When UConn men’s basketball coach Jim Calhoun was pestered by a freelance journalist about his $1.6 million salary he bluntly responded “Not a dime back.”
In a video clip that’s circulated aroundthe internet and raises the ire of sports fans and political activists alike, Calhoun berates the journalist for being stupid.
Calhoun’s blow-up, coupled with a sagging economy raises more universal question: how much are these coaches really worth?
My answer: every dime.
As Calhoun made it clear in his quasi-interview, his team is responsible for attracting over $12 million to the state: a figure I think is quite conservative, but nonetheless demonstrates his value to the university.
In pure economic terms, then, the return on the state’s investment (e.g. Calhoun) is something to marvel, especially in these economic times.
Calhoun has almost single-handedly built UConn into a perennial powerhouse, giving the people of Connecticut something to cheer about.
This is not to mention the fact that Calhoun won his 800th career game, moving him into the pantheon of college coaches who have done so.
But does any number of wins translate into a massive, multi-year contract?
What if we extrapolate this situation to Maine where among the highest paid state officials sit some coaches in the UMaine System.
Is it okay, in a state where last year not a single sports program had a winning season at the Div. I level, to pay a coach over $100k?
Absolutely.
While Tim Whitehead cashes in roughly a tenth of his counterparts in Connecticut ($160,000) in base-salary, he’s still making a hefty sum – twice as much as Governor John Baldacci, in fact.
And while some might question the virtues of such a discrepancy, Whitehead’s impact to the UMaine campus is undeniable. Take hockey away from UMaine and what is there left to cheer for at a national level? The Engineering program? I don’t think so.
The figures aren’t readily available as to how much Black Bear hockey yields for the University, but when everything’s taken into account, I’m sure it’s more than enough to cover Whitehead’s salary. After royalties, ticket sales, increases in enrollment and everything else, the cost of keeping Whitehead around becomes more palatable.
It’s a given, however, that Whitehead’s success has yet to come close to his predecessor Shawn Walsh’s. But those are mighty large penny loafers to step into.
Whitehead’s salary is probably the easiest to justify.
Looking down the line of coaches, there are others who fit into the six-figure bracket. Jack Cosgrove, UMaine’s football coach and Cindy Blodgett of the women’s hoops team both have base salaries in excess of $100,000.
With the women’s hoops team in the toilet, it’s getting harder and harder to make a strong defense for Blodgett’s salary.
Nevertheless, her revitalizing quality cannot be understated. With her presence alone she’s piqued people’s interest in women’s basketball. Plus, it takes time to rebuild a program that has been, in recent years, a revolving door.
As for Cosgrove, his salary merely reflects the league in which he plays. The Colonial Athletic Conference is arguably the best league in the entire Football Champion Subdivision (FCS), formerly D-I AA. Cosgrove has to compete with powerhouse football schools like Delaware and Appalachian State on a regular basis for players and resources.
In the end, college coaches do make a lot of money. But, like everything in the world, if their value weren’t worth the initial investment, then they’d probably not be around very long.