What’s up with Kiffin’s salary?
Olin Buchanan’s answer:
Nothing surprises me in college football anymore, especially not coaches’ salaries. I’m old enough to remember when seemingly the entire nation was outraged that Texas A&M would pay Jackie Sherrill the staggering salary of $267,000 per year. Now, coaches make more than that per game. Sure, $4 million seems way too much for Kiffin, who has posted exactly seven victories as a college head coach. But look at it this way. Kiffin was making $1.8 million at Tennessee. One would expect to get a raise if taking a new job. And the cost of living is dramatically higher in Los Angeles than in Knoxville. So, if USC had offered $3 million, I doubt anyone would’ve reacted; that’s just the market price for college football coaches these days. Don’t blame the coaches, blame the schools that are willing to pay that much. But $4 million puts Kiffin in a class along with the very best in the profession. Kiffin doesn’t deserve to be paid like Nick Saban, Urban Meyer, Jim Tressel, Mack Brown or Bob Stoops. But USC was willing to pay it. Maybe that’s what I find surprising.
Rivals.com
5/24/10
