The SEC has become the league of grossly overpaid, mediocre coaches

The coaches that have come to the SEC recently have in all honesty had a bloated resume. Butch Jones came from a relatively irrelevant set of football schools (Cincinnati and Central Michigan) that has had some breakout years here and there. BUT, it should be known that coaching resumes from those backgrounds carry no merit. They play weak schedules compared to the teeth of a P5 conference and their success is often exposed when they find themselves in a prominent bowl.


Kevin Sumlin and Gus Malzahn, as well as Bret Bielema all came from weak backgrounds, albeit Wisconsin was a very physical team that he coached for a while.


They were hired because of promise. Not because they had a top resume like the Mark Dantonios of the world, that make legit P5 teams gain success and sustain it consistently.



JMO.

"If Bernie Sanders becomes president, he's going to take half of Alabama's five stars and give them to Mississippi State."

Your points are all very true imo, excellent commentary. Saban did indeed start the arms race for HC salary, and it started because Bama was forced to pay up for Saban to leave the Dolphins. He was making well over $4 million at Miami, so Bama offered close to that. Imagine you're the A.D. trying to woo Saban from the Dolphins and you tell him, "hey coach, how bout coming over to coach our team, but we'll have to reduce your current pay." And then it just took off. Now the assistant coaches, mostly coordinators, are making a million plus, some near 2 million. The pressure to win has gone through the roof with it, thus the high turnover rate we see now if coaches don't win big and fast.

If you just look at the SEC, not all teams are overpaying for results. Saban makes $7M and wins 12+ games a year. LSU just hired an oyster fisherman as coach for half that amount, I'm sure he'll get to 6-6 every year. So on a dollar per win basis, it's not all that bad

According to Coaches Hot Seat, in millions:


Saban.....8.25
Sumlin....5.25
Mullen....5.00
Miles.....4.50..list not updated
Freeze....4.50
Malzahn...4.20
Bielema...4.20
McElwain..4.20
Jones.....4.20
Smart.....4.00
Odom......3.50
Stoops....3.40
Muschamp..3.00
Mason.....2.50

Lane Kiffin at about 900,000 looks like the best coaching bargain in all college football. After Saban, the only ones close to earning their salary right now are Muschamp, Stoops, and Mason. Even Mason makes more than 71 other coaches.

It's not just the starting salaries for guys like McElwain and Smart. It's also the raises and extensions. Mullen got a $1M raise in 2014, and for what? Making MSU the answer to a trivia qiestion (who was the first team to be ranked #1 by the CFP committee).

The market has been set at around 4.0M. You can blame Jimmy Sexton, but he's doing his job. The administrations aren't.

And then you have the absurd buyouts.

ADs and college presidents need to grow some balls. Make the starting salary around 2.5 and then load it up with incentives. I'd feel better about McElwain's 4.2M if 500K of it was a bonus for getting to Atlanta. Hell, even give Mullen a little bonus for his team's academics. Pay for longevity for a coach like Saban who demonstrates continued success and is willing to stay. But start slashing base salaries.

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As for the bloated salaries... Alabama will have to live with this reality soon enough when their picking Sabans replacement.

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Maybe. But one thing working in Alabama's favor is that their administration isn't so stupid as to give a guy a raise and extension to a guy who goes 8-5 and 7-6 and loses 5 home SEC games in a row, after already giving him a raise and extension for getting to the NC game.

Inflated salaries are one thing...moronic decision making is another thing entirely.

Claw backs are more effective motivators than bonuses. I'd set healthy salaries, and then make the coaches pay back money for their crappy teams. I'd do the same things with the buyouts. BB for example, would start with a base of a bit more than he makes, then lose money for each loss including a bowl game.

Base Salary: 4.8 - $100,000 per loss in the regular season= 4.3 million - 200,000 loss for losing 4 or more reg season games= 4.1 million - 200, 000 for losing bowl game = 3.9 million for the yr.

I'd also drive down the buyout for crappy production on the field

These are huge universities with loyal followings that bring in lots of money and they don't have to pay the players anywhere close to market value. Of course the money is going to go somewhere else.

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The market has been set at around 4.0M. You can blame Jimmy Sexton, but he's doing his job. The administrations aren't.

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Jimmy Sexton understands money and profit. College administrators do not, it's plain and simple.
Egghead collegians don't understand ROI and getting what you pay for. You've got college boards and the admins at these schools at loggerheads and someone savvy like Sexton comes in and makes serious hay from their ineptitude.

Look at what Alabama pays Saban vs the revenue the football program brings into the school. He deserves a raise, actually. Now look at what MSU pays Merlins vs their football revenue, or Bert and Arkansas.