Bargain Bin Bo?
10 comments so far
July 24, 2008 by
The news out of Lawrence, Kansas last week was the big money being paid to the big man in blue velour, Mark Mangino. Fresh off a 12-1 season, Mangino became the third highest paid coach in the conference and the highest paid coach in the Big 12 North at $2.3 million per year. Good investment or bad?
The only two coaches ahead of him, Bob Stoops and Mack Brown, have national titles to their name. Mangino? He's got a career record of 37-36, an 18-30 record against the Big 12, exactly one win against a Top 10 team and three wins in 12 games against Top 25 teams. And for that he gets essentially the same money as Phil Fulmer and more money than Steve Spurrier according to CoachesHotSeat.com.
Mark Mangino now makes more money than his school's basketball coach (who also has a national title) and that's at Kansas. That makes Bo Pelini, a head coach who has never lost a game, seem like a downright bargain at $1.1 million.
Just for reference, here are the Big 12 coaching salaries:
1. Bob Stoops - $3.5 mil
2. Mack Brown - $2.91 mil
3. Mark Mangino - $2.3 mil
4. Gary Pinkel - $1.85 mil
5. Mike Sherman - $1.8 mil
6. Art Briles - $1.8 mil
7. Mike Leach - $1.75
8. Bo Pelini - $1.1 mil
9. Dan Hawkins - $1.1 mil
10. Gene Chizik - $1.1 mil
11. Mike Gundy - $1.05 mil
12. Ron Prince - $760,000
In the grand scheme of things, I could really care less about how much money Nebraska pays their head football coach but in this case the salary is pretty interesting because $1.1 million doesn't really seem like "Nebraska money."
Tom Osborne made it quite clear last fall that he wasn't willing to break the bank on Nebraska's next head coach and he didn't. Art Briles, in his second FBS head coaching gig at Baylor, is getting $1.8 million. Hawaii is paying their first time FBS head coach the same amount of money as Nebraska. After Callahan's extension last year, he was the fourth highest paid coach in the conference. Pelini is in the bottom five for 2008.
So why the relative bargain in Bo Pelini? It's hard to say without being privy to the contract negotiations but it was probably a combination of things:
1) $1.1 million is pretty fair for a first time HC in the Big 12. That's what Hawkins and Chizik are making in their third and second years respectively.
2) The amount of money Nebraska had to pay to get out of the Pederson/Callahan mess certainly didn't help the future head coach when it came to the bargaining table.
3) Bo didn't press the issue, and that's really the key here.
Under normal circumstances, should the Nebraska job be one of the top four paying jobs in the conference? Yes, but nobody needs to be reminded that these are not normal circumstances. Still, could Pelini have used the Nebraska name as leverage to get a couple hundred thousand extra per year? In my opinion, yes.
One of the great differences between the Big 12 and the SEC is that the coaching salaries aren't some glorified pissing match (at least outside of Kansas and Baylor). Look down the list above and everything looks to be pretty much in order based on merit.
Yes Bo Pelini is probably a tad lower than he could be, but I don't think there's anyway that could be considered a bad sign. It seems to indicate a willingness to earn a higher salary, which seems to indicate a commitment to sticking around Nebraska for a while, which seems to make me feel pretty good about the current state of things.
So, Bo, it's a shame you're not making more money than Greg McMackin but I doubt you even know that's the case and I appreciate your willingness to be a company man.
Did you enjoy this article?
Get Husker news by email
Follow us on Twitter
Related Stories: Bo Pelini
Post a comment
carlinthemarlin Jul 24 08
It's not like $1.1 million in Lincoln Nebraska won't buy you just about anything you wanted. Even with a family, you could live in a very luxurious house in a nice neighborhood and still put away half your earnings at only $200,000.
darren Jul 24 08
Interesting stuff, Brandon.
Bo has some incentives in his contract that would move him up a few pegs on this list if he hits them. Of course, there are several hundred thousand to be earned by winning games, bowls and titles. More interestingly, he also has an incentive for the players and team hitting graduation rates. I think that is a credit to Osborne's insight, and Pelini taking on that accountability. I suspect it will be copied in other places.
Oh, and Carlin, I'm not to proud to say I've driven by Pelini's house. And yes, for a guy who makes 1.1M a year, it is a fairly modest place. Not like Callahan's spread (that's a whole other story). And, btw, Pelini's house is next door to Cosgrove's place. Can you imagine the tension at the curb on trash day? ;-)
OU7times Jul 24 08
Nebraska was willing to offer a big name school for little cash. Kansas gave big cash for a little name Coach. Mangino has the luxury of an upswing in wins whereas Pelini is being paid for the possibility of having a winning upswing record. Complete confidence in a coach seems to be the difference here.
donfl Jul 24 08
I would bet that NE is the B12 school that offers incentives for graduation rates and Academic All Americans. Just shows you the class the Big Red has! Lest we forget these kids are in school to prepare academically as well as on the football field. GBR
ze bop Jul 24 08
"....Mangino? He's got a career record of 37-36, an 18-30 record against the Big 12, exactly one win against a Top 10 team and three wins in 12 games against Top 25 teams...."
And therein lies the big difference between NE and KU: Nebraska fires a coach like that, even significantly better than that.
J-birds, act like ya been there b4 and p.s.: enjoy your 15 minutes of fame....
I like the apparant attitude that 'BO will have to earn' the bigger $$. But I dont think he is money driven. I see him as a guy that is completely immersed in what he loves and happy to be getting paid very well for it. I dont see Bo as a guy with extravagant needs--not a pretentious guy.
Look, the amount of $$ they pay coaches is pretty stupid anyway. Which one of us wouldn't be ecstatic to the point of speechlessness if we were making 500K/yr?(k, you few rich bloggers are excluded from that remark, I am sure your appetites are insatiable).
I'm just glad we have Bo and Bo knows.......how to keep it real.
ze bop Jul 24 08
Oh yeah, a few more things: Bo probably understands(somebody said he lives in a relatively 'modest'house for a millionaire) that it is better to live below your means just in case those 'means' change, i.e, aren't there anymore, and you find yourself overextended financially, and: it makes me nervous to hear that BO is living near COZ...very nervous...I hope they don't talk about FB.
Greg Morrow Jul 24 08
First, I had to re-visit Mangino chewing his "hotdog" returner, on the sideline.
Ah, that's nice!
I love Mangino. I wish I had an NFL style "fathead" of him hanging in the office.
So, I get Kansas's investment and I want to enjoy him as long as he's with us. And hopefully, that'll be a while.
I think Bo took a pragmatic, but maybe eager approach with the offer, taking the job before the contract was drawn up. You could say he was the hottest AC in the country. He's also one of the younger HCs, I'm sure there's a few younger.
But, how are you going to have your agent or contract lawyer haggle with Tom Osborne for 20, 30% more? THAT would take some "chutzpah" that I really don't think is in Bo's makup.
He's paid what he's paid and his assistants are paid across the board more than the previous staff, which is important too.
As wins come and the previous financial debacle absorbs away, Bo will definitely get "commensurate" compensation.
WA.HUSKER Jul 25 08
More then just the money. How refreshing is that? I like BO even more then before.
WA.HUSKER Jul 25 08
More then just the money. How refreshing is that? I like BO even more then before.
COLKorn Jul 26 08
Bo Took the Job at Nebraska because he wanted it more than he wanted his 1.1 mil. He knows the old way, if you work hard and love what you’re doing then you’re happy. NU will be good for Bo and Bo is good for NU.