Colleges are losing hundreds of millions of dollars, yet eight of the ten highest-paid college coaches refuse to take a pay cut — including Saban, Swinney, Fisher, Calipari, Franklin
... but there are some good guys like Sean Miller
My Conclusion: There is no educationally-redeeming value to big-time college athletics
The Greedy Guys
Saban, Calipari, Swinney
Penn State
With many highly-paid coaches and administrators taking voluntary pay cuts, Franklin was asked if he has those plans. He said he and his wife, Fumi, are pledging a gift to Penn State for scholarships.
“We’re a little different than other places because the athletic department is self sufficient,” he said. “Obviously, the longer this goes, the conversation changes daily.”
James Franklin, Penn State, refused to take a pay cut
Neil Rudel, Altoona Mirror
To say that NCAA athletics are in trouble right now would be an understatement. The major difficulty is that the colleges and universities are hurting financially because of the coronavirus. They are not certain if students will return to campus, which most want, or if they will decide to sit out the year until the Covid situation is hopefully corrected and handled.
The schools have lost hundreds of thousands of dollars, perhaps even millions, and survival of the institutions, not just athletics, is the focus of their efforts right now.
So, to help the schools that are in dire straits, the ones that are paying them millions more than their top educator, their president, you would think that the coaches, the highest-paid employees, would be willing to cut their outrageous salaries to help the students and other employees at the institution.
In many cases, you would be wrong.
Disgusting display of greed
No doubt, some good guys were identified in ESPN’s extensive analysis of this situation, but for the most part, the highest-paid coaches are giving nothing back to the institutions they represent. These include the top two highest-paid football coaches, Dabo Swinney, Clemson [$9.3 million/year], and Nick Saban, Alabama [$8.9 million/year], are giving nothing back despite the fact that both schools received millions from the taxpayers to keep them afloat.
It also includes John Calipari, Kentucky [$8.2 million], who has not done so either.
ESPN opens its analysis this way,
The list of those whose pay is unchanged includes the two highest-paid coaches in their respective sports: Clemson football coach Dabo Swinney, who earned $9.3 million in the 2019-20 season, and Kentucky basketball coach John Calipari, who earned $8.2 million. Others include, in football, Alabama's Nick Saban ($8.9 million) and Texas A&M's Jimbo Fisher ($7.5 million) and, in basketball, Tennessee's Rick Barnes ($4.7 million) and Texas Tech's Chris Beard ($4.4 million).
Two of the highest-paid coaches -- Calipari and Texas football coach Tom Herman ($6.75 million) -- have not taken cuts even as their universities announced reduced pay for other employees, furloughs or layoffs.
Kyle Bonagura, et. Al, “Some, not all, coaches share colleges' burden
amid coronavirus pandemic,” ESPN, July 17, 2020
Yes, talk about greed.
Taxpayers outraged
Many coaches will say that the programs they oversee are self-sufficient. That is not entirely true.
First, they use the name of the schools and its logo and its stadium to ply their wares. Those stadiums were invariably built with taxpayer money, and the highways and parking lots and streets and lights are paid for by taxpayers.
That has people questioning why these glorified educators are actually taking no cuts while people everywhere are hurting,
The coaches preside over programs that bring in millions of dollars and nationwide recognition for their universities. Still, none of the programs can exist outside the schools' infrastructure, and only slightly more than half of the public Power 5 athletic departments can pay for themselves without support from student fees or the university's general fund, now under unprecedented strain almost everywhere.
"Clearly, even if the schools don't decide that they are going to reduce the coaches' salaries, as they did to the teachers and to the students' classes, the coaches can decide to do it themselves," said Steve Ellis, the president of Taxpayers for Common Sense, a nonpartisan watchdog. "A lot of Americans are hurting right now because they can't work because their job is closed. ... And so it's a really difficult time. And so that's really where it comes back to these coaches. Are they in this with us?"
Kyle Bonagura, et. al, ESPN, July 17, 2020
Dabo Swinney, number one hypocrite
A year ago, the Clemson coach came out and talked about his Christianity and how he was making Clemson a Christian program. Sports Illustrated examined it and realized the controversy and hypocrisy in his stance, and now, with his greed being displayed for all the world to see, it has been reinforced as he refuses to take a pay cut.
Sports Illustrated wrote a critical analysis of his “Christianity” and followed that with a look at how many black prospects were dropping Clemson because of the perceived racism of Swinney.
SI asked this,
College football is a religion at many schools—but for the reigning national champs, religion is a religion. Clemson coach Dabo Swinney has made Christianity the foundation of his program, using faith to bring together players and coaches. Has he gone too far?”
Tim Rohan, Sports Illustrated, Sept. 4, 2019
Jesus also preached,
“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
Matthew 5:3-10
Not Swinney’s Jesus, who was not the one who threw the money-changers out of the temple.
That is another story that I will post later. However, while we can look at the greedy, bad guys like Swinney and Nick Saban, let’s identify some of the good guys who shared their wealth by cutting their salaries,
Alabama and Clemson are glorified NFL franchises
Those two schools
COLLEGES ARE BRACING for huge losses from declining enrollment due to the pandemic. At the same time, athletic departments are facing dramatic losses of their own, starting with the cancellation of the NCAA basketball tournament in March. A year ago, schools split a pool of $600 million; this year, they were told to expect barely a third of that. With larger uncertainty ahead -- namely whether there will be football this fall -- athletic directors are looking for ways to save money, including the elimination of some sports.
At Clemson, neither Swinney nor any of his assistant coaches (combined salaries of $7.4 million) have been asked to take pay cuts. The university reported losing $25 million during the spring semester and implemented a series of cost-cutting measures, including a hiring freeze and a pause on some capital projects. The school also projects an additional $16.5 million hit in the fall, according to the South Carolina Commission on Higher Education, although the school said there have been no job losses or salary cuts at this point.
In April, Clemson's athletic department, which routinely has revenue of upward of $100 million, said it expected to lose $1 million but had no need to implement any cuts. An athletic department spokesperson told ESPN earlier this week, "To date, Clemson University and the department of athletics have not implemented any mandatory or voluntary salary reductions, furloughs or layoffs due to the financial impacts of COVID-19."
The situation is similar at Alabama, where the university has projected losses of $40 million to $50 million by the end of the summer. But the school told ESPN it hasn't made any universitywide layoffs, furloughs or salary cuts. So far, Saban's $8.9 million salary is intact, along with the $7.5 million allotted to his assistants. No one at the University of Alabama agreed to be interviewed for this story, including Saban, athletic director Greg Byrne, president Stuart R. Bell or presidents of the faculty senate and student government.
Kyle Bonagura, et. Al, ESPN, July 17, 2020
The Good Guys
Sean Miller, Arizona [$3.2 million, 20% cut]
Kevin Sumlin, [$2 million, 20% cut]
Jim Harbaugh, Michigan [$7.5 million, 10% cut]
Bill Self, Kansas {$4 million, 10% for six months]
Lincoln Riley, Oklahoma [$6.4 million, 10%/year]
Tom Izzo, Michigan State [$4.2 million, 7% cut]
Mel Tucker, Michigan State [7% cut]
Mike K, Duke [$7.3 million, cut]
Jamie Dixon, TCU [10%]
Gary Patterson, TCU [10%]
Will Muschamp, South Carolina [$4.4 million, 10% cut]
The Bad Guys
Dabo Swinney, Clemson [$9.3 million/year]
Nick Saban, Alabama [$8.9 million/year]
John Calipari, Kentucky [$8.2]
Jimbo Fisher, Texas A and M [$7.5]
Rick Barnes, Tennessee [$4.7]
Chris Beard, Texas Tech [$4.4]
No cuts.
More good guys and bad guys can be found in the ESPN story:
Conclusion
I now know that I will never root again for Clemson after reading what I have about their football program. I have always rooted against Alabama, so that will not change.
However, I am to the point of never watching college football again. There is so much more in life than sports. Perhaps I am arriving at that stage late in my existence, but still, just looking at these numbers and reading this piece has angered me.
I do not question someone making money, but colleges non-profit institutions — or the ones who have Div. I sports are. So, why should they be handing out money like this for something that has nothing to do with its educational mission?
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