SEC at top of explosion of pay for assistant football coaches

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Escalating pay for assistant coaches in college football is on the rise nationally, but nowhere is that more evident than in the SEC.

The University of Florida will pay its nine assistant football coaches a combined $2.74 million in 2010, according to documents obtained by FLORIDA TODAY on Tuesday.

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That total does not included bonuses for SEC championship games and bowl appearances, which likely would push the total closer to $3 million. That makes it the highest-paid coaching staff in Gator football history.

It is a sign of the growing trend in college football as competition for coaching talent continues to escalate.

Most of UF’s returning coaches from 2009 received an average raise of about $50,000. New contracts for all nine assistants extend through the 2011 season.

GRAPHIC: See the contracts of college football coaches

Each coach, in addition to base salary, receives a $10,000 bonus from the school’s Nike contract, and there are no buyouts for assistants wishing to leave.

New defensive coordinator Teryl Austin, hired from the Arizona Cardinals to replace new Louisville head coach Charlie Strong, leads the list with a $440,000 salary. Offensive coordinator Steve Addazio is scheduled make $375,000 in 2010 but is expected to receive additional compensation for taking over some of the duties of head coach Urban Meyer, who took a break from coaching after the Sugar Bowl in January to focus on his health.

Addazio also has been making appearances at booster functions in place of Meyer this spring and coordinated the planning for spring football practice.

Defensive line coach Dan McCarney, who also holds the title of assistant head coach, will make $330,000 in 2010 and secondary coach Chuck Heater is in line to earn $305,000.

In addition to Austin, Florida hired three new position coaches since last year’s SEC Championship Game loss to Alabama — receivers coach Zach Azzani, running backs coach Stan Drayton and linebackers coach Dan Durkin. All received $240,000.

Quarterbacks coach Scot Loefler and tight ends coach Brian White also will make $240,000.

But other SEC assistants are pulling in heftier salaries.

Georgia hired Todd Grantham from the Dallas Cowboys as the Bulldogs’ new defensive coordinator and gave him $750,000 for 2010. New Tennessee coach Derek Dooley hired Boise State defensive coordinator Justin Wilcox for $600,000.

South Carolina held on to Ellis Johnson, the Gamecocks’ defensive coordinator, by doubling his salary to $700,000. Dooley also was after Johnson. Alabama defensive coordinator Kirby Smart became the third SEC assistant with a contract over $700,000 when his pay was doubled following the Crimson Tide’s national title win in January and an attempt by Georgia to lure him away.

“I think it’s wonderful and I think they ought to have a rule that the coordinator has to make at least one-fourth or one-third what the head coach makes,” USC coach Steve Spurrier said. “Those guys do just as much or maybe more work. Of course it’s all on us (the head coaches) in terms of wins and losses.”

Auburn increased the salary of offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn by $150,000. He will make $500,000 this year.

Of all the schools, Tennessee was the SEC’s biggest spender by forking out more than $5 million for its nine assistant coaches. It’s believed to be the highest-paid staff in college football history.

Seven of the 12 teams in the SEC last year had combined salaries of assistants over $2 million. All 12 should be well over that mark in 2010 because of the competition to keep top coaches.

“The word really is it’s the free market working,” Dooley insists. “That’s what it is. Everybody kind of gets upset at it but at the end of the day, it’s free market economics.” A year ago, only two assistant coaches in the SEC made more than $500,000.

But the trend isn’t just in the SEC. Texas A&M gave new defensive coordinator Tim DeRuyter more than $400,000. Virginia Tech defensive guru Bud Foster— always in demand — can make close to $1 million a season if he fulfills an agreement that extends four years past 2010.

Illinois’s Paul Petrino, LSU’s John Chavis, Clemson’s Kevin Steele and Mississippi’s Tyrone Nix (rumored to be pursued by Florida before remaining a Rebel) are all defensive coordinators and will be over the $500,000 mark this season.

“It’s the market,” Ole Miss head coach Houston Nutt said. “I really believe in what these guys do. I feel like they earn every dime. The pressure and the type of situation that we’re all in is just kind of going rate. If you don’t step up and pay the salaries, they’re going to go to another school so you try to do your best.”

By David Jones, Florida Today