Interesting ODU coaching salaries article

[Harry]

Before he was fired at Southern Mississippi, Ellis Johnson made $790,000 a year, with another $465,000 in potential bonuses, according to USA Today. Coaches at Middle Tennessee ($602,129), North Texas ($545,300) and Florida International ($522,183) also are paid significantly more than Wilder. The schools are members of the Sun Belt Conference, considered a rung below C-USA, and are slated to join C-USA in the next two years.

Only the coaches at C-USA member Texas-El Paso ($365,206) and Texas-San Antonio ($351,150), which joins next season, have salaries on par with Wilder's. However, former UTEP coach Mike Price, who recently retired, was eligible for $320,000 in bonuses.

Salaries for assistant coaches in C-USA also are significantly higher than the average base salary of $60,000 commanded by ODU's 10 assistants. The $600,000 paid to ODU's coaches is about half the average in the conference, according to the USA Today database, and about one-third of what assistants are paid at East Carolina.

"We want to ensure the continuity of our staff," Selig said. "We want to hold this group together that was so instrumental in the launch of ODU football. The salaries of our assistant coaches will also increase."

Wilder signed a 10-year extension shortly after last season, but it came four months before the school announced it would jump to the FBS.

"When I signed the 10-year extension, I did that thinking I was an FCS coach," Wilder said. "If the school has determined and Wood has determined I'm the guy who should lead this program to FBS, not only my salary, but my salary pool for assistant coaches, need to reflect that change."

Selig said the salary increases will come gradually, with the goal of getting to a competitive level in 2015.

He added that ODU's overall athletic budget will increase about $2 million yearly, from $33 million to $35 million, in C-USA. In addition to boosting the pay of football coaches, $500,000 of that cost increase will come from 22 additional football scholarships. Most of the rest will come from increased travel costs for all sports teams.

ODU joins C-USA in July in most sports, and conference revenues begin to kick in next year. The school will receive nearly $1 million in revenue sharing from C-USA in 2013, compared to about $300,000 in the Colonial Athletic Association. That will increase to nearly $2 million in a few years, Selig said.

Wilder, Selig and Mark Benson, one of the school's top fundraisers, raised $3.75 million last spring to defray the costs of the first five years in C-USA. The goal is $5 million, Selig said.

Read more: http://hamptonroads.com/2012/12/move-fbs-should-pay-odu-coaches