THE MOST POWERFUL DWARF IN ALL OF COLLEGE FOOTBALL
Forbes named Nick Saban the most powerful coach in college football, which Forbes being Forbes, they did based primarily on the salary paid to him. In case you haven’t heard, that total is somewhere between $4 million and $5 million a year in total compensation, not counting his killer robot Cybertyde, the space elevator to Alabama’s Orbital Running Lab (zero gs=zero knee joint stress), and the membership to the Exotic Meat of the Month Club. (This month’s installment: Panda for the Olympics!)
How powerful is Saban? So powerful he can pull the first version of the Forbes cover, which he objected to quite strenously.
You get an LSU guy to do the farkin’, you get Saban as Lollipop Guild.
The Forbes article also figures out the most underpaid and overpaid coaches, and you’ll be shocked at how well your expectations line up with their results, especially on the overpaid side. The list includes your obvious ones–Kirk Ferentz, Greg Robinson, Al Groh, and Charlie Weis–but surprised us with the inclusion of Ralph Friedgen, who has been just 15-17 in conference over the past four years after a ripping start at Maryland, and should have been included, we suppose, and well aren’t you smart for seeing this when we didn’t, Jackass McSmartfartley?
(Note: when the the eventual obit for the Greg Robinson era is written, this must be the official picture for the story. There is no other choice.)
P.S. Ever the perfectionist, Freek has an additional Saban cover after the jump.
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1
Biggus Rickus says:
Okay, but I have to question the math when a 24-14 record with no BCS berths over three years at $1.1 milliion trumps 30-9 with two BCS berths (one victory) in three years at $2 million.
August 14th, 2008 at 2:05 pm
2
AlanInDC says:
Pete Carrol underpaid? Right. And Tressel? Come the fuck one. Good coaches? Sure. But to call someone underpaid when they’re making 4 mill a year is just ridiculous. That’s a lot of sweater vests for Tressel and shitload of Tijuana whores for PC. Stick to being the joke of the business world, Forbes. And leave the sports news to reputable sources. Like EDSBS. You fuckin’ jag offs.
August 14th, 2008 at 2:06 pm
3
Tater Salad says:
Ask and ye shall receive.
Well played Swindle.
August 14th, 2008 at 2:10 pm
4
intellidouche says:
I’m looking for something in an after dinner burrito.
August 14th, 2008 at 2:20 pm
5
BennyBeav says:
Even I call bullshit on the methodology here, and my coach ended up 2nd on the list.
It seems interesting at first, but upon contemplating it for 30 seconds or so you realize how stupid it really is. Kind of like the flat tax.
August 14th, 2008 at 2:24 pm
6
Fat Charlie the Archangel says:
They are basing pay scales on team records – which sounds okay, until on remembers that those records are purely the result of scheduling.
Of COURSE Jim Tressel is “underpaid” based on his record – but he’s been in the Big Ten during tOSUs dynasty, when everybody else has been down. And you-know-who’s been stomping Pac10 patsies for quite a few years.
I think that perhaps they should base the pay on records with strength of schedule figured in.
(BTW – Although I stand foursquare behind St. Nick, I still wish that we Loosertuscans coulda lured Mike Riley away from the west coast, all those years ago. He’d'a been a bargain…)
August 14th, 2008 at 2:25 pm
7
Ryno says:
Man, Alan in DC is bringin’ tha Thundah!
Good Work LSU Freek.
August 14th, 2008 at 2:26 pm
8
Matt D. says:
Nice link to the Underpaid/Overpaid list even if it wasn’t that surprising.
August 14th, 2008 at 2:42 pm
9
meatybob says:
“Come the fuck one.”
You called?
August 14th, 2008 at 2:42 pm
10
Big Dog says:
Too bad $4mm could not get over on Louisiana Monroe?
August 14th, 2008 at 3:18 pm
11
BJGator says:
Yeah, Charlie Weis may not have produced great results in his first few years, but to call him overpaid reveals a bit of ignorance. I quote, “Last year’s three-win season–the worst for the Fighting Irish in 44 years–was the second in a 10-year contract extension for Weis, reportedly worth between $30 and $40 million over the length of the deal.” Well, during 2006-2007, ND paid Weis under $600,000, a far cry from the reported 3-4 million each year. That’s quite a small salary, especially when compared to how much ND paid Tyrone Willingham in the same year (almost $700,000). So, in 2007, ND actually paid Weis less money than their last coach. He may not be doing too well, but Weis is anything but overpaid.
August 14th, 2008 at 3:25 pm
12
hobeg8r says:
From a purely business/economic standpoint, shouldn’t success be measured by profit margins? In other words, the mark of a successful coach should be measured not only by his W/L record but how that translates to increased revenue for the Athletic Dept. ROI [Return on Investment]. The Forbes analysis – while entertaining – is flawed – and pointless.
Sincerely yours,
Ty Willingham
August 14th, 2008 at 3:48 pm
13
Tommy's Co-Pilot says:
C’mon, BJGator…..you don’t really believe that Notre Dame is paying it’s coach less than the average Conference USA coach makes, do you? You realize that a coaches salary is usually 25-35% of total compensation, and Notre Dame doesn’t report any of the extra compensation because they are an Independent school and therefore not required to. $600 grand would barely cover Charlie’s pie bill at the local confectionary.
BTW – Here is USA Today’s sortable stats (2007 figures) on what each coach makes, broken down by salary, bonus, and outside income arranged by the school:
http://www.usatoday.com/sports/college/football/2007-12-04-coaches-pay_N.htm
August 14th, 2008 at 3:51 pm
14
Pants McPants says:
I hate it when people do not understand the concept of “relativism”…
I’d have to say between the amount of hours worked, and amount of money brought into the University, at $2.6 million/year Tressel IS grossly underpaid….
I mean, look at someone like Adam Dunn or any middling MLB player…
August 14th, 2008 at 4:23 pm
15
slarg says:
i know, 5, i wish i didn’t understand economics either
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August 14th, 2008 at 4:49 pm
16
John Vierdsen says:
This is so typical of the little brother syndrome in the SEC regarding Alabama. Hey, LSU – y’all won a national championship with “The Taffy Man.” How about getting over the Saban thing sometime this century?
August 14th, 2008 at 5:03 pm
17
BJGator says:
#13
Well, speculation is a powerful force of the mind. In my imagination, Weis could be making as much as $5-6 million a year. The fact is that, without proper data to support their claims, the $30-40 million is an imaginative, speculative guess by the media. My main point was that ND’s former coach was paid more than their current coach that year, more than two years removed from the firing of the former coach.
Of course, I can offer this little tidbit. When Lou Holtz was hired at ND, Father Joyce (the president at the time) said that, at Notre Dame, the head football coach would never make more than the university president. I’m pretty sure things have changed, but who really knows?
August 14th, 2008 at 5:26 pm
18
BullGator says:
Reggie. F. Nelson. I hate Nick Saban.
August 14th, 2008 at 7:04 pm
19
John says:
Bobby Bowden should be in the overpaid coaches list. He’s been a figurehead for the last five years and hasn’t done a particularly good job at it.
August 15th, 2008 at 12:05 am
20
shovel-pass says:
As far as I have seen, if they are paying Weis $100 and a large bag of Doritos, it is still too much.
August 15th, 2008 at 2:41 pm
21
TideFalcon says:
While Nikolai Saban could undoubtedly kick Sascha Putin’s ass in a 175 kg-weight-class cage fight to the death, one must admit that the latter has had much more recent success in dominating states with poplulations under 4.5M.
August 17th, 2008 at 12:44 am