Bleeding Green 1

I ranked by "Total", according to USA Today, which was defined as: "Combination of salary and other income. Value of perks such as game tickets, luxury suites, cars, family travel, country club memberships, and standard university benefits such as healthcare are not included."

First Time Poster - Long Time Reader! Glad to be here! All day long and no one seems to have mentioned the very interesting article in Thursday's USA Today discussing and then listing NCAA Division 1-A Football Head Coach Salaries. This story should be of interest to all of us in light of our need to find a recruit the best head coach UNT can afford. http://www.usatoday.com/sports/college/foo...hes-media_x.htm In a nut shell, these notes bother me most and give me concern for our ability to attract (and keep) a proven - or even qualified - coaching success to UNT: 1) Of 114 programs, our current coach (Dickey) is the 20th worst compensated coach in the country (not counting schools without complete information in the report, of which only Rice and Temple may possibly be at the low end of the compensation ladder - but certainly not as low as us). 2) If his successor receives TWICE Dickey's "total compensation", our new coach would still be the 40th worst compensated coach in the country (maybe 42nd depending on Rice and Temple). 3) Currently, Dickey is EASILY the worst compensated DivIA football coach in Texas and his succesor would probably still be with DOUBLE the compensation as SMU (and probably Rice) wouldn't have to raise their coaches' salaries much to stay ahead of UNT (and almost certainly would - immediately). 4) ALL of the coaches with worse compensation packages than Dickey are relegated in either the Sunbelt of Mid-American conferences with three in the WAC. What does this mean? Here's my take: A) While not a fan of Dickey (almost ever) and not regretting his departure, Dickey might need to be considered a bargain for what he did while he was here. Without radical changes, we seem to be a LOOONNNGGG way away, as a program, from being able to attract (much less keep) the caliber of high-profile or proven candidates being suggested on this site. C) If we want a coach who will take our program to the higher echelons of competition (and keep us there), if we want to move to a higher profile conference and be competitve in it, if we want the respect of our peers and to be taken seriously on the national stage, it will take A LOT MORE commitment (ie: $$$) than we (the program, the university, the alumni, the community, etc.) have shown in the past and, I fear, more than we are likely to muster in the present or near future. Maybe not as long as "Plummy" , but probably still too long. Bleeding Green 1 - The Original --- An Avid Fan Since '88!