Is $9 million+ a year too much for a college football coach?

[Duo]

Seriously did you ever dream it would go this high? Let's see.........the President of the U.S. gets $400,000 a year (although Trump will take nothing). $9 million for a coach is 22 1/2 times higher than the President of the United States! What's wrong with this picture? Doesn't that seem amazing?

OK, and what should you expect for $9 million+? (Try to answer totally objectively.)

* Signature win(s)

* Win a Championship

* Defeat your rival

Please give these questions some serious thought and try to answer them as objectively as possible.

 

[michigangoblue999]

I wouldn't mind seeing some of the money that coaches are getting go to making refereeing a full-time profession.

The schools are making crazy amounts of money, and if they won't pay players, it has to go somewhere. That is feeding the salary explosion among coaches.

 

[michigangoblue999]

Seriously did you ever dream it would go this high? Let's see.........the President of the U.S. gets $400,000 a year (although Trump will take nothing). $9 million for a coach is 22 1/2 times higher than the President of the United States! What's wrong with this picture? Doesn't that seem amazing?

OK, and what should you expect for $9 million+? (Try to answer totally objectively.)

* Signature win(s)

* Win a Championship

* Defeat your rival

Please give these questions some serious thought and try to answer them as objectively as possible.

Wait, are you saying Harbaugh should be fired or something?

Yeah, Harbaugh lost to OSU and didn't win the B1G. So what? Fire him? What are we talking about?

 

[DrCorona]

Seriously did you ever dream it would go this high? Let's see.........the President of the U.S. gets $400,000 a year (although Trump will take nothing). $9 million for a coach is 22 1/2 times higher than the President of the United States! What's wrong with this picture? Doesn't that seem amazing?

OK, and what should you expect for $9 million+? (Try to answer totally objectively.)

* Signature win(s)

* Win a Championship

* Defeat your rival

Please give these questions some serious thought and try to answer them as objectively as possible.

Well, the answer is the $9 million you're paying is your base investment. You should expect to recoup more than your base investment, thus if that happens then you've earned your $9 million.

Money has no bearing on the 3 options you've provided. I want & expect those things from ANY coach who is dedicated to my school regardless of what he's paid.

But yes, any pay in the millions is crazy money............

 

[Duo]

Wait, are you saying Harbaugh should be fired or something?

Yeah, Harbaugh lost to OSU and didn't win the B1G. So what? Fire him? What are we talking about?

Go blue.............

Nobody said anything about firing anybody.

 

[Duo]

Well, the answer is the $9 million you're paying is your base investment. You should expect to recoup more than your base investment, thus if that happens then you've earned your $9 million.

Money has no bearing on the 3 options you've provided. I want & expect those things from ANY coach who is dedicated to my school regardless of what he's paid.

But yes, any pay in the millions is crazy money............

Doctor.............

Re: "pay in the millions is crazy money"

We are approaching coaching pay near $1 million a game in salary alone!!! Of course, it's probably more than that now when you figure in the endorsements. In my wildest dream I never thought..............???

What do you think?

 

[Roady]

From Bama's Chancellor...in 2013

“Nick Saban’s the best financial investment this university has ever made,” he said. “We have made an investment that’s been returned many fold.”

" athletic department’s revenue has increased by 112% since Saban was hired, and last year returned $4 million to the school in the form of academic scholarships, according to 60 Minutes." (2013).....(and has further increased in 2014-15)

Alabama's student enrollment has increased 50% from 2007 through 2015.

 

[2dawood]

compared to a reserve in the nba every college football coach is underpaid. Incomes in sports have become disproportionate to the rest of society except maybe silicon valley and wall street.

 

[Duo]

From Bama's Chancellor...in 2013

“Nick Saban’s the best financial investment this university has ever made,” he said. “We have made an investment that’s been returned many fold.”

" athletic department’s revenue has increased by 112% since Saban was hired, and last year returned $4 million to the school in the form of academic scholarships, according to 60 Minutes." (2013).....(and has further increased in 2014-15)

Alabama's student enrollment has increased 50% from 2007 through 2015.

True....true, and look at Nick's track record..........just sayin.....

 

[michigangoblue999]

True....true, and look at Nick's track record..........just sayin.....

I get that you think Harbaugh isn't worth the money. So what? Do you think he should be fired and get a pay cut?

If he's not worth the money, shouldn't you be happy about that?

 

[Duo]

I get that you think Harbaugh isn't worth the money. So what? Do you think he should be fired and get a pay cut?

If he's not worth the money, shouldn't you be happy about that?

This is a discussion about the relative worth of football coaches in colleges.

 

[Blue_note]

Well, the answer is the $9 million you're paying is your base investment. You should expect to recoup more than your base investment, thus if that happens then you've earned your $9 million.

Money has no bearing on the 3 options you've provided. I want & expect those things from ANY coach who is dedicated to my school regardless of what he's paid.

But yes, any pay in the millions is crazy money............

Harbaugh is generating revenue that makes his salary a wise investment.

As for on-field, teams go as far as they are good in the trenches.

No team in the conference matches the Michigan DL, but the same cannot possibly be said about the OL.

There, you find Hoke holdovers who have improved under this staff, but are wildly inconsistent.

It will be 2018 - at the earliest - before Michigan fields an elite OL.

That's a long wait, since we've already been waiting for about 10 years now.

Go Blue. Always.

 

[DrCorona]

From Bama's Chancellor...in 2013

“Nick Saban’s the best financial investment this university has ever made,” he said. “We have made an investment that’s been returned many fold.”

" athletic department’s revenue has increased by 112% since Saban was hired, and last year returned $4 million to the school in the form of academic scholarships, according to 60 Minutes." (2013).....(and has further increased in 2014-15)

Alabama's student enrollment has increased 50% from 2007 through 2015.

This indeed is what I've heard as well.
In the recent book John U Bacon has written, End Zone....the rise, fall & return of Michigan Football he goes on about the immediate $$ generated when Harbaugh signed on. From the Nike contract to suite renewals, etc. No question he's already worth the investment. We'll have to see if return on investment is still worth it if the trophy cupboard is still bare in 5 years or so.....but my confidence is high!

 

[GoBlue_since1985]

This is a discussion about the relative worth of football coaches in colleges.

Not really.
Yiu basically made it a topic about how much JH makes by what you decided to name this thread, and put it in this forum.
As far as JH being worth the money. Hell yes he is. Look at the success he's had in just 2 years(with Hokes recruits). You can't ask for a better job to be down. He's proved that he's worth the money and has UM on the upswing.
Plus look at all the extra time he works in the off season trying to improve things.

 

[anon_sg4bgyiuileo1]

This is a discussion about the relative worth of football coaches in colleges.

You're an ND fan, correct?

 

[Duo]

You're an ND fan, correct?

Bwahahahahah! That would be a big NOT CORRECT! ND is the most overrated college football program in America.

 

[ArrowheadBlue]

Duo, the president oversaw a $8 billion (or more) deficit. JH has made a few bucks for his school. What's the question again?

 

[NewYorkBuck]

The free market determines his value. Not what someone "thinks" a coach should make.

 

[GoBlue_since1985]

Their's a big difference between Harbaugh and the president. Harbaugh actually brought about change someplace.

 

[PharmD Blue]

Bwahahahahah! That would be a big NOT CORRECT! ND is the most overrated college football program in America.

Florida state fan

 

[Duo]

I like the way you guys talk.........good discussion not just some homer flaming BS. I sense that some of you wonder where coaches compensation is going just like I do. Right now it looks like it is heading toward $1 million per game played. And I find that...........well, rather mind boggling to say the least.

If you want to look at stupid coaching compensation decisions the all time wringer has to be Charlie Weis taking Notre Dame to the cleaners for around $40 million over the course of his unfulfilled tenure and then after being fired going to Florida and Kansas to collect even more millions!!! The financial naivete of academia can not be under estimated.

I guess anything is possible in sports though. Like Arod signing an irrevocable contract for over a Quarter of a Billion Dollar$! Although now that looks like a fairly stupid decision.

Y'all's thoughts are good.............keep em comin.

 

[jemblue]

For the record, Harbaugh's annual compensation is actually $7 million. This fiscal year he's receiving a one-time loan of $2M.

Anyway, this is market economics at work. The government does not bid against other governments for the President's services. He has no leverage over the government for his salary. Football coaches on the other hand have enormous leverage - they are in short supply and widely coveted. Their salaries are also typically paid for by self-sustaining athletic departments, rather than taxpayers.

 

[GoBlue_since1985]

I like the way you guys talk.........good discussion not just some homer flaming BS. I sense that some of you wonder where coaches compensation is going just like I do. Right now it looks like it is heading toward $1 million per game played. And I find that...........well, rather mind boggling to say the least.

If you want to look at stupid coaching compensation decisions the all time wringer has to be Charlie Weis taking Notre Dame to the cleaners for around $40 million over the course of his unfulfilled tenure and then after being fired going to Florida and Kansas to collect even more millions!!! The financial naivete of academia can not be under estimated.

I guess anything is possible in sports though. Like Arod signing an irrevocable contract for over a Quarter of a Billion Dollar$! Although now that looks like a fairly stupid decision.

Y'all's thoughts are good.............keep em comin.

I suppose you just expected everyone here to agree with your every word?

 

[Duo]

I suppose you just expected everyone here to agree with your every word?

Go............85,

Absolutely not! However, knowledgeable, well thought out input is appreciated.

 

[GoBlue_since1985]

Go............85,

Absolutely not! However, knowledgeable, well thought out input is appreciated.

Then what exactly is the point you're trying to make? That JH isn't worth what UM is paying him? Or that Charlie Wies is somehow comparable to JH?
Throw out Harbaugh's record from the past 2 years for a moment. Look at what he's done for UM in just being hired as coach. Completely changed the culture at UM, that was in a downward spiral. Im not an analytics guy, or a statistics analyst....whatever they're called, so I won't try to be one. But The University of Michigan has definitely got their money back on their investment. And will continue to.
Isn't that what a good coach is? An investment?

 

[steelerblue]

Following your logic $1million is too much.

 

[detroitjohn]

I like the way you guys talk.........good discussion not just some homer flaming BS. I sense that some of you wonder where coaches compensation is going just like I do. Right now it looks like it is heading toward $1 million per game played. And I find that...........well, rather mind boggling to say the least.

If you want to look at stupid coaching compensation decisions the all time wringer has to be Charlie Weis taking Notre Dame to the cleaners for around $40 million over the course of his unfulfilled tenure and then after being fired going to Florida and Kansas to collect even more millions!!! The financial naivete of academia can not be under estimated.

I guess anything is possible in sports though. Like Arod signing an irrevocable contract for over a Quarter of a Billion Dollar$! Although now that looks like a fairly stupid decision.

Y'all's thoughts are good.............keep em comin.

Will the market bear Harbaugh's salary? Obviously at a university with hundreds of millions in endowment and the return on the dollar in terms of success on the field, he's worth every penny to the school. If he doesn't succeed, bring butts to the stadiums, please the fans, produce scholar athletes, championships (eventually), then he's not (like Weis wasn't).

 

[ecrosswhite]

If JH beats Ohio Stat next year ..No, it's not too much. If he loses again, Yes...it's too much and we should consider letting him go climb a tree somewhere else. I can't take this losing to Ohio State...it's unacceptable

 

[detroitjohn]

If JH beats Ohio Stat next year ..No, it's not too much. If he loses again, Yes...it's too much and we should consider letting him go climb a tree somewhere else. I can't take this losing to Ohio State...it's unacceptable

And turn to whom to beat Meyer? Come on, serious fans accept we're on a curve here (lose close to MSU, beat MSU/ lose significantly to tUOS/ lost close to tUOS). If we lose again to tUOS when they'll have a much more experienced and more talented team, there's no shame in it and certainly isn't cause for dismissing Harbaugh.