In the most revealing sign yet of the new austerity in University of Hawaii athletics, Nick Rolovich is expected to begin his tenure today as the school’s lowest-paid head football coach in more than 12 years.
In addition Rolovich’s salary will be the lowest among the 12 head coaches in the Mountain West.
Rolovich, who is scheduled to be formally introduced at a campus press conference this morning after serving as offensive coordinator at the University of Nevada for four seasons, agreed to terms last week with athletic director David Matlin in Reno.
Once executed, sources say the four-year contract would pay him approximately $400,000 per season, near the bottom of the school’s salary scale for the position, with an escalation schedule.
The annual salary scale, as set by the school’s Board of Regents last year, is $392,142-$935,544. Under school policy, terms in excess of three years and salaries above $500,000 require approval from the Regents.
Rolovich’s salary would be the lowest figure since early in the June Jones (1999-2007) reign. Jones’ highest salary through 2002 was $393,447, according to documents obtained by the Honolulu Star-Advertiser under the state’s open records law.
A portion of Jones’ contract was paid by booster funds and donations. Part of the deal initially included a housing allowance and his daughter’s tuition at Punahou.
Subsequently Jones, who had previously been a head coach in the NFL with Atlanta and San Diego, received a raise to $800,016 (2003-‘07) before leaving for Southern Methodist in 2008. His successor, Greg McMackin (2008-‘11), a career assistant coach on the Division I level, received $1,023,000.
Rolovich’s predecessor, Norm Chow (2012-‘15), a first-time head coach, earned $550,000.
The 36-year old Rolovich is expected to receive annual increases and a so-called “goal-aligned” bonus package similar in structure similar to that of men’s basketball coach Eran Ganot.
The contract for Ganot, who was hired in April but whose agreement was not executed until last month, is said to be well below that and contains fewer bonus provision than his predecessor, Gib Arnold, who received $344,000 until his 2014 dismissal.
The contracts for Ganot and Rolovich were negotiated by Matlin in his eight months as athletic director and are the first in the athletic department since a major overhaul mandated by the Board of Regents in the wake of the controversy over terms given to Arnold in 2011 and a mandate to reduce budget deficits that have reached more than $20 million in accumulated net in the past decade.
As of last week UH had yet to disclose Ganot’s salary or the amount of his raises, citing privacy since he is a member of the Hawaii Government Employees Association, bargaining unit 08. The Star-Advertiser has a request for an opinion pending with the state Office of Information Practices.
Nationally, the average base pay for head coaches in the 127-member Football Bowl Subdivision UH competes in exceeds $2 million, according to a USA Today survey.
In the MWC, Chow ranked 10th among 12 coaches in 2015. The MWC average was more than $800,000 with two coaches, Tim DeRuyter of Fresno State ($1.45 million) and Colorado State’s Mike Bobo ($1.35 million) in seven figures. Boise State’s Bryan Harsin is scheduled to join them in January, according to terms of his contract.
The total salary package for Rolovich and his staff, including nine assistant coaches when hired, could run to approximately $1.5 million-$1.6 million, or about half that of Boise State and Colorado State.
McMackin and his nine assistants totaled approximately $2.1 million.
