Leather Helmet Blog

I have had a long conversation with a commenter this week about Mike Bobo. It started when I asked in a post if Coach Bobo is worth the $750,000 per year that current market conditions say an offensive coordinator at UGA should make. My point was to ask readers if they thought Coach Bobo would demand (by his unit's performance) compensation at the same rate as his counterpart on defense.

Last year Coach Bobo's salary was $326,600. In fact, Coach Grantham's salary is greater than that of Coach Bobo and former defensive coordinator Willie Martinez combined. If we can say that a salary structure of $750k/yr. is the going rate in the SEC for a top-tier coordinator, where does that fact place Coach Bobo?

«Any time you have stability, your salaries don't fluctuate a lot,» said Frank Crumley, Georgia's executive associate athletic director overseeing finance. «When you have people come and go, it always seems like the next person is making more than the one before. That's just the nature of the game. Mark Fox is making more than Dennis Felton was. When things change, the next person or the next crew generally makes more than the one that was there.»

Mr. Crumbley remarks are true but in the basketball case there is not the wide disparity in salaries on the same staff for equivalent positions. Crumbley went on to say:

«I've heard Florida is up pretty high on its new coordinator (George Edwards) and that Kirby Smart got a raise at Alabama, so it sort of is what the market is right now,» Crumley said. «I'm not saying whether it's right or wrong. It's just what the market is commanding.»

Coach Grantham added:

«I think this goes back to the passion of the fans, the excitement of winning and trying to beat the expectations. I think all of that stuff has really led to this.»

Grantham is right. It is the passion of the fans that drives demand for the product - UGA and SEC football. There is no substitute for the product. Therefore, the supplier of the product to the fan base (TV) is willing to pay more for the product to the producers (SEC schools). Each SEC member will receive $5.5 to $6 million per year in added revenue from the new TV contract.  Where can Georgia use the extra revenue to improve performance other than salaries? The Dawg's total assistant coaching salaries for 2009 do not approach the extra revenue from the TV contract. If fact, UGA could pay them all $750k and still be within the (ESPN money + pre-ESPN money) budget:

Georgia's total salary for its football assistants this past season was $2.03 million, which was the 15th-highest in a survey compiled by the USA Today. Tennessee had the highest at $3.33 million, and among the others ranking ahead of the Bulldogs were Arkansas, Missouri, West Virginia and Washington.

Now back to Coach Bobo. It seems to me that one of the following is inevitable:

1. UGA recognizes that Coach Bobo is a top-level coordinator and bring his salary roughly in line with Coach Grantham, Coach Smart (etc.).
2. The University waits for another school to offer Coach Bobo and risks losing him over the perceived slight.
3. Bobo gets a raise but not to $750k. He is given performance goals that, if met, will bring him to market pay.
4. UGA fires Bobo after next season and brings in a new coordinator - at $750k/yr.

I say pay for the level of production that you expect. There ain't no such thing as a free lunch!