UH coach Rolovich’s pay lags behind others in NCAA football

The University of Hawaii’s Nick Rolovich earns the third-lowest base salary among 119 NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision head coaches this season, according to a USA Today survey published Thursday.

Rolovich’s contract calls for a base salary of $400,008 in this, his inaugural season as a head coach. He previously spent six seasons as an offensive coordinator at Nevada and UH.

Head coaches at Louisiana Monroe ($390,000) and New Mexico State ($376,044) were the only ones earning less.

UH, 4-4 (3-1 MWC) entering Saturday’s game against New Mexico, is pursuing its first winning season and bowl appearance since 2010.

The $400,008 places Rolovich last in the 12-member Mountain West Conference, nearly $110,000 below the next lowest-paid coach, Nevada-Las Vegas’ Tony Sanchez, according to numbers listed by the paper.

Tim DeRuyter had been the highest-paid coach in the MWC at $1,518,480 per year, when he was fired Sunday by Fresno State after a 1-7 start.

The coaches of the three FBS teams UH has beaten this season have an average salary of $668,915. The four who have defeated UH average $3.7 million.

Among them is Michigan’s Jim Harbaugh, whose Wolverines defeated UH 63-3 in September. Harbaugh, at $9,004,000, is the nation’s highest paid, USA Today said. He could top $10 million this season with bonuses.

Nationally, at least 36 coaches earn $3 million or more annually.

There are 128 teams competing on the FBS level, but some schools, many of them private institutions, such as Southern California, did not furnish salaries for the survey.