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.
9 responses to “UH coach Rolovich’s pay lags behind others in NCAA football”
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
Personally, I don’t see why any coach should be paid more than a tenured professor. Does a football coach really produce more value than a professor of Chemistry for example?
Yes, he does. As the head coach, he manages an entire revenue producing program that’s visible on a national level. A professor doesn’t travel the country recruiting students that chemistry professors of other schools are also recruiting. A professor doesn’t need his students to compete directly against students of professors from other schools. This whole professor analogy is an intellectually stunted one.
You Sir have just put up the biggest ‘Straw man’ I’ve seen in ages. For you to compare a football coaches job and influence with a full time educator is simply ridiculous to the extreme. Even those, like myself, who really enjoy college football would not ever deny the reality that sports in our society has taken a position way beyond what we should allow it. To pay teachers, on any level what we pay them, and then boost football or any sports head coach’s salary to beaucoup times what teachers make, is simply another indication of a moribund and decaying society whose values went into the toilet a long time ago. You’re entitled to your opinion but in this case you’re in another universe.
how often does a single tenured college professor lose his job after 3-4 years because of performance that didn’t measure up in direct comparison to other professors at other universities? How often does a single tenured college professor lose his job after 3-4 years because of a drop in attendance? The standards for success between a FBS football coach and a professor are so different, and the consequences for not meeting those standards are very different.
on a college campus, there are many professors. there is just one head football coach. If there were only one professor for each major field of study, maybe your argument might make slightly more sense? but that’s not the case. A better example is comparing head football coach to a school dean, since there are less deans than professors. the dean of the law school makes slightly more than Rolo right now. In terms of value, that seems about right. you also have to consider than part of the football coach’s salary is based on things like his weekly tv show – things that professors and deans do not have to do in order to get paid.
i’m probably wasting my time trying to explain this to you, but whatever…
such poor timing only controversy…like all news not helpful to either sides only emotional drama
Rolo may have great potential and hope, but this is his first shot as a Head Coach. Coaching is not a union job with a fixed figure, nor should it be. If Harbaugh loses three games in a season his job will be on the line, whereas at UH they’d be dancing in the streets (well, that’s not likely either). The real opportunity was jj coaching at UH…he was a bargain. I’ll never understand why the State legislature doesn’t recognize the opportunity UH Athletics,especially football, presents to the State and athletes from Hawaii. It wasn’t long ago that Michigan State canceled their game in Hawaii, afraid of another loss. Those were the days…
Personally, no one should get paid more than the president of the United States. In Rolo’s case, if the football team ends up with a winning record, then UH should look at some pay incentives, possibly bonuses and pay increase.
Okay, so he doesn’t make as much money as other coaches. He makes enough and accepted the salary on his own. It’s not like he is in high demand and could make more money elsewhere.