Coaches and Money: A Look at Indiana State Football Coach Salaries

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Jason Svoboda

Jason Svoboda

The Bird Level
Administrator
Pulled this from the 100-R Personnel Report that can be found on the Office of the VP for Business Affairs, Finance and University Treasurer's website, which is linked below. Anyhow, this was as of January of 2012 so it was for last year's staff but it gives you an idea as to what the coaches were making.

http://www.indstate.edu/vpbus/financial_transparency.htm

Trent Miles - Head Football Coach ($171,846)
Harold Etheridge - Asst Football Coach ($72,100)
Jesse Minter - Asst Football Coach ($65,620)
Shannon Jackson - Asst Football Coach ($61,800)
David Telford - Asst Football Coach ($60,000)
Gregory Barrett - Asst Football Coach ($58,710)
Paul Volker - Asst Football Coach ($38,110)
Daniel Sabock - PT Asst Coach ($17,455)
Ray Smith - PT Asst Coach ($16,000)
Turner Pugh - PT Asst Coach ($15,000)

Then found in other various minutes showing appointments that came after the 100-R report:

Ronnie Lee - $50,000 (Replaced Greg Barrett)
Eric Brown - $18,000 (Replaced Dan Sabock)
Mike Mickens - $18,000 (Replaced Ray Smith)
Steve Watson - $16,000 (Replaced Turner Pugh)

Just for comparison's sake, here is what the staff of Ball State looks like:

Pete Lembo - $352,800
Jay Bateman - $107,000
Rich Skrosky - $107,000
John Strollo - $88,000
Chad Witt - $77,000
Justin Lustig - $75,000
Keith Gaither - $74,000
Terry Lantz - $73,000
Joey Lynch - $68,000
Daryl Dixon - $67,000

So all in, Ball State shells out $1,086,300 on coaches per year. According to the US Today Coaches Salary DB (linked below), the bottom 2 FBS teams in terms of total coaches pay were Rice (Conference USA) at $625,000 and Louisiana-Monroe (Sun Belt) at $783,600.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/ncaaf/2012/11/19/ncaa-college-football-head-coach-salary-database/1715543/

I was unable to find definitive salary information for FCS programs, but was able to find 2011 salary information for Youngstown State. Here is how they looked:

Full Time

Eric Wolford - Head Coach ($259,700)
Richard Kravitz - Assistant Coach ($97,110)
Shane Montgomery - Assistant Coach ($95,025)
Thomas Sims - Assistant Coach ($95,025)
Phil Longo - Assistant Coach ($74,175)
Elias Matsakis - Assistant Coach ($74,175)
Frank Buffano - Assistant Coach ($53,325)
Daniel Kopp - Coordinator ($48,113)
Carmen Bricillo - Assistant Coach ($42,900)
Eugene Crosby - Assistant Coach ($26,892)

Other

Jon Heacock - Head Coach ($259,700)

Part Time

Andre Coleman - Assistant Coach PT ($19,965)
Rollen Smith - Assistant Coach PT ($19,965)
Ronald Stoops - Assistant Coach PT ($27,263)

Total for full time coaches: $1,126,140. Total for part time coaches: $67,193. Which gives them a total coaches salary pool of $1,193,333. Keep in mind that they were still paying Jon Heacock who stepped down in 2009. If you take his salary out of the equation it comes to a total of $933,633.

So what does all of this mean?

In adding up the salaries from our staff this past year, we were at $571,476. That's not that far off from the bottom reported total salary in FBS -- a difference of $53,524. However, the difference between our total and Youngstown State was around $362,157. Some interesting stuff to consider as our next coach is hired.
 
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If we could bump up the pay for the HC and top two assistants by about 20,000-30,000 each that would put us right in line with YSU and they, I would think, have to be one of the better funded programs in the FCS. I think this shows we're not as far off as some people think.
 
bent20 said:
If we could bump up the pay for the HC and top two assistants by about 20,000-30,000 each that would put us right in line with YSU and they, I would think, have to be one of the better funded programs in the FCS. I think this shows we're not as far off as some people think.
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Actually don't think the head coach salary is all that bad. In doing a search for FCS head coaches salaries I made it to several threads over on the FCS boards. It was surprising to see that Trent was actually paid more than App State's coach. I looks like the range posted in various threads was from around $130-250k. If I were taking this job, I'd be fine with the salary, especially in Terre Haute. I'd champion for an increase in the assistant coach salary pool instead.
 
bent20 said:
If we could bump up the pay for the HC and top two assistants by about 20,000-30,000 each that would put us right in line with YSU and they, I would think, have to be one of the better funded programs in the FCS. I think this shows we're not as far off as some people think.
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What the hell are you talking about? They have 5 assistant coaches making more money than our top paid assistant? What about that is difficult for you to understand?

Sorry - don't mean to berate you (even though I just did) but if you look at those numbers and think we are really close then your crazy.

Let me add to that - those assistant coaching saleries are actually really good paying jobs for a county (Vigo) that has an average hosehold income of $39,089 which ranks 82 in the states 92 counties. State average is $48k and National average is $53k.
 
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SycamoreStateofMind said:
What the hell are you talking about? They have 5 assistant coaches making more money than our top paid assistant? What about that is difficult for you to understand?

Sorry - don't mean to berate you (even though I just did) but if you look at those numbers and think we are really close then your crazy.

Let me add to that - those assistant coaching saleries are actually really good paying jobs for a county (Vigo) that has an average hosehold income of $39,089 which ranks 82 in the states 92 counties. State average is $48k and National average is $53k.
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I said if you bump our salaries a bit. Do the math. If you add $20,000-$30,000 to the salaries listed then our top assistants would be about on par with YSU's. We're not that far off from a big budget perspective and another $100,000 total to the assistants would get us in the same ballpark. But, assuming you can find that money when your cash strapped, does it go to the assistants or the HC?

Bumping our salaries by $30,000 would put:
Ehteridge's position at $102,000
Minter's at $95,000
Jackson's at $91,000

Truthfully though, I don't think $90,000 vs $65,000 is going to make a big difference in terms of keeping a young assistant longer. If they have the opportunity to take an HC job that pays $100,000 more or to become an FBS assistant and make $200,000 to $300,000 more, it's not going to matter. You might lure in some better qualified assistants, but not often. Guys are going to be looking at the coach and the scheme, and other factors, since the pay and the position won't be long term. Most of these guys are gonna be one to two and moving on if they're any good and not too attached to the HC.
 
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20 or 30 thousand is nearly half these guys are currently making... You do the math - it doesn't add up. We don't have the money to afford those bumps in pay - that simple.
 

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It would be interesting to know how many hours they actually work for the whole year.I'm guessing a lot depending on their position but don't really know.
 
I've never been afraid to show my ignorance before; why should I change now? Do any of the football coaches, or any other coach, at Indiana State teach a class? If so, the the teaching salary in addition to the coaching salary?
 
SycamoreStateofMind said:
20 or 30 thousand is nearly half these guys are currently making... You do the math - it doesn't add up. We don't have the money to afford those bumps in pay - that simple.
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I never said we did, just that we're not that far off. Although truthfully, if the university truly thought it would make that much of a difference, I don't think a total of $100,000 would be impossible to come up with, not with an operating budget the size of ISU's. Unfortunately, the budget is an issue right now, but if bumping the pay by a small amount (small being relative to what college coaches are paid) would fill the stands and draw more to the university, they could do it. If these guys plan to be assistants at ISU for life then yes, $70,000 vs $90,000 or $100,000 is meaningful. In the world of college football though, where guys are looking to advance to the next level and aren't going to stay an FCS assistant forever, it's not a critical difference. If we're losing assistants to in conference opponents due to salary then I can see a cause for more concern.
 
bent20 said:
I never said we did, just that we're not that far off. Although truthfully, if the university truly thought it would make that much of a difference, I don't think a total of $100,000 would be impossible to come up with, not with an operating budget the size of ISU's. Unfortunately, the budget is an issue right now, but if bumping the pay by a small amount (small being relative to what college coaches are paid) would fill the stands and draw more to the university, they could do it. If these guys plan to be assistants at ISU for life then yes, $70,000 vs $90,000 or $100,000 is meaningful. In the world of college football though, where guys are looking to advance to the next level and aren't going to stay an FCS assistant forever, it's not a critical difference. If we're losing assistants to in conference opponents due to salary then I can see a cause for more concern.
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Fair enough.

I don't think those salery changes are quite as easy to come by as you think - but we will agree to disagree I guess.

When your talking about 3 to 5 positions at an increase of 25 to 50% your talking about a pretty significant incrase. The overall number doesn't concern me as much as the percentage increase. But I do understand and follow your logic.
 

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Another question that always comes up with a coaching change is do you maintain these salaries for the new HC and his staff, or do they drop back to where they were when Miles started? If they stay the same then you have to factor in raises and eventually, over time, your coaches are going to be making substantially more than they did at the start of Miles' tenure. I don't even remember right off hand though what Miles started at when he came to ISU.
 
bent20 said:
Another question that always comes up with a coaching change is do you maintain these salaries for the new HC and his staff, or do they drop back to where they were when Miles started? If they stay the same then you have to factor in raises and eventually, over time, your coaches are going to be making substantially more than they did at the start of Miles' tenure. I don't even remember right off hand though what Miles started at when he came to ISU.
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Totally depends on the candidate. Obviously you're not going to start off someone with less experience the same as you paid Miles after his last raise. I also think it would be smart in our case to have an incentive laden deal for the head coach. The assistant coach salary pool, however, needs to be raised. As I mentioned above, our total salary pool was $571,476. Take out Miles salary and that was $400k for 9 assistants, a $44k average. I'm sure Ron probably has a good idea of what fellow MVC and top FCS programs average in that arena and will have to try to push that number up some.

This is where I always go back with finding ways to increase attendance and other revenue streams.
 
I'm sure assistant coach pay willl be something the new coach wants addressed before he accepts the job. It will probably be part of the negotiation.
 

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If we are trying to get this program to the next level you don't go backwards in pay! You don't hire someone that is going to take program backwards while they learn the game at this level. You pay at least what you were paying the person they replaced.
 
Sycamore Proud said:
I've never been afraid to show my ignorance before; why should I change now? Do any of the football coaches, or any other coach, at Indiana State teach a class? If so, the the teaching salary in addition to the coaching salary?
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I took a class taught by coach miles my senior year called coaching football, McKenna also taught one surprisingly about coaching basketball...
 
bent20 said:
I'm sure assistant coach pay willl be something the new coach wants addressed before he accepts the job. It will probably be part of the negotiation.
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Without a doubt. I'd imagine any candidate is going to ask these things:

1. What is football budget going to be?
2. What is my salary going to be?
3. What is my assistant coaching salary budget going to be? Can I bring in good assistants and afford to keep there here with me?
4. What about marketing of the program? Are we going to market the football program in a first class way?
5. What are we going to do to increase attendance at games and get the student body more involved?
6. Memorial Stadium needs some structural work done. What can we do? What about the lights?
7. Do I have input in scheduling and determining what is a fair payout to agree to when we play FCS teams?
8. Will we be able to have a training table for my players?
 
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