<p>How do people feel about this? I mean, $32 million guaranteed to coach five-years of college football seems like a great sum? Maybe I should not have gotten into banking...</p>
<p>Nothing you will ever do in banking is likely to generate as much good will, and income, as coaching a winning Division I football team. (If he wins big, he'll be underpaid.)</p>
<p>It was over 8 years.<br>
Sports $$$ at some majors. They can afford it and more.</p>
<p>And teachers earn $50K.</p>
<p>Mmmmmkay.</p>
<p>How much pleasure, good will, or income do more poorly paid teachers generate anyway? (He IS a teacher, remember.)</p>
<p>As Mini says, D1 football generates an enormous amount of money and support for the school. Remember, the fantastic football players don't get any money for playing, so the income they generate doesn't have to be spread around that much. I feel forced to point out that even though it is still a lot of money, a $32 million deal (that's somehow spread over the eight years) is considerably less than $32 million today.</p>
<p>There are a lot more teachers in the US than D1 football coaches, Allmusic, and even more people who would be able to teach. Think some basic economics, here.</p>
<p>I concede that these football programs are financial profit centers but jeez, do you really need to pay the coach $4 mil??? It looks like the current crop of coaches at top programs make $2 mil per year (which is not to say that they don't earn the money). I realize that Bama wanted to entice Saban to leave Miami but hey, I find it hard to believe that Bama could not find another qualified coach who would've easily have taken $2 mil per year. Saban was a failure at Miami, afterall. The school could have used that extra $2 mil per year to fund some other programs.<br>
Mini, what happens if Saban doesn't win?? He will be grossly overpaid!!! The money, afterall, is guaranteed.</p>
<p>"Mini, what happens if Saban doesn't win??"</p>
<p>He will be fired. Now what happens to your kid's third grade teacher if the kid doesn't learn?</p>
<p>(Who I think are REALLY overpaid are bankers.)</p>
<p>"And teachers earn $50K."</p>
<p>I only wish I earned $50,000 as a teacher. In my sixth year of teaching, I was fighting to make $40,000.</p>
<p>How can somebody who went to Kent State make that much money? </p>
<p>I thought you could only succeed if you went to about 13 schools (and except for Stanford, the schools have to be on the east coast).</p>
<p>I'm shocked. :)</p>
<p>Pro failures seem to make good college coaches. Top pro coaches get $8 Million so it's all relative. But $4M a year for college is pushing it. Most programs don't net that much.</p>
<p>Like Beano Cook said, coaches have lots of pressure--if you don't like pressure there's always Wendy's--"Ketchup or Mustard?"</p>
<p>Some college athletes' opinions...</p>
<p>
[quote]
"I think, in all honesty, one of the most exploited groups of people (in the USA) are college athletes," said Ohio State flanker Anthony Gonzalez, who might turn pro.</p>
<p>"We basically have a job that generates millions and millions and millions of dollars. At the end of the day, we don't really see it. That's the reality. There is nothing you can do about it."
[/quote]
Different view
[quote]
"I wouldn't say we were exploited, because we're getting a college education and we get all these perks," said Buckeyes safety Brandon Mitchell, who already has a degree in political science. "People say we should be paid, but I'm happy with a free education."
[/quote]
</p>
<p>And if you're wondering what college teams generate the most $$$...
[quote]
We've ranked the 15 most valuable football programs based on their contributions to four important beneficiaries: the universities, athletic departments, conferences and communities with a vested interest in their financial success.</p>
<p>The Fighting Irish football program is worth $97 million based on what the team contributes to the university's athletic department for non-football sports ($23.5 million), the University's academic use ($23.2 million), and the incremental sales to South Bend, Ind., and the surrounding county when the team plays games at Notre Dame Stadium.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>I am cringing as I type this, but the truth is that a great football program very often translates into a public consensus that the school is also great. I know many people who go to U of Michigan simply because it has great sports teams. Sure, the education is good --- but THAT is NOT what drew the students to apply --- there are many terrific schools, but U of M got their attention because they love the teams. This reality makes the football coach almost more important than the school president, at least in the eyes of the general public.</p>
<p>Yes, it's true that the coach can easily be fired, so that is part of the reason his pay is so high. It also is high to keep him from leaving for the pros. When compared to the salaries of teachers, it seems quite high --- but compare it to the salaries of actors & actresses at the same level of "fame" and it isn't so much. Fair? No. But I have a newsflash: Life is not fair!</p>
<p>mini-
I always appreciate, your sometimes surprising, viewpoints.</p>
<p>I do think that often GOOD classroom teachers are underpaid, dont know how to fix it.</p>
<p>BUT paying more to the football coach doesnt necessarily mean it is coming from the teachers</p>
<p>A few words from good old 'Bama - </p>
<p>"none of the salary money comes from taxpayers or tuition" - wow, where does it come from???</p>
<p>Heard from a friend of a friend who is a prof at Alabama, said in early Dec, when there was no coach - Q: What do you as a prof think of all this talk about millions for a coach? A: I wish they would hurry up and hire a winner. When Shula was winning (2 years ago) donations were up and we had money for trips, equipment, extras that we don't have this year. Availability of extra funds for academics is directly tied to winning football games."</p>
<p>Quote from the president: "Football revenue pays for the entire athletic department, except for mens' basketball which is more or less self supporting. Everyone else depends on football."</p>
<p>All this effect is magnified in a state that has no pro sports, an INTENSE in-state rivalry and years and years of football tradition. You may think it quite odd, but it is hard to understand if you aren't from here.</p>
<p>My son came home in the 1st or 2nd grade with this - "the guys are asking me at recess, I gotta know, who do we go for?" My husband, born OOS and the son of an LSU grad, was a little confused; I, born and raised on Crimson Tide football, didn't miss a beat "Alabama, baby, we go for Alabama". That's just the way it is.</p>
<p>In Alabama, the football coach of The Tide is more important than the Governor. I have learned this since moving to TN. One of the lawyers in my office (a woman) is a 4th generation U of Alabama law school grad. She is also passioante about Alabama football. This hiring does not surprise me.</p>
<p>How many people in this country know Lloyd Carr is the coach of Michigan? I guarantee you its a lot more than the amount of people who know the name of the school's president. And how much money did Coach Carr and the Michigan team bring in just by getting to the Rose Bowl? Millions, I've heard as high as $17million. That alone pays a big part of his contract.</p>
<p>Loke it or not, pro athletes, pro coaches and Div 1 college football and b'ball coaches are in the entertainment industry and that industry pays its folks big bucks.</p>