Examining Big Ten assistant coach salaries

Paying top dollar for assistant coaches has become an issue in the Big Ten lately. Bret Bielema cited his inability to pay and retain assistants at Wisconsin as a major reason why he left for Arkansas. Purdue made a bigger commitment to its overall staff salary when it hired Darrell Hazell to replace Danny Hope.

How do the Big Ten teams stack up when it comes to salaries for assistants? Luckily, USA Today has just compiled a database looking at what every FBS program pays its staffs. The study found that the average major college football assistant now makes $200,000 per year, a number that is on the rise. According to USA Today, pay for assistants rose 10 percent from last year and is up 29 percent from 2009, the latter of which is higher than the increase in salary for head coaches during that time period.

Here is what Big Ten teams spent on their staffs in 2012, not including the head coach (Note: Because Northwestern and Penn State are not subject to the same state open-records laws as other schools, their information was not available):

• Ohio State: $3.29 million
• Michigan: $2.93 million
• Illinois: $2.3 million
• Michigan State $2.2 million
• Nebraska: $2.15 million
• Iowa: $2.1 million
• Minnesota: $2.1 million
• Indiana: $2 million
• Wisconsin $1.77 million
• Purdue: $1.61 million

As you can see, Wisconsin was near the bottom of the pack in the Big Ten. Purdue has given Hazell a pool of $2.1 million for assistant coaches, which would put the Boilermakers right about the average for league schools. Ohio State and Michigan are the two richest schools and have not surprisingly made the biggest commitment to salaries. When you add in Urban Meyer's salary, the Buckeyes are paying nearly $7.6 million per year in football salaries. You get what you pay for, I guess, as Ohio State went 12-0.

While the Big Ten's median salary pool for assistants was just over $2 million in 2012, the median in the SEC was around $2.5 million. According to USA Today, the SEC paid its assistants an average of $315,000, the most in the nation. The Big 12 was second at just under $290,000.

LSU is spending more than $4 million on assistants, while Alabama is doling out more than $3.8 million on assistants. Auburn ($3.77 million), Tennessee ($2.98 million), Florida ($2.89 million), Georgia ($2.77 million) and Texas A&M ($2.68 million) also far outspent most Big Ten schools, while Arkansas ($2.56 million in 2012) is making a larger commitment to assistant pay under Bielema.

Finally, here's a look at the top-paid coordinators in the Big Ten among the 10 schools whose information was available via public records:

• Luke Fickell, co-defensive coordinator, Ohio State: $761,000
• Greg Mattison, defensive coordinator, Michigan: $758,900
• Al Borges, offensive coordinator, Michigan: $658,300
• Pat Narduzzi, defensive coordinator, Michigan State: $501,700
• Tom Herman, offensive coordinator, Ohio State: $456,000
• Everett Withers, co-defensive coordinator, Ohio State: $456,000
• Tim Banks, defensive coordinator, Illinois: $400,000
• Chris Beatty, co-offensive coordinator, Illinois: $400,000
• Billy Gonzales, co-offensive coordinator, Illinois: $400,000
• Tim Beck, offensive coordinator, Nebraska: $372,300
• Tracy Claeys, defensive coordinator, Minnesota: $340,000
• Matt Limegrover, offensive coordinator, Minnesota: $335,000
• Greg Davis, offensive coordinator, Iowa: $325,000
• Dan Roushar, offensive coordinator, Michigan State: $307,00
• Mike Ekeler, co-defensive coordinator, Indiana: $306,600
• Doug Mallory, co-defensive coordinator, Indiana: $306,600
• Phil Parker, defensive coordinator, Iowa: $301,500
• John Papuchis, defensive coordinator, Nebraska: $300,000
• Gary Nord, offensive coordinator, Purdue: $275,000
• Tim Tibesar, defensive coordinator, Purdue: $250,000
• Chris Ash, defensive coordinator, Wisconsin: $267,050
• Matt Canada, offensive coordinator, Wisconsin: $265,000
• Seth Littrell, offensive coordinator, Indiana: $255,500

Fickell, Borges and Mattison are three of 18 assistants nationwide who earned at least $600,000 in 2012, according to the study. There were 14 assistants paid that much last season and nine in 2010. Ohio State offensive line coach Ed Warinner is the highest paid position coach in the league, at a salary of $357,800.

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Source: http://espn.go.com/blog/bigten/post/_/id/68246/examining-big-ten-assistant-coach-salaries

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