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March 6, 2008

More on Richt's Pay Raise

Today the Athletic Board gave Mark Richt an $800,000 pay raise. He now makes $2.8 million per year. The AJC ponders whether or not that's enough given that it only puts Richt 5th* in salary in the SEC. That sounds wildly off until you realize that it also puts Richt at 11th nationally in salary. Here's some context courtesy of CoachesHotSeat.com and their contracts page.

CoachSalaryNational Titles
or Undefeated
Seasons
1. Charlie Weis
$4.2 million
0
2. Pete Carroll
$3.8 million
2
3. Les Miles
$3.8 million
1
4. Nick Saban
$3.75 million
1
5. Bob Stoops
$3.5 million
1
6. Urban Meyer
$3.384 million
1
7. Kirk Ferentz
$3.030 million
0
8. Mack Brown
$2.9 million
1
9. Bobby Petrino
$2.85 million
0
10. Tommy Tuberville
$2.825 million
1
11. Mark Richt
$2.8 million
0
12. Jim Tressel
$2.6 million
1
13. Rich Rodriguez
$2.5 million
0

Points to Consider:
  • Jim Tressel, Bobby Bowden, Phil Fulmer, Joe Paterno and Steve Spurrier all have national titles, and they all make less than Coach Richt.

  • Richt is $51,000 away from 9th place, and he's 4.6% away from 7th place.

  • There are only three coaches that make more than Mark Richt that don't have a national title or an undefeated season, and one of them had two Super Bowl rings as an assistant coach.

  • The article doesn't specifically state it, but I think a big portion of Tuberville's salary is covered under the "I'm sorry that you have to live in Auburn" clause.

  • Notre Dame, Iowa and Arkansas are wildly overpaying for their coaches.
Personally, I think Richt is worth every penny that we've paid him. But I wouldn't get hung up on his "ranking" versus other coach salaries. You can see from the list above that he's paid an aggressive yet competitive wage based on his outstanding results.

Plus, the next two seasons look very bright. There's no reason to think that he won't continue to move up the rankings if the next two seasons pan out as everyone expects.

PWD

*The AJC says that Tuberville makes $2.8 million which would make Tubs and Richt tied for 5th. Given that the difference between the two is 0.8 percent, I can buy that logic. Although, as a commenter points out, the chart above shows him in 6th place by $25,000.

17 comments:

Scott said...

I have no problems with Richt's salary. I hope he becomes the highest paid coach after beating Ohio State (college football's version of the Denver Broncos) this year for the National Championship!

GO DAWGS!

Hobnail_Boot said...

Try the Bills.

The Denver Broncos won back to back Super Bowls and are one of the most storied franchises in the NFL.

Hobnail_Boot said...

Speaking of the Broncos, they just picked up Boss Bailey.. mile-high family reunion.

Anonymous said...

Jeez...is there a more overrated/overpaid coach than Ferentz? He sticks out like a sore thumb on that list.

saleebydawg said...

miles
saban
meyer
petrino
tooberville
richt
That makes him the sixth highest in the SEC...right?

Anonymous said...

Is it just me, or is it odd that the AJC would stick its nose into whether a salary is "enough"? If it makes CMR happy - and it seems to - and we can afford it, what else is there? Is there supposed to be some sort of prestige associated with paying just to be paying? Can't help but roll my eyes at that one.

Unknown said...

saleeby,

You make a fair point so I clarified the article.

"The AJC says that Tuberville makes $2.8 million which would make Tubs and Richt tied for 5th. Given that the difference between the two is 0.8 percent, I can buy that logic. Although, as a commenter points out, the chart above shows him in 6th place by $25,000."

Anonymous said...

When Richt was his own OC, I was willing to pay $2.8 million to get to call the plays myself!

Anonymous said...

A "sorry that you have to live in Auburn" clause - cute. But, how exactly is living in Athens better than Auburn? Do you guys have some special Taco Bell that we don't?

More likely, any "extra" is a "sorry we went behind your back 4 years ago and tried to hire Petrino."

Dawgnoxious said...

Auburn Elvis, do you really have to ask why Athens is better than Auburn? Or are you just posing as an Auburn fan for comedic effect.

If Starkville is the armpit of the conference, Auburn is the other armpit. It's a waste of a perfectly good pasture.

mdr1013 said...

Seriously, there is no comparison between Auburn and Athens. None at all. Most Auburn people are decent folks, but that town is a shithole.

Good article though. It really shows how overpaid Ferentz and Petrino are, Weis too.

Smitty said...

"A special Taco Bell". Yeah that would make an Auburn man think one town is better than another....

ugagirl24 said...

Aub Elvis, I hope this is a joke. If you are serious, you obviously have never been to Athens.

Anonymous said...

Seriously...I just caught the "what does Athens have that Auburn doesn't" post.

I don't know if I should laugh or scratch my head and be concerned...

I don't remember Auburn being listed on the front page of the LA Times travel section lately...or talked about world-wide for its music scene...or having any restaurants listed in Gourmet and Bon Apetit as some of the top 10 in the country...or in basically EVERYONE'S top three as one of the best college towns in America...

Oh, and incidentally, our school is better and sports teams are too???

Wow. You don't get out much do you?
We've all been to Auburn, man...give it up.
Weird.

Anonymous said...

OK, obviously, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. And while Auburn might not be on the covers of Bon Appétit or Dog Fancy (or whatever it is you guys read), Forbes recently named Auburn as the 6th-fastest growing metro. Maybe I'm just a few years ahead of my time, but I'm telling you, Auburn's an up-and-comer and the disparity isn't as large as you guys imagine.

Anonymous said...

Elvis...if you put lipstick on a pig...you know what you get, right?

The reason Forbes listed you is because of your increase in auto-parts-manufacturing jobs. Tons of them. I'm not sure that's something to brag about if you're going down the 'my town's better than yours' track...Just because Opelika has had to add an extra Wal-Mart doesn't mean "better."

BTW, Mobile was #1 on that list. Please.

Yes. The disparity between Athens and Auburn is large. Huge. No contest.

But, in all honesty, I can't imagine anyone from Alabama really believing that, because most of your ideas of "quality" are pretty retarded on a world stage.

I'll break it down for you...I travel far and wide, lived in NYC, Chicago, Seattle...EVERYONE has heard of Athens, GA. The college music capital of the world. The birthplace of the alternative music scene. Even in England, where the 40-Watt Club is considered a landmark.

The more you write, the more you look like you don't know what you're talking about. The Dog Fancy thing was cute, but if you look, I listed the LA Times. And Bon Apetit...well, that's something that educated fans of good food read...We'll gladly educate you...or maybe you could even ask around...the Auburn grads I know agree with me and have sadly laughed at your comments.

Like I said...we've all been to Auburn. Don't try to make us think you're something you're not. It really just causes us to make fun of you even more...

You may be an up and comer...but you have a long way to go.

And the flickr album?!? Classic.
Thanks for that.

Anonymous said...

Well, thankyouverymuch for the complements. I appreciate any efforts to keep this discussion cordial, 'cause it seems like this issue is being taken very personally by some.

Your jobs criticism seems "iffy". When I search for "largest employers" the only discernible difference I see between the two is that Auburn has some auto industry suppliers whereas Athens has some poultry processors - hardly a "main st." vs. 'wall st." comparison. I'll concede the alternative music scene, but the rest of your argument's anecdotal. In most quantifiable measures Athens scores higher, I'll admit that (and believe me, I've searched a lot for statistical ammunition since this debate began). But the difference simply isn't great enough to sway my thinking. Athens typically scores in the mid teens while Auburn scores in the mid thirties. Athens comes out ahead, but when viewed among a field of hundreds of other metro areas, a 20 position lead isn't that drastic. Especially when you consider that Auburn's closing the gap.

I think we might wanna agree to disagree on this one - espicially since we're off topic from Richt's pay raise.

 
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