Michigan's Assistant Coaches are well paid
USA Today compiled a list of assistant coaching salaries Wednesday and ranked each school by total staff pay. Michigan's came in at $4,248,667 -- No. 8 nationally, No. 1 in the Big Ten.
http://www.mlive.com/wolverines/index.ssf/2015/12/michigan_footballs_assistant_c.html
Harbaugh's contract stipulates that Michigan has to pony up between $4-5 million per year for his assistants. I imagine that number will rise when his contract is renegotiated / extended after we beat Florida in the bowl game.
EDIT: Added link to USA Today coaching salary database. Also, MSU's highest paid assistant is #113 in the country; Drevno and Durkin were #14 and #15.
December 10th, 2015 at 10:42 AM ^
This is actually really important. Harbaugh recognizes that despite his being Harbaugh, he cannot single-hendedly coach every player at every position. Getting top notch assistants is critical, as it helps both in recruiting and actual on field development.
December 10th, 2015 at 11:13 AM ^
Take this for what it's worth - My close buddy (who I know from UM) works in finance with a guy who briefly played on the 49ers under Harbaugh. This guy said he thinks Harbaugh's real secret is that he surrounds himself with the BEST assistants. I buy it.
December 10th, 2015 at 11:53 AM ^
That's not surprising as we've seen the success of his assistants. It was also something I hoped Hoke was doing when he brought in Mattison but then the rest of the staff was a major let down.
December 10th, 2015 at 12:05 PM ^
December 10th, 2015 at 7:59 PM ^
Totally agreed. Just passing on what the guy said. I think it's somewhat of an obvious statement. The best leaders have great people supporting them - not merely making them look great, but because they are identified by and attracted to a greater leader. I also think that statement downplays Harbaughs schematic and motivational chops which are also among the best in football.
December 10th, 2015 at 10:48 AM ^
While MSU doesn't have very high paid coaches, they do have something that we lack, which has led them to their current level of success - general coaching stability. Over his first few years, Mark D didn't evactly light it up in East Lansing, but by year 5, he had a fully develop roster made up entirely of kids that he recruited and coached from day 1. As a result, the kids all got used to a single style of practice, single system and single mentality. Take a look at the teams that have been successful this year - the overwhelming majority are teams in which the overall coaching staff has remained relatiely stable for several years.
Not saying that we don't want guys like Durkin and Pruitt (as their recruiting prowess alone pays huge dividents), but there is also something to be said for going out and getting well respected position coaches and coordinators who may be more likely to stay for 3-5 years or more.
December 10th, 2015 at 10:53 AM ^
and I hope that Harbaugh considers that going forward after only having Durkin on staff for 5 mins. Of course I want the best possible assistants, but if we start changing coordinators like underwear, I think that will eventually hurt recruiting to some degree.
Maybe we need some kind of contract language to lock them down for at least two seasons?
December 10th, 2015 at 1:55 PM ^
That's one of the reasons why it's so hard to build a dynasty in the modern era. The more success you have, the more coveted your assistant coaches become and the more likely they are to leave for head coaching gigs (or coordinator gigs, in the case of position coaches).
December 10th, 2015 at 10:59 AM ^
MSU is behind us in overall staff pay, 3.2M to 4.2M, but I'm still surprised their highest paid guy is that low. Maybe they spread the wealth around the staff a little more equally.
December 10th, 2015 at 12:33 PM ^
We seem to have a high number of coaches that were recently in the NFL and also in the prime of their coaching careers. That may have something to do with the salary difference between us and MSU.
December 10th, 2015 at 10:52 AM ^
I have to imagine snagging Pruitt would get us close to the Top 5.
December 10th, 2015 at 10:58 AM ^
I hope there is room in the budget to go up if we need to for a new DC and maybe matching funds for Drevno if that would be required.
December 10th, 2015 at 11:07 AM ^
We got Fisch for basically nothing this year since the Jaguars were still paying him. Drevno is probably in for a big raise too. And if we get one of our top DC targets we're probably going to have to pay him nearly double what Durkin got. $1.5 million seems to be the going rate for top OC's and DC's.
December 10th, 2015 at 11:14 AM ^
We pay a ton of money already - why does Drevno need a raise with all due respect - our OL was ok and our running game below ok. He is very well compensated and is not going to go make a lateral move somewhere else to leave a guy he coached with for 10 yrs. Who is coming after him right now? If its a head coach job at a P5 the money is not going to change his mind - he got a big boost to come here from USC.
Look at Durkin - he made $520K at UF and UM paid him over $800K for the same job. We are doing fine in paying people vs peers. No one is not coming here due to money like in the rich rod years.
December 10th, 2015 at 11:22 AM ^
is that we're probably going to pay the new DC more than we paid Durkin. Is it common for OC's and DC's to have significantly different salaries? (I honestly don't know) That's the only reason why I think Drevno would get a raise.
December 10th, 2015 at 11:44 AM ^
That's what I was thinking, having those 2 guys paid significantly different amounts might create some tension but who knows. Maybe Drevno would accept less since Harbaugh helps more on his side of the ball than on defense. The DC seems to have more responsibility and control and therefore might rightly be paid more.
December 10th, 2015 at 12:36 PM ^
that would be enough to explain why Pruitt (who is the only guy on the board who would get over $1MM/yr) should get more $$$ than Drevno. I didn't see anything from our offense this year that said Drevno should get a huge salary bump.
December 10th, 2015 at 11:06 AM ^
Jay Harbaugh is 26 and making 200k....I hate my life.
December 10th, 2015 at 11:14 AM ^
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December 10th, 2015 at 12:56 PM ^
The salary discussions for coaches and assistants, when they do arise, usually make me re-evaluate my own life choices too. I think that at 26 that 200K was about what I would have made ever 4.5 years or so, longer had age 26 not been the age at which I ditched freelance work for my present employer. Still, I could have talked my way into being a GA somewhere and....*pours glass of rum*
December 10th, 2015 at 11:08 AM ^
that continuity is one of the keys to MSU's success. They have had very little turnover in their coaching staff. They lost their DC and did not have any fall off. I think that is what will happen with us as well. Both schools have strong head coaches and that is the deciding factor in success ultimately.
December 10th, 2015 at 12:29 PM ^
December 10th, 2015 at 12:39 PM ^
no fall off for the defense, I meant for the team as a whole. They are in the national championship playoff the year after they lost Narduzzi.
December 10th, 2015 at 12:14 PM ^
Looks like if we go after Pruitt he would need a salary close to double Durkin's/Drevno's current salary. Not sure Michigan can afford a $1.5 million DC is they keep paying Mattison $600k, and want to retain Fisch which will likely require another $600k.
December 10th, 2015 at 5:54 PM ^
Pruitt made 1.3 mill to DC Georgia.
We paid Durking 800k. He moved up to 2.5 mill to coach Maryland .
Im sure the arguement will be made . We need to pay more to the Coordinators if we want to keep/attract them here .
December 10th, 2015 at 3:20 PM ^