As I write this on a miserable icy, rainy, and cold Monday morning, I am looking forward to the NCAA college football championship, which would be played that night. I thoroughly enjoyed the semifinals and was intrigued immediately by the contrasting styles of the two winners – Ohio State and Oregon. Ohio State plays with a physicality and swagger that have always been a part of Big Ten football. Oregon, on the other hand, seems to be almost “video-gamish” in their approach to offensive football. They run plays so quickly and have sets that only a computer program might imagine. That’s not to say Oregon is less physical or that Ohio State does not play fast – it just seems like Oregon plays like they drank too much coffee all day, all week, all season and Ohio State just wants to bully you a bit more. My “gut” feeling is that Oregon will win this game, but you will know the result by the time you read this blog.
Thinking about the game naturally led me to thinking about the two coaches – Urban Meyer of Ohio State and Mark Helfrich of Oregon. Both men are highly esteemed in their profession and there are many who believe Meyer, who has won two national championships at Florida, is the best college football coach in the nation. Helfrich cannot be far behind. So, if we can agree that they might be two of the very best in their chosen profession, aren’t you a bit interested in how they are compensated for their skills? In other words, how much do they make?
According to a USA Today survey, Mark Helfrich is #51 on the list of college football coaches. He earns $2 million a year with a possible bonus of $1.1 million. One would think that if he won a national championship, he would qualify for the bonus which would qualify him for $3.1 million for the season and move him into the 20th spot.
Urban Meyer makes $4.5 million a year with a potential $550,000 bonus. He sits at #6 with the potential to be in the top five with the bonus. He made $333,333 each week he prepared his team to play an opponent this year.
Alabama’s Nick Saban tops the list at $7.1 million. The Michigan State, Oklahoma, Texas A&M and Texas coaches all make $5 million or more.
72 NCAA football programs pay their coaches $1 million or more. By contrast, 35 men’s college basketball coaches have a base salary of $1 million or more, led by (no surprise) Mike Krzyzewski of Duke who collects $9.6 million per year.
I will not offer any editorial judgment here. I will let you decide if these figures are warranted based on the income derived from the sports these men coach. I just found the numbers interesting and thought you might, too.
ABOVE THE EARS (SOME MUSINGS)
- I’ll bet there are no NFL fans who still believe that “instant replay” is unnecessary. It seemed like this past weekend every one of the semifinal conference games had a play overturned that was originally called incorrectly and could have had a major impact on the outcome. I understand that if a call went against your team (Dallas, perhaps), you might be wishing coaches’ challenges did not exist, but, in the end, based on the rule, the overturned call was correct. And according to FOX, Packers coach Mike McCarthy had not won a challenge all year. He picked the right one to win.
- Home field advantage should give the Seahawks and the Patriots an edge in the conference championship games to be played this Sunday. I just don’t think Aaron Rodgers playing on one leg can do enough against the Seattle defense to win their game and, even though I do not think the Patriots play as well in the playoffs as they do during the regular season, they should be able to beat the Colts, unless the Colts have a bit more LUCK (Get it? You may groan here).
- Am I the only one who thinks there is something wrong with Peyton Manning? To me, he just has not looked like the great quarterback he has been for so many years in the past month or so. On Sunday, he seemed confused, arm-weary, and, at times, disinterested. At the very least, where was the old confidence?
- I did not see any shots of Jerry Jones or Chris Christie during the Packers-Dallas telecast. Did I miss them or were both maintaining a low profile this week? That probably is best for Christie.
- Concluding with another NFL tidbit, Rex Ryan was named the new head coach of the Buffalo Bills at a reported salary of $5 million. That means he will be in the same division as his former team, the Jets. Ironically, Doug Marone, who opted out of his Buffalo contract after one year, may soon be named the Jets head coach. That will make it pretty easy to see who made the right acquisition. Stay tuned.
(Last week – 3-1) (177-84-1 overall – 68%)
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