THE COST OF FOOTBALL TO HIGHER EDUCATION

[From Campus Progress]

ANDREW KROLL, WESTERN MICHIGAN UNIVERSITY On Nov. 16, USA Today reported
on a recent investigation into the salaries of NCAA Division I-A head
football coaches. . . According to the article, the average head
football coach of a premier program earns $950,000 per year, not
including benefits, incentives, and other perks which include, but are
not limited to: subsidized housing, use of private jets, million-dollar
annuities, and family travel accounts. The study also found that at
least 42 of the 119 coaches will earn $1 million or more this year. The
University of Oklahoma's head football coach Bob Stoops makes a reported
$3.35 million per year, highest among Division I-A coaches.

As the salaries of college football coaches continue to rise, the
overwhelming discrepancy in pay between coaches and faculty members
grows. Universities now pay these coaches six- and seven-figure salaries
along with lucrative bonuses and incentives, while the salaries of the
faculty at the same institutions of higher learning pale by comparison.
For example, the average salary of a full professor at the University of
Oklahoma is $95,650 - roughly $3.2 million less than head coach Bob
Stoops. InsideHigherEd.com found that the average salary for a full
professor at a four-year institution in 2005-06 was roughly $83,000,
$867,902 less than the average head coach's at a premier Division I-A
school. . .

The most prominent example of a group of universities emphasizing
academics over athletics is the Ivy League. Just after the 1981 season,
the eight Ivy League football teams were downgraded from Division I-A to
I-AA due to an argument with the NCAA over television revenue. Instead
of appealing this decision, the Ivy League presidents gladly walked away
from Division I-A football. A Nov. 17 article in The New York Times
examined the state of Ivy League football 25 years after it made the
switch from Division I-A to I-AA. While several coaches and athletic
directors believe Ivy League football could exist successfully in
Division I-A both academically and athletically, the consensus among Ivy
League university presidents is that the move to Division I-AA football
was the right one. . .

One might think that the revenue these football programs bring in is
split up between both athletic and academic programs, so it would
benefit the academic as well as athletic programs. Unfortunately that is
rarely the case, as the athletic departments of many NCAA Division I
schools actually operate independently of the university itself, with
all athletic earnings going into a separate budget solely for
themselves. The athletic department then uses these earnings for
athletics-only purposes, such as paying the salaries of their coaches,
building new facilities, and ensuring that all existing sports are fully
funded. . .

Universities ought to reduce coaches' salaries and stop sending the
message that winning football games is 10 times as important as the hard
work of higher education. . .

[Andy Kroll is a junior at Western Michigan University and an NCAA
Division I college soccer player]

http://www.campusprogress.org/features/1372/why-coach-should-fly-coach

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