AAC Football Coaching Salaries, Athletic Budgets & Subsidies - Is UConn Spending Enough on Football?

[Dooley]

Using the 'Coaches Hot Seat Ranking' site as a guide, here are the AAC football head coach salaries in 2016. In parenthesis, I have included the school's total 2014-15 athletic department budget and subsidy (it's the latest available until this year's returns are filed), according to USA Today and the Equity in Athletics database.

Houston - Tom Herman, $3M/yr ($45M; $25M subsidy)
SMU - Chad Morris, $2.6M/yr ($55M; $13M subsidy)
Temple - Matt Rhule, $2.5M/yr ($39.8M; $10M subsidy)
Cincinnati - Tommy Tuberville, $2.4M/yr ($51.7M; $23M subsidy)
Navy - Ken Niumatalolo, $2.25M/yr (N/A; N/A)
UCF - Scott Frost, $2M/yr ($47.6M; $24.7M subsidy)
UConn - Bob Diaco, $1.7M/yr ($72M; $28M subsidy)
USF - Willie Taggart, $1.6M/yr ($47M; $21M subsidy)
Tulane - Willie Fritz, $1.5M/yr ($41M; $15.6M subsidy)
ECU - Scottie Montgomery, $1.25M/yr ($49M; $18M subsidy)
Memphis - Mike Norvell, $1.25M/yr ($43M; $18M subsidy)
Tulsa - Phil Montgomery, 800K ($40M; $5.5M subsidy)

Observations:

1. UConn falls FAR short of its AAC peers in football coach spending. Forget about comparing to other lower-tier Power-5 football programs, UConn does not even rank in the top half of the American Athletic Conference. In comparison to its athletic department budget...which we trump every single Group of 5 school...UConn continues to shop at the clearance aisles for its football coaches. Like Mike DiMauro said in his article today, if football drives the bus, UConn is driving a beaten down Ford Pinto.

2. The $28M subsidy UConn took to support its athletics was large. No question. But take a look at Houston and Central Florida, who subsidized over half of their AD budget. Take a look at Cincinnati and USF, who subsidized nearly half of their AD budget. Everyone else on the list subsidized 1/4 to 1/3 of their AD budget, including UConn. Before the "how are we going to pay for it?" crowd chirps up over Bob Diaco's buyout and future coaching salary, remember this list. Our AAC competition subsidizes a much larger portion of their AD budget and still prioritizes its football coach salary.

3. Aside from one name (Tuberville), the coaching names above Diaco are all names that I think we can all agree are better than Diaco. And while there are examples of getting excellent "bang for your buck" at USF (took a while though), Memphis (Fuente's guys) and Tulsa, 5 of the 6 schools ahead of UConn have attracted good football coaches in a pay scale that UConn should feel more than comfortable operating in. No, what you pay a head coach does not immediately translate into success. But your budget also should not be a reason why someone like Pat Narduzzi removes his name from consideration either.

4. UConn has some very serious athletic department budgeting evaluations to do. It makes no sense to maintain a $72M budget if we cut corners on football spending. Football is the one and only sport that has an impact in delivering us out of the AAC. So what do we do? We're a basketball school, so we can't cut spending there (even though it is more than infuriating to see UConn completely misjudge the market on WBB coaching salary by doubling up on the field to pay Geno!!). The next logical step is to cut some Olympic sports - free up $5-$10M and put the majority of the money into a football coaching staff. Yes, that is a very dire, grim step that is highly unfair to those student-athletes who play sports that face being cut. But do you know what else isn't fair? UConn being in the AAC while BC, Rutgers, Syracuse, Pitt, and scores other garbage, grandfathered-in schools sit comfortably in the Power-5, cashing checks that would take UConn over a decade to accumulate. We can always add sports back if there is demand after we find a Power 5 home.


Diaco needs to go. Another year with him and his staff would further hurt our program, its perception, our W/L record, and attendance. The program needs a fresh start and, for once, the school needs to commit to properly funding football at an acceptable AAC level.

 

[Doggie Style]

How *#€ are we in a conference with Tulsa!!!!!!!!!?????

 

[Exit 4]

When it comes to rebalancing the athletic department budget, I recommend we avoid firing Diaco and dropping the Mens golf team on the same day.

 

[UConnNick]

The OP cannot be liked enough. Like x infinity.

 

[Dooley]

When it comes to rebalancing the athletic department budget, I recommend we avoid firing Diaco and dropping the Mens golf team on the same day.

To be clear, I *hate* the idea of axing sports to finance football. But I do think it's a necessary evil if we have any hope of hitching a ride on the last CR train in 5-7 years.

 

[UConnDan97]

Using the 'Coaches Hot Seat Ranking' site as a guide, here are the AAC football head coach salaries in 2016. In parenthesis, I have included the school's total 2014-15 athletic department budget and subsidy (it's the latest available until this year's returns are filed), according to USA Today and the Equity in Athletics database.

Houston - Tom Herman, $3M/yr ($45M; $25M subsidy)
SMU - Chad Morris, $2.6M/yr ($55M; $13M subsidy)
Temple - Matt Rhule, $2.5M/yr ($39.8M; $10M subsidy)
Cincinnati - Tommy Tuberville, $2.4M/yr ($51.7M; $23M subsidy)
Navy - Ken Niumatalolo, $2.25M/yr (N/A; N/A)
UCF - Scott Frost, $2M/yr ($47.6M; $24.7M subsidy)
UConn - Bob Diaco, $1.7M/yr ($72M; $28M subsidy)
USF - Willie Taggart, $1.6M/yr ($47M; $21M subsidy)
Tulane - Willie Fritz, $1.5M/yr ($41M; $15.6M subsidy)
ECU - Scottie Montgomery, $1.25M/yr ($49M; $18M subsidy)
Memphis - Mike Norvell, $1.25M/yr ($43M; $18M subsidy)
Tulsa - Phil Montgomery, 800K ($40M; $5.5M subsidy)

Observations:

1. UConn falls FAR short of its AAC peers in football coach spending. Forget about comparing to other lower-tier Power-5 football programs, UConn does not even rank in the top half of the American Athletic Conference. In comparison to its athletic department budget...which we trump every single Group of 5 school...UConn continues to shop at the clearance aisles for its football coaches. Like Mike DiMauro said in his article today, if football drives the bus, UConn is driving a beaten down Ford Pinto.

2. The $28M subsidy UConn took to support its athletics was large. No question. But take a look at Houston and Central Florida, who subsidized over half of their AD budget. Take a look at Cincinnati and USF, who subsidized nearly half of their AD budget. Everyone else on the list subsidized 1/4 to 1/3 of their AD budget, including UConn. Before the "how are we going to pay for it?" crowd chirps up over Bob Diaco's buyout and future coaching salary, remember this list. Our AAC competition subsidizes a much larger portion of their AD budget and still prioritizes its football coach salary.

3. Aside from one name (Tuberville), the coaching names above Diaco are all names that I think we can all agree are better than Diaco. And while there are examples of getting excellent "bang for your buck" at USF (took a while though), Memphis (Fuente's guys) and Tulsa, 5 of the 6 schools ahead of UConn have attracted good football coaches in a pay scale that UConn should feel more than comfortable operating in. No, what you pay a head coach does not immediately translate into success. But your budget also should not be a reason why someone like Pat Narduzzi removes his name from consideration either.

4. UConn has some very serious athletic department budgeting evaluations to do. It makes no sense to maintain a $72M budget if we cut corners on football spending. Football is the one and only sport that has an impact in delivering us out of the AAC. So what do we do? We're a basketball school, so we can't cut spending there (even though it is more than infuriating to see UConn completely misjudge the market on WBB coaching salary by doubling up on the field to pay Geno!!). The next logical step is to cut some Olympic sports - free up $5-$10M and put the majority of the money into a football coaching staff. Yes, that is a very dire, grim step that is highly unfair to those student-athletes who play sports that face being cut. But do you know what else isn't fair? UConn being in the AAC while BC, Rutgers, Syracuse, Pitt, and scores other garbage, grandfathered-in schools sit comfortably in the Power-5, cashing checks that would take UConn over a decade to accumulate. We can always add sports back if there is demand after we find a Power 5 home.


Diaco needs to go. Another year with him and his staff would further hurt our program, its perception, our W/L record, and attendance. The program needs a fresh start and, for once, the school needs to commit to properly funding football at an acceptable AAC level.

Agree with everything except the Geno stuff. First, he's worth the money he gets. Second, the university was pushed to a higher contact number because OSU had tried to steal him away aggressively.

As far as getting rid of sports; I hate to say it, but perhaps things like golf teams or tennis teams might be viable options. But I wouldn't touch any female sport, and I wouldn't touch hockey or soccer for the men...

 

[UConnJim]

When it comes to rebalancing the athletic department budget, I recommend we avoid firing Diaco and dropping the Mens golf team on the same day.

It depends on what your ambitions are. If you are interested being attractive to the Big 10, your athletic department need to look like a Big 10 athletic department. The Big 10 sponsors 28 sports and there are some schools that play more than 28. The median Big 10 school plays 24 sports and if you are interested in having an athletic profile similar to the other Big 10 schools, you can not drop sports as UConn currently sponsors 22 sports, so we are in the ballpark of what Big 10 schools sponsor.

I think people are thinking too small time. The issue is not to cut sports, but to raise more money.

 

[J187Money]

Thanks for pulling all of that together. I didn't realize we were out of step with those in our conference. I'm sure that goes for the assistants as well - and shows in the results.

 

[BlueandOG]

Dooley, thank you for your data and thoughtful analysis. We have the money to buy out Bobby D and get a decent coach. We have not made it a priority. I bet we will within the next few weeks.

 

[Exit 4]

I think people are thinking too small time. The issue is not to cut sports, but to raise more money.

Oh really - just raise more $$? Gee, I'm sure that will be easy and I'm sure we can count on finding buckets of money just sitting around at this point.

 

[Carl Spackler]

Thats a pretty clear picture of where we're at as compared to current peers in our current conference.

There is plenty of money to re-allocate.

 

[Fishy]

I don't think a list of football coaches salaries is indicative of commitment.

We hired a guy three years ago and paid him a salary commiserate with what you'd expect. If he had won ten games and a bowl last year, I'm sure the $1.7M we paid him this year would have been $2.7M or higher this year. Pat Narduzzi didn't remove himself for financial reasons - his boss and mentor essentially told him that UConn was beneath him and he listened.

The money was there for him -
“When I went through from it, obviously, it was close. You’re always close. It would have been an hour from my mother-in-law. … I probably say the key is my wife being a great coach’s wife, because she could have said, ‘Pat, let’s go,’ and I probably would have fell off the fence either way. She was strong enough to say, ‘What’s the best move for us as a family and for you, coaching-wise?’ It wasn’t just about being close to home and all those things.

“With the amount of money you probably could have gone on to do something for and have your own program, it was close. But when you look back and say, ‘What do I have here at Spartan Stadium and the fans and staff I have to work with every day is the best in the country.’ No question about it.

And stop with the Geno nonsense. Auriemma can call a dozen schools tomorrow and get a raise over what UConn pays him. The guy is worth every penny.

 

[UConnJim]

Oh really - just raise more $$? Gee, I'm sure that will be easy and I'm sure we can count on finding buckets of money just sitting around at this point.

I have degrees from 2 universities, one being UConn. Compared to the other university, UConn is in the minors of the fundraising game as they have never allocated the resources to fundraising. At UConn, you get maybe a dozen letters per year, an alumni magazine, and a bunch of emails. And, I get a call once a year or so from a student asking for money. One year, they actually sent someone to meet with me. The other university is in constant contact with me with both professional fundraisers and fellow classmates as well as the standard letters, alumni magazine, and emails. I meet with someone 1 to 3 times per year, more during reunion years. And, they provide services to alumni like alumni databases, job resources, classes,... They are much more successful raising money from alumni compared to UConn.

And, UConn sells alumni names to insurance companies, credit card companies,... to raise money. The other university would never do that to alumni donors as they treat their donors better.

I think UConn can improve and before we cut sports, I think UConn should try to do a better job at fundraising.

 

[huskymedic]

Dooley - I get your point but Herman is an really outlier... he was making $1.45 before his recent donor funded extension this past November after going 13-1.

 

[Chin Diesel]

How *#€ are we in a conference with Tulsa!!!!!!!!!?????

You realize Tulsa fans look at UConn's record and attendance and say "how duck is UConn in a conference with us?"

 

[Doggie Style]

You realize Tulsa fans look at UConn's record and attendance and say "how is UConn in a conference with us?"

if I was them, I would say the same thing. However.... FB record has little to do with my original statement. But shame you on us for providing an opportunity for a scrub school to think that way!

 

[Dooley]

Dooley - I get your point but Herman is an really outlier... he was making $1.45 before his recent donor funded extension this past November after going 13-1.

Houston is subsidizing over half of their AD budget and still had enough to triple Herman's salary. I will be interested in seeing how much they pay his replacement when he leaves this silly season though. My guess is in the $2M/yr range similar to what Chad Morris got at SMU. They need to keep their football train moving.

 

[noeynox]

Dooley - I get your point but Herman is an really outlier... he was making $1.45 before his recent donor funded extension this past November after going 13-1.

When Diaco got hired here I believe Dabo Swinney was barely making more, because I recall him getting extended shortly after at double the money. Diaco isn't under paid, and he wasn't hired on the cheap when he was hired. Yes, he has been eclipsed since then in this league. Next guy will probably near the top of the league in pay.

 

[ConnHuskBask]

It would be very interesting to see if there was a breakout by sport. Just curious where the hell it all goes.

 

[huskymedic]

Houston is subsidizing over half of their AD budget and still had enough to triple Herman's salary.

Tripled - we must be talking about different things? Herman went from $1.35 to $2.8?

 

[shizzle787]

When it comes to rebalancing the athletic department budget, I recommend we avoid firing Diaco and dropping the Mens golf team on the same day.

And m/w cross country and m/w tennis to get down to NCAA minimum.

 

[shizzle787]

I have degrees from 2 universities, one being UConn. Compared to the other university, UConn is in the minors of the fundraising game as they have never allocated the resources to fundraising. At UConn, you get maybe a dozen letters per year, an alumni magazine, and a bunch of emails. And, I get a call once a year or so from a student asking for money. One year, they actually sent someone to meet with me. The other university is in constant contact with me with both professional fundraisers and fellow classmates as well as the standard letters, alumni magazine, and emails. I meet with someone 1 to 3 times per year, more during reunion years. And, they provide services to alumni like alumni databases, job resources, classes,... They are much more successful raising money from alumni compared to UConn.

And, UConn sells alumni names to insurance companies, credit card companies,... to raise money. The other university would never do that to alumni donors as they treat their donors better.

I think UConn can improve and before we cut sports, I think UConn should try to do a better job at fundraising.

What school is it? Don't be embarrassed. We won't feel bad.

 

[SubbaBub]

The subsidies are a result of lost TV revenue. It isn't sustainable for any of these schools. The FB coaches salary was competative at the time. Everyone above him has either proven himself or was paid more to sign them more recently. Of all the issues in attracting the next coach, I don't think money will be the key issue.

 

[Dooley]

More fun with buyouts. This from Cincinnati, who will likely ax Tuberville on Dec 8 when his buyout drops $900K. This means we will fall a year behind Cincinnati once they correct their football coach. Judging by the long line of outstanding coaches they have had at UC, I have no problem with chalking Tubs up as a "one off mistake" and am confident they will hire an outstanding coach for the 2017-beyond seasons.

http://www.cincinnati.com/story/spo...youts-higher-uc-new-tuberville-deal/92019330/

"But in the new deal, UC will have to pay Tuberville $2.4 million if it lets him go before Dec. 7. The buyout payment would be $1.5 million if he's fired before Dec. 7, 2017; $1 million before Dec. 7, 2018; and $1 million before Dec. 7, 2019."

 

[Jax Husky]

Thanks for pulling all of that together. I didn't realize we were out of step with those in our conference. I'm sure that goes for the assistants as well - and shows in the results.

The story actually gets much much worse when you get to assistant salary pools