Georgia Football shows ambition with coaching salary raises
Georgia Football dramatically increased the salaries for their coaching staff yesterday and in doing so, they showed college football their new ambitions.
Georgia Football made a big statement this past week. Seth Emerson from Dawgnation.com reported yesterday that Georgia has approved some impressive new salaries for the football staff. While Kirby Smart’s new contract has not been finalized yet, the rest of his staff have all received substantial raises after the 2017 season.
The administration did not penny punch either. UGA will be paying it’s 10 coaches $2 million more in 2018 than they did in 2018. That’s a total increase of more than 30% for the staff as a whole. Considering the performance this staff put together and the fact that Kirby only lost 2 of his coaches, these raises are not only well deserved, but they also put the rest of college football on notice. Poaching coaches from UGA are going to cost you a pretty penny.
High paid coordinators
Mel Tucker had the largest raise and will now make $1.5 million a year. That put’s him right in the top echelon of coordinators in college football. Considering his success at Georgia and before, that’s probably deserved. Jim Chaney also received a raise and will now make close to $1 million himself.
After last season, I’m prepared to go out on a limb and call Tucker one of the top coordinators in the country right now. Not only does he do a great job on the field, but his recruiting chops are pretty impressive. He’s someone who will likely have a shot at being a head coach in the next few years.
Chaney probably does not have those same opportunities in his future right now. He has, however, been a long time coordinator and despite what some fans might think, I was impressed with the improvements UGA made on that side of the ball last season. He will have tremendous talent at his disposal in 2018. It’s going to be fascinating to see if he can continue to improve as a playcaller himself.
Top Assistants being well rewarded
There were also big pay rises for UGA’s assistant coaches. This is probably the area that was most important, particularly with James Coley and Dell McGee. Coley has been a coordinator before and had the chance to be so again at Texas A&M. Instead, he decided to stay at Georgia and it looks right now like he’s going to become the QB coach next season. Coley has now jumped above Sam Pittman as the highest paid assistant on staff at $850k a year.
McGee also saw a big jump in pay. One of the lesser known hires by Smart in 2016, McGee has become one of the best recruiters in the entire nation. McGee was the recruiter for Zamir White, James Cook, Azeez Ojulari and Justin Fields. He’s become the guy who Kirby Smart turns to when there’s an offensive player he absolutely has to have. McGee is now the 3rd highest paid assistant on staff, making $550k a year.
Sam Pittman remains one of the highest paid offensive line coaches in the country. After one of the best years of his coaching life, Pittman saw his salary increase to $825k. While Coley overtook him in terms of salary, Kirby Smart made sure that Pittman is highly compensated for what he brings to UGA.
New starting point for coaches is better than before
Cortez Hankton arrives making $375k for his first year in Athens. Dan Lanning and Glen Schumann are the two youngest coaches on staff and coach the linebacker unit. Both will be paid $325k after taking reasonable pay raises. Scott Fountain is the only other new coach. He is going to be stepping in and filling a very similar role to Shane Beamer who moved to Oklahoma. Fountain will now be the lowest paid coach on staff making $300k.
Georgia paying the best to be the best
Some people might see these figures and be shocked. But in this day and age, college football coaches at top programs make a lot of money. It’s worth remembering that as much as the staff makes, the head guys make so much more. The entire UGA staff will make less money a year than Gus Malzahn according to his latest contract.
It’s crazy money, but that’s what it takes. Ohio State is paying 8 assistants more than half a million a year. Clemson is spending nearly $7 million a year for its assistants. Put simply, if you want to keep the best guys, you need to pay them.
UGA won’t be able to hold onto all these guys forever. Tucker is going to be a head coach at some point. Coley and McGee both look like they could be coordinators at top programs one day. But if Kirby Smart can compensate them well so that they aren’t leaving for the money, it gives him a better chance to keep his great coaching staff together.
Since Kirby Smart got here, he’s made a lot of changes to the way Georgia does everything. These increases are another sign that the culture in Athens has changed a great deal. Mark Richt lost several top coaches because the administration wasn’t prepared to open their checkbooks.
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That’s not the case any longer. Kirby Smart expects the best from his coaches and there’s no doubt that he demands a high level of performance. But Georgia is becoming one of the premier places to work in college football and these raises put other programs on notice. UGA is going to do whatever it takes to win. That’s good news for Georgia fans and bad for the rest of the SEC.