University of Houston, Texas A&M, Texas State, UTEP, North Texas, Sam Houston State and Texas Tech.
The results speak for themselves; that losing money in college sports is lucrative for an individual.
This is not a case for or against paying student-athletes; this is an exercise in showing just how much money exists in a “losing” athletic department.
“We are making more money than ever,” TCU director of athletics Jeremiah Donati said, “but we are spending more money than ever.”
Mind-numbing math
When the news broke in the spring of the now-infamous college admission scandal that included non-revenue sport coaches essentially trading spots on a team in exchange for cash, one piece should have stopped your dog.
One of the people implicated in the scandal was University of Texas men’s tennis coach Michael Center, who made $232,338 a year to coach a team that does not generate dime one for the school. That is more than twice what the average college graduate in the U.S. makes at his age.
Center is hardly alone; there are scores of people in similar positions who make well over six figures coaching a program that is, technically, a financial drain. Non-revenue coaching jobs are demanding, competitive and, in the end, are all losers even for those who win the most.
The numbers make no sense, and every single athletic director across the nation rolls their eyes at the financial figures. This is also the norm of NCAA athletics.
“Whatever resource the athletic department has they typically spend it; they operate hand to mouth,” Bowlbsy said. “The difference between the college athletics model and the pro athletics model is they manage to a profit. We manage to a zero outcome, or something marginally above zero.
“If there is $300,000 left, they are going to find something to do with it.”
Therein lies what should be the issue with direct student-athlete compensation in the form of a check. The money is budgeted, and programs spend it for the sake of spending it to avoid having that figure reduced in an annual budget meeting.
They just spend it on stuff. Or themselves.
The Figures
The following are the salary figures for various positions across Texas.
TEXAS A&M
Head men’s golf coach: $209,100
Asst men’s golf coach, $75,000
Head men’s swimming & diving coach: $90,000
Asst men’s diving coach: $44,760
Asst women’s diving coach: $44,760
Head men’s and women’s track coach: $180,811
Asst women’s basketball coach 1: $205,871
Asst women’s basketball coach 2: $180,999
Asst women’s basketball coach 3: $131,542
Head women’s golf coach: $300,000
Asst women’s golf coach: $62,500
Head women’s swimming coach: $196,249
Asst women’s tennis coach: $63,860
Asst women’s volleyball coach 1: $110,00
Asst women’s volleyball coach 2: $75,000
Head women’s soccer coach: $215,000
UTEP
Head men’s basketball coach: $725,000
Head women’s rifle coach: $44,000
Head men’s cross country coach: $40,026
Head women’s cross country coach: $40,026
Asst. women’s softball coach 1: $53,453
Asst. women’s softball coach 2: $41,100
Football defensive coordinator: $246,750
Head women’s basketball head coach: $240,000
Head women’s tennis coach: $63,038
SAM HOUSTON STATE UNIVERSITY
Asst baseball coach 1: $103,008
Asst baseball coach 2: $77,256
Head women’s bowling coach: $73,584
Head men’s and women’s golf coach: $76,704
Head softball coach: $66,600
Asst men’s & women’s track coach 1: $45,480
Asst men’s & women’s track coach 2: $40,296
Asst men’s & women’s track coach 3: $32,808
Head men’s & women’s golf coach: $66,960
TEXAS STATE UNIVERSITY
Head women’s golf coach: $63,159
Head women’s track & field coach: $93,627
Football offensive coordinator: $250,000
Head baseball coach: $110,508
Head softball coach: $88,080
Asst women’s basketball coach: $78,768
Asst volleyball coach: $57,951
TEXAS TECH UNIVERSITY
Head baseball coach: $1,000,000
Asst baseball coach 1: $175,000
Asst baseball coach 2: $130,000
Football offensive coordinator: $600,000
Head softball coach: $120,000
Men’s & women’s cross country coach: $88,000
Dir. of men’s & women’s track & field, cross cross country: $350,000
Asst basketball men’s coach 1: $350,000
Asst basketball men’s coach 2: $250,000
Asst basketball men’s coach 3: $220,000
Asst women’s basketball coach 1: $260,000
Asst women’s basketball coach 2: $210,000
Asst women’s basketball coach 3: $155,000
UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS
Head women’s tennis coach: $209,285
Asst. men’s basketball coach 1: $270,000
Asst. men’s basketball coach 2: $217,500
Asst. women’s basketball coach 1: $155,000
Asst. women’s basketball coach 2: $102,500
Head men’s golf coach: $275,400
Head volleyball coach: $317,500
Asst volleyball coach 1: $118,900
Asst volleyball coach 2: $106,500
Head women’s rowing coach: $205,370
Head associate women’s rowing coach: $67,963
Asst women’s rowing coach: $54,591
Asst women’s rowing coach: $48,000
Head women’s soccer coach: $205,135
Asst women’s soccer coach 1: $75,598
Asst women’s soccer coach 2: $66,000
Asst softball coach 1: $130,000
Asst softball coach 2: $120,000
UNIVERSITY OF NORTH TEXAS
Football offensive coordinator: $275,000
Football co-defensive coordinator: $295,000
Head softball coach: $80,000
Asst women’s soccer coach: $41,476
Head men’s basketball coach: $507,000
Head women’s basketball coach: $155,00
UNIVERSITY OF HOUSTON
Football Co-Offensive coordinator: $500,000
Football Co-Offensive coordinator: $400,000
Asst men’s basketball coach 1: $300,000
Asst men’s basketball coach 2: $255,000
Asst men’s basketball coach 3: $220,000
Asst women’s basketball coach 1: $114,000
Asst women’s basketball coach 2: $96,000
Asst women’s basketball coach 3: $84,000
Head men’s & women’s cross country coach: $47,024
Assistant women’s swimming and diving coach 1: $58,500
Assistant women’s swimming and diving coach 2: $46,000
Head volleyball coach: $110,000
Assistant volleyball coach 1: $60,000
The Future
How long can a model that supports a vast majority of programs that do not generate revenue endure?
“The short answer is not forever,” Donati said. “The more thoughtful answer is people will have to start making strategic decisions about the business practices of their department. It could be cutting sports. Look at other schools with smaller budgets, they have the same needs.
“If we do get to a point where we are paying players that would completely devastate these programs and maybe wipe out other programs. You could get to a point where it’s a model of football and the equivalency of (scholarships) to the women’s side. You’d keep basketball and some schools would keep baseball, and the rest would be club sports.”
The money is there. And it’s not just the head coaches of the men’s and women’s basketball teams who are making it.
This story was originally published October 18, 2019 at 5:30 AM.
