Attention KMart shoppers: We have a blue light special in Columbus, where right now we're offering 22% off of national championship winning coaches. So says Forbes, which is out with a list it calls The Best (And Worst) College Football Coaches For The Buck (slideshow warning). According to their algorithm, Jim Tressel's $2.6 million annual salary is under the market rate for coaches with similar achievements. The Buckeye boss should be making just under $3.2 million a year.
That sounds like a lot of money, mostly because it is. Yet Forbes says that even Pete Carroll (2007 compensation estimated at $4.4 million) is underpaid. They say Southern Cal's coach should be making about a Chevy Cobalt more than $5 million a year, based on his two national titles. (No word on how the Stanford loss affected his overall value, alas.)
So cheer up, Buckeye fans; you may have lost two straight BCS Title Games, but (a) you actually made it to two straight BCS Title Games, and (b) you didn't overpay for the privilege.
Of course, if somebody's underpaid, somebody's overpaid too. Who's the most overpaid coach in college football, according to Forbes? Hint: his name rhymes with "irk parents."
Like you needed a hint anyway. Kirk Ferentz makes more than $3 million a year, while his team struggles to break .500, and his players accumulate so many off-the-field problems Ferentz is starting to make Barry Switzer look like LaVell Edwards. It's hardly news that Ferentz is under just a bit of pressure this season, and his rock-star salary is part of why. But just how overpaid is he?
Take a poll of Iowa fans right now asking what appropriate compensation for Ferentz would look like and you'd probably get an answer like "half a glass of warm lemonade and some expired Arby's coupons." Forbes, however, asserts that Ferentz's 19-18 record over the last three seasons is worth only about 71 percent of what the University of Iowa pays him. That means he's worth $2.4 million dollars a year, which is only $200,000 less than Jim Tressel actually gets paid.
It's hard to argue with Forbes's judgement on who's overpaid and who's underpaid, but man, if 19-18 over three years is worth $2.4 million a year, what Jim Tressel has done has got to be worth a lot more than $3.172 million. Of course, they also calculate that Syracuse's Greg Robinson was overpaid, but still worth $825,000 annually over the last three years. Good luck finding a Syracuse fan who agrees with that assessment.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
8-14-2008 @ 3:11PM
cfb expert said...
mark where did you get this list? its funny though and honestly pretty accurate. no way ferentz should be paid what national title winning coaches are paid. in fact i would fire ferentz and hire mangino for about a mil less and have a coach that can win. all that really matters i guess is if the iowa fans are happy. personally i believe what the ad has done to syracuse should warrant he pay the university back. firing pasquali (sorry if mispelled) and hiring robinson wasnt the smartest move. one last comment about switzer. switzer in his 16 seasons did have alot of off the field problems with players yet bill mccartney (remember him?) had more players in trouble with the law at colorado in his 10 seasons than switzer did in his 16 at ou. that was one of the arguements with the college football hall of shame. they claimed switzer didnt belong because of 3 reasons. 1st the players in trouble with the law, 2nd he took over a dynasty (reality he took over a team that anthlons had predicted before the season to be 6th in the big 8 and went 29-0-1 before a loss), and the 3rd reason was that switzer didnt coach his asst did lol i guess when switzer was the top offensive coordinator with ou setting rushing records that still stand today it wasnt switzer but in fact someone else coaching lol. he got the job on his looks.
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8-27-2008 @ 4:12PM
georgiablue said...
Perhaps the multiple references to Forbes were not enough of a hint? ;)
8-14-2008 @ 3:38PM
Mark Hasty said...
I was looking at something else on Forbes and boom, there it was, saying "post me, post me."
I agree that Pasqualoni's firing made about as much sense as Glen Mason's did. I suppose it's still a little too early to tell about Tim Brewster, but honestly, Minnesota was a bowl team every year under Mason. What did they expect?
I also agree that Barry Switzer should be in the CFB HOF.
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8-15-2008 @ 1:49AM
cfb expert said...
mark i agree with you on glen mason. i would like to see minnesota do well. im an ou fan of course but i like big 10 football and pac 10 football as well but always hated the rose lol. doesnt make sense just never cared for it. i think i always felt it was too hyped plus the fact the big 8 was tied to the orange. bud wilkinson had 3 national title rings from minnesota when he was a guard and quarterback. im not sure if you know this but wilkinson led the college all stars to a 6-0 win over the defending nfl champion green bay in the summer of 1937. nice trivia question.
also barry switzer is in the hall of fame now (cfb) but it took a few attempts and tom osborne stepping to the plate for switzer. hard to believe the winningest coach since 1950 percentagewise (4th all time) who in 16 years won 12 big 8 titles and 3 national titles wouldnt be an automatic selection. during switzers 16 years ou was the winningest team during that span with 157 wins.
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8-27-2008 @ 4:13PM
georgiablue said...
I'm still waiting for the first installment of Pickin' on the Big Ten (or is it college football in general now?)! And it better be as good (or better) than the installments from the Bemusement Park, or you better watch out!!! (for what, I don't know, just sayin').
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8-27-2008 @ 4:29PM
Mark Hasty said...
The first POTBT of the season should be up tomorrow morning. As far as quality goes, YOU try getting excited about some of the games on the schedule this week.
I did try to find the weirdest pictures I could, though.