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Arizona Wildcats' Rich Rodriguez best bargain in college football - ESPN
By Travis Haney
It’s getting increasingly difficult to find a bargain in major college coaching -- or at least, the concept of value is being redefined because of continually climbing salaries.
Even with an evolving marketplace, a handful of programs are still getting solid deals. Here are the best examples, culled from contract files obtained by ESPN.com and USA Today’s salary database. Themes among the choices include Pac-12 coaches, veterans and private school employees.
1. Rich Rodriguez, Arizona
Estimated 2015 salary: $3 million
Rodriguez’s failed run at Michigan worked out fantastically for Arizona and AD Greg Byrne. Not only did it make Rodriguez available but it dropped the price tag for a proven coach who is again proving himself. The Wildcats, even with a freshman quarterback and a number of young skill players, broke through to win the Pac-12 South and reach the Fiesta Bowl in 2014. Michigan is looking more and more like an aberration for Rodriguez. Maybe it was more program than coach in Ann Arbor, huh? “That guy can coach,” one peer of Rodriguez’s texted last week. “I know that.”
2. Paul Johnson, Georgia Tech
Estimated 2015 salary: $2.8 million
Johnson’s teams are often far from flashy, but the bang-for-buck results are inarguable. In his seven seasons in Atlanta, Georgia Tech has played in four ACC title games and twice won 10-plus games. The 11-3 season in 2014, including an Orange Bowl victory against SEC upstart Mississippi State, headed off any thoughts that Johnson could be gravitating toward the hot seat. With eight defensive starters and quarterback Justin Thomas back in 2015, the Yellow Jackets are again poised to be competitive in the league’s Coastal Division.
3. Bill Snyder, Kansas State
Estimated 2015 salary: $2.85 million
K-State has been playing with house money for some time when it comes to Snyder, who amazingly has won 187 games in 23 seasons in Manhattan.
The program has long been a model for coaches in terms of identifying and developing players. No one does it better. But there’s no choice when you’re as isolated as any Power 5 campus. Thank goodness for the Kansas jucos. No coach in the country is more respected by peers, both personally and for the job he has done. As much as we marvel now at Snyder’s tenure, the legend will only grow as time passes. Good luck to the staff that follows him.
4. David Cutcliffe, Duke
Estimated 2015 salary: $1.8 million
Duke very rarely has the most talented team on the field, yet the Blue Devils are 19-8 the past two seasons, including a division title in 2013. Those who have worked with Cut aren’t surprised. Coaches still laugh about Ole Miss firing him one year removed from a 10-win season, and that was 10 years ago. “They’re so sound on offense,” an ACC coach told me, referring to Cutcliffe’s Duke teams. “They don’t have FSU’s [talent], but they will not beat themselves. If you beat one of his teams, you have to earn it.”
5. Steve Addazio, Boston College
Estimated 2015 salary: $2 million
I talked this past weekend with a former BC assistant who poked fun at how poorly the school paid during Tom Coughlin's tenure. It has been a while since then, but Addazio is still one of the better Power 5 deals out there. His lunch-pail, blue-collar sentiment works well for the Golden Eagles. (Never mind that the school’s in a well-to-do part of Boston.) Even in a division that includes FSU and Clemson, BC is holding its own with Addazio’s ability to develop and inspire players.
Honorable mention:
Todd Graham, Arizona State ($2.5 million)
Graham represents another Pac-12 steal. Jokes about him job-hopping aside, Graham has proven himself as a winner -- including ASU’s 2013 division title.
Frank Beamer, Virginia Tech ($2.5 million)
Very much in the same vein as Snyder, Beamer built a program from nothing and it’ll be incredibly difficult to follow him.
Nick Saban, Alabama ($7 million)
Obviously the price tag is extreme -- larger than anyone in the sport -- but we’re talking value here and Saban re-established the Bama brand with multiple conference and national titles.
Art Briles, Baylor ($3.2 million)
Briles is making good money, but you have to consider the work he has done to make Baylor relevant after years of ineptitude. His salary is on the uptick following consecutive league titles, but he’s still a steal for that dollar figure.
Paul Chryst, Wisconsin ($2.5 million)
This is clearly speculative, but for the type of job Wisconsin is -- top 20 or 30, arguably -- it modestly pays its head coaches. That’s a good and bad thing if you’re a Badgers fan.
By Travis Haney
It’s getting increasingly difficult to find a bargain in major college coaching -- or at least, the concept of value is being redefined because of continually climbing salaries.
Even with an evolving marketplace, a handful of programs are still getting solid deals. Here are the best examples, culled from contract files obtained by ESPN.com and USA Today’s salary database. Themes among the choices include Pac-12 coaches, veterans and private school employees.
1. Rich Rodriguez, Arizona
Estimated 2015 salary: $3 million
Rodriguez’s failed run at Michigan worked out fantastically for Arizona and AD Greg Byrne. Not only did it make Rodriguez available but it dropped the price tag for a proven coach who is again proving himself. The Wildcats, even with a freshman quarterback and a number of young skill players, broke through to win the Pac-12 South and reach the Fiesta Bowl in 2014. Michigan is looking more and more like an aberration for Rodriguez. Maybe it was more program than coach in Ann Arbor, huh? “That guy can coach,” one peer of Rodriguez’s texted last week. “I know that.”
2. Paul Johnson, Georgia Tech
Estimated 2015 salary: $2.8 million
Johnson’s teams are often far from flashy, but the bang-for-buck results are inarguable. In his seven seasons in Atlanta, Georgia Tech has played in four ACC title games and twice won 10-plus games. The 11-3 season in 2014, including an Orange Bowl victory against SEC upstart Mississippi State, headed off any thoughts that Johnson could be gravitating toward the hot seat. With eight defensive starters and quarterback Justin Thomas back in 2015, the Yellow Jackets are again poised to be competitive in the league’s Coastal Division.
3. Bill Snyder, Kansas State
Estimated 2015 salary: $2.85 million
K-State has been playing with house money for some time when it comes to Snyder, who amazingly has won 187 games in 23 seasons in Manhattan.
The program has long been a model for coaches in terms of identifying and developing players. No one does it better. But there’s no choice when you’re as isolated as any Power 5 campus. Thank goodness for the Kansas jucos. No coach in the country is more respected by peers, both personally and for the job he has done. As much as we marvel now at Snyder’s tenure, the legend will only grow as time passes. Good luck to the staff that follows him.
4. David Cutcliffe, Duke
Estimated 2015 salary: $1.8 million
Duke very rarely has the most talented team on the field, yet the Blue Devils are 19-8 the past two seasons, including a division title in 2013. Those who have worked with Cut aren’t surprised. Coaches still laugh about Ole Miss firing him one year removed from a 10-win season, and that was 10 years ago. “They’re so sound on offense,” an ACC coach told me, referring to Cutcliffe’s Duke teams. “They don’t have FSU’s [talent], but they will not beat themselves. If you beat one of his teams, you have to earn it.”
5. Steve Addazio, Boston College
Estimated 2015 salary: $2 million
I talked this past weekend with a former BC assistant who poked fun at how poorly the school paid during Tom Coughlin's tenure. It has been a while since then, but Addazio is still one of the better Power 5 deals out there. His lunch-pail, blue-collar sentiment works well for the Golden Eagles. (Never mind that the school’s in a well-to-do part of Boston.) Even in a division that includes FSU and Clemson, BC is holding its own with Addazio’s ability to develop and inspire players.
Honorable mention:
Todd Graham, Arizona State ($2.5 million)
Graham represents another Pac-12 steal. Jokes about him job-hopping aside, Graham has proven himself as a winner -- including ASU’s 2013 division title.
Frank Beamer, Virginia Tech ($2.5 million)
Very much in the same vein as Snyder, Beamer built a program from nothing and it’ll be incredibly difficult to follow him.
Nick Saban, Alabama ($7 million)
Obviously the price tag is extreme -- larger than anyone in the sport -- but we’re talking value here and Saban re-established the Bama brand with multiple conference and national titles.
Art Briles, Baylor ($3.2 million)
Briles is making good money, but you have to consider the work he has done to make Baylor relevant after years of ineptitude. His salary is on the uptick following consecutive league titles, but he’s still a steal for that dollar figure.
Paul Chryst, Wisconsin ($2.5 million)
This is clearly speculative, but for the type of job Wisconsin is -- top 20 or 30, arguably -- it modestly pays its head coaches. That’s a good and bad thing if you’re a Badgers fan.
