OT: Football coach salary

[sevencyclist]

Penn State was forced to release the salary of Joe Paterno today.
http://sports.yahoo.com/ncaaf/news?slug=ap-paterno-salary&prov=ap&type=lgns

I would have thought that, being an icon in college football, he would have been paid more. Rumor was going around that he was one of the highest paid coaches at 4 million per year. I am glad that he was not.

"I'm paid well. I'm not overpaid," Paterno said earlier in the day, during an interview with reporters about his upcoming College Football Hall of Fame induction. "I got all the money I need."

It is good to see that he is enjoying what he does, and not for the money, especially at the age of 81.

[Lifelover]

Penn State was forced to release the salary of Joe Paterno today.
http://sports.yahoo.com/ncaaf/news?slug=ap-paterno-salary&prov=ap&type=lgns

I would have thought that, being an icon in college football, he would have been paid more. Rumor was going around that he was one of the highest paid coaches at 4 million per year. I am glad that he was not.

"I'm paid well. I'm not overpaid," Paterno said earlier in the day, during an interview with reporters about his upcoming College Football Hall of Fame induction. "I got all the money I need."

It is good to see that he is enjoying what he does, and not for the money, especially at the age of 81.


No wonder they didn't fire him a few years back when they were struggling.

[vaxn8r]

That's a base salary from the university. Most coaches more than double that figure with endorsements and weekly TV shows. Still not much compared to the wacky SEC but not far off the PAC 10 base.

[DarrenCT]

state football coaches are the highest paid state employees by a long shot.

is this correct?

[cadence231]

state football coaches are the highest paid state employees by a long shot.

is this correct?

I think it would be a shame if true!

[rwsaunders]

Joe Pa sounds like a deal now as the veil has been lifted. I agree that the endorsements and issues like his brother being an play-by-play announcer for all those years are "off the books" perks as well. On the other hand, he's also given a considerable amount of money back to the University. All this coming from a PITT alum. :cool:

[soulspinner]

They have a shot at the title next year according to the coach himself-it would be a great way for him to go out...

[stevep]

college football is big business.
he's done it with no scandals.
deserves to make decent cash.

this is all tv money...

[BURCH]

I am not surprised to learn his salary. The man love PSU and would probable not want to take more than necessary from the University.

JoPa and his wife (http://www.bullz-eye.com/sports/athletes/joe_paterno.htm) "have donated more than $4 million to expand Pattee Library on Penn State’s campus, and have helped raised another $13.5 million in private donations for its construction."

Another recent story (http://sports.yahoo.com/ncaaf/news?slug=dw-paterno052207&prov=yhoo&type=lgns) was his decision to make the whole team help clean the stadium after home games because of a fight that some players were involved in.

He is a rare coach in Football. We could use a lot more like him.

[Dave B]

Jerry Yeagly (retired IU Soccer coach) was that way. Total class act. Thos eplayers were educated, respected, and decent fellas.

I grew up with IU soccer and even had my fair shot, but Coach Yeags, was the real deal.

Took a midwest school and made them a powerhouse on his own! Never got the respect he earned from the sporting world, but he was class defined.

[rwsaunders]

I heard today that Charlie Weis earns $3.3M at Notre Dame, with a 10 year contract. No wonder the second basket has been passed a lot at church recently.

[mjb266]

You should see the house he lives in. Super modest in a development right next to the university right near the start of some mountain bike trails. You'd be riding the trails and run into JoePa out for a stroll four or five miles from his place. Guy is a class act.

[gdw]

Paterno deserves every cent of his pay. The man has class and delivers.
http://espn.go.com/ncf/preview01/s/joepanumbers.html
The team doesn't do too bad in the classroom as well and had an 83% graduation rate last year.

[PacNW2Ford]

Here's a man who has been true to his school, provides a solid role model for leadership, character and dedication to his craft. If half of the young men he mentors turn out as well, his value is priceless.

[paczki]

He saved the Classics program at Penn when they tried to close it down and donated to help it. I heard he wrote an MA thesis on Dante! Not your usual coach.

[BumbleBeeDave]

. . . because I have no doubt that the money his team brings in to the university far, FAR eclipses his salary. He's a class act and a great investment for the university.

What bothers me is THIS . . .

<<"We still feel the same way we felt previously -- employees have a fundamental right to confidential financial information," Penn State spokesman Bill Mahon said. "It's unfortunate that thousands of them no longer have that confidentiality.">>

What complete, utter bullsh*t. Paterno is a public employee of a publicly funded and publicly attended government agency, i.e. a state university. Citizens have a basic right to know how much of their taxes are being used to pay public employees. It doesn't matter whether that employee is a school teacher, a garbage man, or the football coach at the university.

What total arrogance. Unfortunately, though, it seems to grow more and more common among government officials.

BBD

[rwsaunders]

I read an article last week that the Ohio State football program earned a profit of $60 million last year, basically paying for all of the school's other sports programs, including the marching band's private indoor practice field.

In addition to the scholarships that the players receive; full reimbursement for room, board and tuition; they receive a non-discretionary stipend of $1,600 per month. Also mentioned were the private dining facilities, personal trainers, personal chefs, movie theater and private recreation facilities.

The public should start asking when the NFL will step up to the plate and supplement their unofficial minor league.

[malcolm]

Rwsanders, that is a similar case at many big college football schools. Alabama paid some 40 mil to Nick Saban, but their profits support almost if not all of the other sports including paying the other coaches salaries.
Now on a more interesting note I read that at least three Alabama high school coaches are paid over 100k and also have free cars and other perks from community businesses. I'm not sure how much income football brings to a high school but I have an idea how much a high school teacher makes and I don't think it approaches 100k.

[djg]

I read an article last week that the Ohio State football program earned a profit of $60 million last year, basically paying for all of the school's other sports programs, including the marching band's private indoor practice field.



That might be right, but I've seen studies suggesting that lots of Div 1 football program "profits" are at least misleading -- somehow stadium costs, including land, are not part of the budget, somehow lots of assistants are part of the faculty, etc., etc. I'm not saying the Ohio State figure is wrong, but I recall a general conclusion that many Div 1 programs really were not profitable at all.

JoPa is probably a net gain for Penn State -- he's an institution in himself, a locus of fundraising, and not nearly so pricey as some coaches. The Chronicle of Higher Education sometimes (perhaps yearly) does a table of the top five salaries at 100 or so major research universities so you can see what people make (to the extent that it's reported). The last time I looked was probably 10 years ago, and at that time the highest number I spotted was for a CT surgeon, although I'm sure he made up his salary just in direct billing.

[sevencyclist]

Here's a man who has been true to his school, provides a solid role model for leadership, character and dedication to his craft. If half of the young men he mentors turn out as well, his value is priceless.

Being a fellow Brown Alum of Joe Paterno, I am most proud of this fact. He believes his players are human beings first, students second, and lastly a football player. He understands that most college athletes do not make a career in sports, so the education and character building are the real products. I am very happy that he expects high academic standards for his players which is quite uncommon save for a few other coaches such as Willingham.