Wisconsin Chancellor: Harbaugh, Meyer overpaid
Jim Harbaugh is making $7 million at Michigan this season, including a $2 million one-time signing bonus, and Urban Meyer is making $5.86 million for defending national champion Ohio State. USA TODAY Sports asked Wisconsin chancellor Rebecca Blank what she makes of Big Ten peers who are paying their coaches so much.
“Those are the choices they make,” she said in an interview for a story about coaching salaries. “That really begins to threaten the whole sense that we are not professional athletic teams. I’m not terribly happy about the fact that they made those choices. That’s my opinion.”
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Blank understands market forces. She was acting secretary of commerce in the Obama administration and holds a doctorate in economics from MIT.
Nevermind that Harbaugh has likely, through ticket sales and merchandising, already generated revenue in excess of his total contract. Also ignore the fact that paying Harbaugh his market value has ZERO impact on the Unversity's academic side of the coin.
If you can forget those two factors, she has a fantastic point.
October 8th, 2015 at 6:46 PM ^
October 8th, 2015 at 6:48 PM ^
The value of something is only what someone is willing to pay for it
There's a lot of money in college football. The people who are best at coaching college football naturally will make a lot of money
October 8th, 2015 at 7:22 PM ^
at actually playing college football? Wouldn't it be equally natural if not more so to let them get paid what someone is willing to pay?
October 9th, 2015 at 6:46 AM ^
October 9th, 2015 at 9:58 AM ^
If they want to make more money, they should work for those willing to pay more.
October 9th, 2015 at 7:14 AM ^
that means that players are worth exactly tuition, room, and board. Because, you know, that's what people are paying for it.
October 8th, 2015 at 6:49 PM ^
October 8th, 2015 at 6:53 PM ^
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October 8th, 2015 at 6:55 PM ^
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October 8th, 2015 at 6:59 PM ^
October 8th, 2015 at 8:45 PM ^
Considering your avatar, shouldn't be Toys 'R Us economics?
October 8th, 2015 at 8:39 PM ^
You were correct the first time.
October 8th, 2015 at 8:05 PM ^
Under communism: "We pretend to work, and they pretend to pay us."
Under Walmartism: "We work our asses off, and they pretend to pay us."
October 8th, 2015 at 6:56 PM ^
So it's like an other business investment. ROI. I think Harbaugh's salary clearly pays for itself. Look at season ticket sales alone.
October 8th, 2015 at 6:58 PM ^
October 8th, 2015 at 7:09 PM ^
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October 8th, 2015 at 9:38 PM ^
October 8th, 2015 at 10:02 PM ^
No wonder she never made it out of academia and into the real world. I swear, after every meeting I've ever had with an academic administrator or dean, this has been on my mind:
October 9th, 2015 at 11:31 AM ^
with your premise (that she's not fit for the "real world"). But, to be fair, in most disciplines, there is absolutely no value to getting a PhD unless the person intends to go into academia.
October 8th, 2015 at 11:01 PM ^
"Doesn't surprise me considering she has written books like "changing inequality", "Is the market moral", and "It takes a nation".
Wow, even though I get the sense that you're looking down on or askance at her for that, at least you seem to have an inkling of what she was trying to talk about!
October 8th, 2015 at 7:00 PM ^
October 8th, 2015 at 7:37 PM ^
Yes. What also costs a lot is firing coaches every 4 years and having to pay their buyouts/bonuses for the new staff. Also, if you have to fire a revenue sport coach or two you probably have to fire your AD too (and buy their buyout and bonus for a new AD). Much cheaper just to pay someone good a lot of money.
October 8th, 2015 at 7:00 PM ^
Wisconsin chancellor: We're cool with a second-rate football program.
I snark, but she probably is.
October 8th, 2015 at 7:04 PM ^
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October 8th, 2015 at 7:08 PM ^
Anything wrong with that?
If I were a University chancellor, I would be cool with a second-rate football program too.
October 8th, 2015 at 8:17 PM ^
double HARBAUGH!!!!
October 8th, 2015 at 7:33 PM ^
I wouldn't-strong sports teams and the sense of community they create have a huge effect on alumni giving, application numbers, etc. Maybe if Wisconsin had a stronger AD throughout their history they wouldn't have a measly 2 billion dollar endowment (pretty low for a school of their size and decent academic strength).
October 8th, 2015 at 10:06 PM ^
About that endowment....
October 8th, 2015 at 10:29 PM ^
October 8th, 2015 at 7:02 PM ^
Secretary of commerce? Hmm. 0% interest rate for 7 years and she understands market forces. Homey don't play that.
Harbaugh is wayyyyyyy underpaid.
October 9th, 2015 at 10:05 AM ^
Homey don't understand who sets the Fed's funds interest rates. Hint: it isn't the acting Secretary of Commerce.
October 8th, 2015 at 7:12 PM ^
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October 8th, 2015 at 7:56 PM ^
Wisconsin's entire University system is in trouble.
I'm only going down this OT digression because we have seen first hand what happens when university governance is shifted away from faculty (or staff or coaches), and power is concentrated in the hands of administrators. (See BLL re: the disbanding of the Board in Control).
I'm afraid Wisconsin is going to end up driving off all of the employees that are valued enough within their fields to secure positions elsewhere.
At this point I would not be willing to relocate my family to Wisconsin for an assistant professorship, and frankly I can't imagine many other academics would consider it if they have other options.
Nor can I imagine a football coach with other options would consider working at Wisconsin.
Say what you will about Maryland or Rutgers, at least their upper administration is working with the rest of the university to solve their problems together.
October 8th, 2015 at 8:24 PM ^
I doubt that UW is taking that big of a hit when they can make up the difference bu raising tuition, in an increase in donations, and federal funding.
Schools like UM and Wisconsin are blessed with a lot of wealth.
October 8th, 2015 at 9:11 PM ^
Wisconsin is not going to be kicked out of the AAU anytime soon. In the scheme of things this is more of a perception issue. But I also think Wisconsin (like Michigan) has taken pride in its ability to compete with the Ivys, Stanford, Cal, etc. for top-flight talent.
I'm not sure if the new Wisconsin budget will actually have any teeth, but by trying to undermine shared governance and eliminate faculty tenure, the governor and legislature have soured lots of folks on the place. I know faculty at Wisconsin who turned down offers from Penn, Harvard, and Stanford. Not sure that is going to happen anymore given the current acrimony.
But overall, they will continue to get sizable research grants and attract good students and faculty when compared to R2 universities.
October 9th, 2015 at 7:24 AM ^
is perception. The new legislation created a lot of negativity around the university, and tries to put more power into the hands of the regents (who are appointed by the governor). In general, Wisconsin is one of the most faculty-driven universities there is -- and it would be a shame if that changed. But time will tell if the slight rewording of when the regents can remove faculty positions will have any real impact.
October 8th, 2015 at 11:06 PM ^
You people that talk about "envy" in this context are truly mentally ill. Exactly how much Jerry Springer have you watched?
October 9th, 2015 at 11:23 AM ^
October 8th, 2015 at 7:14 PM ^
October 8th, 2015 at 7:20 PM ^
I think it's pretty clear she isn't making an economic argument. Many in this thread are just sort of shouting past her.
October 8th, 2015 at 8:16 PM ^
She may be couching it in some emotional mish mash, but it always comes down to economics.
October 8th, 2015 at 8:39 PM ^
It only always comes down to economics if you accept that the market price is automatically where the price ought to be.
October 8th, 2015 at 8:50 PM ^
OK professor, then who, where, or what should set the "market price" if not the free market???
October 8th, 2015 at 9:13 PM ^
I'm not an economist so I don't have very sophisticated views on this. I don't think it's such a foreign or controversial idea that sometimes what's most economically efficient isn't always what's best from a moral perspective, though. That's not emotional mish mash. Minimum wage might be an example of what I mean.
October 8th, 2015 at 10:54 PM ^
The value of any item - even $1 - is subjective to every individual.
So while it always comes down to economics, not all the costs and benefits are monetary or tangible.
...and everyones cost benefit analysis will be different because everyone subjectively values things differently.
October 8th, 2015 at 11:10 PM ^
She's talking about priorities and the nature of what college sports pretends to be about. The average IQ in this thread is well below 90.
October 9th, 2015 at 7:17 AM ^
it took 74 comments for somebody to understand what she was saying.
October 9th, 2015 at 10:11 AM ^
That says a lot about her ability to clearly communicate.
October 8th, 2015 at 7:24 PM ^
The coaches are professionals so they're paid. How much you pay them, on its own, is unrelated to anyone or anything's amateur status.
October 8th, 2015 at 7:26 PM ^