* The Pac-12 Hotline newsletter is published each Monday-Wednesday-Friday during the college sports season (and twice-a-week in the summer). This edition, from Dec. 17, has been made available on the Hotline in archived form …
Ranking the football programs
(Using dollars-per-win as the measure)
Cal announced a new contract for coach Justin Wilcox earlier this month, but that wasn’t all. The Bears revealed that Wilcox had received a raise for the 2018 season — and not an insignificant one.
Wilcox earned $1.1 million more in ’18 through the new deal than he would have under the terms of his original contract, bringing his pay for the season to $2.6 million. That placed him on the middle tier of Pac-12 coaches and got the Hotline thinking about value:
Which schools are getting the most out of the dollars spent on their football coaches?
Five first-year coaches in 2018 make single-year comparisons difficult, so we expanded the scope and tallied the dollars spent and victories earned over the past three years.
Key points:
1. The salary figures below were taken from USA Today’s stellar database, which is compiled annually by reporter Steve Berkowitz (and others) and provides invaluable accountability and transparency. (For more on their methodology, go here.)
2. Stanford and USC are not required to disclose their contracts. However, federal tax filings reveal the highest-paid employees on campus, making salaries for David Shaw’ (three years) and Clay Helton (one year) available — albeit with a significant time lag. Shaw’s listed salary for this season was actually from the tax filing for 2016, for example.
3. Be mindful of the wording: Although I used the phrase ‘school outlay’ to describe the payments, much of the financial support comes from private dollars/donations.
The schools are listed below in order of the 2018 compensation to keep the focus on the current coaches, but the dollars-per-victory over the sweep of three years is a more accurate measure of school value.
There’s a wide variance, even among the most successful coaches. For instance, Stanford and Washington State have each averaged nine wins per season from 2016-18, but Shaw has collected more than $14 million in that time while Mike Leach — arguably one of the top values in all of college football — has earned less than $7 million.
Read, enjoy, and use the information to help frame opinion, not as the final word. — Jon Wilner.
Washington
Coach: Chris Petersen
2018 pay: $4,377,500
2018 pay per win: $437,750
School 3-year outlay: 12,110,847
School 3-year outlay per victory: $378,463
Stanford
Coach: David Shaw
2018 pay: $4,311,543
2018 pay per win: $538,942
School 3-year outlay: $14,059,203
School 3-year outlay per victory: $520,711
Utah
Coach: Kyle Whittingham
2018 pay: $3,787,917
2018 pay per win: $420,879
School 3-year outlay: $11,125,834
School 3-year outlay per victory: $445,033
Washington State
Coach: Mike Leach
2018 pay: $3,500,000
2018 pay per win: $350,000
School 3-year outlay: $9,525,000
School 3-year outlay per victory: $352,777
UCLA
Coach: Chip Kelly
2018 pay: $3,300,000
2018 pay per win: $1,100,000
School 3-year outlay: $10,300,000
School 3-year outlay per victory: $792,307
Colorado
Coach: Mike MacIntyre (dismissed)
2018 pay: $2,878,500
2018 pay per win: $575,700
School 3-year outlay: $7,724,950
School 3-year outlay per victory: $386,247
USC
Coach: Clay Helton
2018 pay: $2,625,965
2018 pay per win: $525,193
School 3-year outlay: N/A
School 3-year outlay per victory: N/A
Cal
Coach: Justin Wilcox
2018 pay: $2,600,000
2018 pay per win: $371,428
School 3-year outlay: $7,108,000
School 3-year outlay per victory: $418,117
Oregon
Coach: Mario Cristobal
2018 pay: $2,500,000
2018 pay per win: $312,500
School 3-year outlay: $8,712,700
School 3-year outlay per victory: $458,563
Arizona
Coach: Kevin Sumlin
2018 pay: $2,000,000
2018 pay per win: $400,000
School 3-year outlay: $10,891,563
School 3-year outlay per victory: $726,104
Arizona State
Coach: Herm Edwards
2018 pay: $2,00,000
2018 pay per win: $285,714
School 3-year outlay: $8,312,217
School 3-year outlay per victory: $437,485
Oregon State
Coach: Jonathan Smith
2018 pay: $1,900,008
2018 pay per win: $950,004
School 3-year outlay: $7,100,008
School 3-year outlay per victory: $1,014,286
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Hot off the Hotline
• Half the Pac-12 football programs have changed coaches in the past 13 months. None of them pursued or landed Jeff Tedford, who has worked wonders at Fresno State. That and more — including another ominous start to the bowl season — was covered in ‘Saturday Night Five.’
• With the help of 247sports recruiting analyst Greg Biggins, who’s based in Southern California, we examined the top Pac-12 storylines for the December signing period that begins Wednesday.
• ICYMI: In the Friday edition of the Hotline newsletter, industry experts weighed in about the Pac-12’s media strategy, and they weren’t all bearish. Quite the opposite, in fact. Previous editions of the newsletter are available in archived form using the following hashtag: https://www.mercurynews.com/tag/pac-12-hotline-newsletter/
Why we need your support: Like so many other providers of local journalism across the country, the Hotline’s parent website, mercurynews.com, recently moved to a subscription model. A few Hotline stories will remain free each month (as will this newsletter), but for access to all content, you’ll need to subscribe at a rate of just 12 cents per day for 12 months. And thanks for your loyalty.
State of Affairs
Perspective on the conference from beyond its borders …
• Was the first year of the Herm Edwards era a success at Arizona State? Could things trend in the wrong direction next season? Yahoo weighs in … Seth Davis, editor of The Athletic’s college basketball site writes: “It has been a rough stretch for the Pac-12, to say the least, but even by this league’s low standards, Saturday was quite the disaster.” … And then there’s this tweet from Stadium’s Jeff Goodman.
In the news
(Note: The Hotline newsletter includes links to sites that could require a subscription once the number of free views has been reached.)
• Cal has added a familiar name to his quarterback depth chart for 2019: Devon Modster, formerly of UCLA, is transferring to Berkeley and will have two years of eligibility.
• UCLA edge rusher Jaelan Phillips, the top recruit in the nation a few years ago, has medically retired.
• Now this is interesting: New USC play caller Kliff Kingsbury remains a potential target of NFL teams … as a head coach.
• Recapping Arizona State’s loss to Fresno State in the Las Vegas Bowl.
• Matt Calkins of the Seattle Times assesses the Pac-12 bowl season: “These next few games could be an opportunity for the Pac-12 to build its resume for next year. It’s also an opportunity to cement their ineptitude into future voters’ minds.”
• Mel Tucker’s coaching staff is official. Jay Johnson, an analyst at Georgia, will run the CU offense.
• Utah finally has stability at the play-caller position after so many years of turnover. Or not. Troy Taylor is reportedly headed to Sacramento State. That’s a blow to the Utes, for sure.
Recruiting Trail
• Why did the nation’s No. 1 prospect (according to some recruiting sevices) select Oregon? Kayvon Thibodeaux says scheme was a big factor: The Ducks will let him play defensive end.
• Here’s a handy guide to announcements this week. It includes plans for several of the Pac-12’s top targets.
• Arizona lost to Baylor at home, ending its 52-game winning streak at McKale Center against non-conference opponents. The primary issue: horrendous rebounding.
• Plenty of good teams have lost to Belmont over the years, but the way UCLA lost on Saturday was, well, inexcusable.
• Arizona State freshman Luguentz Dort speaks French, looks like a linebacker and is making a huge impact for Arizona State.
Money Matters
• Significant news out of Eugene on the merchandise and marketing fronts: Fanatics has signed as 10-year deal to license Oregon apparel. The partnership won’t impact Nike’s relationship with the Ducks (i.e., uniform design), but it could boost merchandise sales, which, per this Bloomberg report, have declined in recent years. (Don’t be surprised if other schools follow Oregon’s lead in coming years.)
• Colorado has a received a $2 million donation from the Scripps family designed to bolster a program devoted to personal and professional development, per the Daily Camera. The program, which is already in existence, serves about 400 athletes each year.
Choice Reads
• A group of USC fans with no postseason of their own decided to break the world record for most bowl games attended. They’ve dubbed it ‘Bowlmaggedon,’ as the OC register’s Keith Sharon explains. (Read the story, and you’ll understand my choice in photos.)
• Washington assistant coach Ikaika Malloe has made UW a destination spot for the top players in the Pacific Islands, reports Adam Jude of the Seattle Times. The group includes coveted class-of-2019 defensive tackle Faatui Tuitele, the top player in Hawaii.
• Lastly: Despite recent chatter, don’t expect playoff expansion anytime soon, according to USA Today’s George Schroeder. (Although the Pac-12, Big 12 and Big Ten should be in favor of moving to eight as soon as possible.)
Looking Ahead
What’s coming on the Pac-12 Hotline:
• Two basketball items are slotted for Tuesday: My AP ballot and the latest Pac-12 power ratings.
• Recruiting news should start to unfold early Wednesday. We’ll have all the morning/mid-day highlights in the newsletter, which will be published a bit later than usual to account for letter-of-intent developments.
The next newsletter is scheduled for Wednesday. Like it? Please forward this email to friends (sign up here).
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