Top athletic salaries on par with others

Georgia College coaches are paid fair market value compared to similar schools.

At least that’s what records posted on open.georgia.gov, a site allowing the public to access government spending records from various agencies.

“You always try to meet what’s fair,” Athletic Director Wendall Staton said. “If everyone can feel good about what a person’s paid, then mission accomplished.”

Staton said a variety of factors go into determining a coach’s pay, such as what their predecessor made, the person’s level of experience, and current market value for the same position at other schools.

“When it comes down to it, coaches work long hours and have to travel all the time,” Staton said. “So we try to make it worth their while because they rarely get breaks.”

A Colonnade investigation compared head coach salaries of Peach Belt Conference school’s men’s basketball teams and baseball squads, and for the Sports Information Director and Athletic Director positions. The amount of new hires both at Georgia College and other schools prevented more comparisons.

Six schools were studied: Armstrong Atlantic State University, Augusta State University, Clayton State, Georgia Southwestern, Georgia College, and North Georgia College and State University. This study found the following:

Men’s basketball: Four coaches’ salaries were compared, with an average around $74,000. Despite leading his team to perennial top-five rankings and with a national final appearance in the 2007 Division II championship, Augusta State head coach Dip Metress earned $894 less than Georgia College’s Terry Sellers (though Metress had $4,000 more in travel reimbursements).

Baseball: The average salary was $65,894. The interesting note is Georgia College’s Tom Carty, who led the Bobcats to a third place finish in the Division II College World Series last year, made the least of all coaches listed last season.

Athletic Director: Five university salaries were listed, with Augusta State’s Clint Bryant leading the way, making over $125,000; he has been in his position for 22 years. On average, the Athletic Director make a touch over $107,000. Staton admitted he’s only listed as having made $73,000 last year, but that was because he began as Athletic Director midway through the year.

As the newest director in the conference, he makes just under the average, nearly $103,000 annually.

Sports Information Director: Nobody makes more than Armstrong Atlantic State’s Chad Jackson, who was the only Peach Belt Conference’s SID to make more than $40,000 in the state. The lowest was $32,000.

Carty and Sellers were also compared to coaches of bigger name schools in the state: University of Georgia, Georgia Tech, and Georgia Southern.  Each coach’s performance for the 2010 season—via team record—is also listed. For basketball, the price per win included the last two years—this season, recently completed, and the 2009-2010 year.

Baseball only includes the 2009-10 season.

Men’s basketball:

Terry Sellers (Georgia College): $79, 048 – Georgia College went 22-6, losing in the first round of the NCAA Tournament to rival USC Aiken. Price per win: $4,160

Mark Fox (UGA): $244,052 – The Bulldogs stumbled to a 14-17 record in a rebuilding year in Fox’s first season. Price per win: $6,973

Paul Hewitt (Ga. Tech): $368,168 – Tech finished a 23-13 season by beating Oklahoma State in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, then falling to #2 seed Ohio State in the round of 32. Tech struggled to a 13-18 record this year, prompting Tech to fire Hewitt after signing him to a lifetime contract in 2004. Price per win: $20,453

Charlton Young (Ga. Southern): $172, 980 – Young took over the program two years ago as the program practically bottomed out.

The Eagles have amassed 14 wins in the last two seasons combined, finishing dead last in the Southern Conference this year. Price per win: $24,711

Baseball:

Tom Carty (Georgia College): $52,760 – Carty’s squad won the Peach Belt Conference last year and rocketed to a third place showing in the Division II College World Series. Their final record was 42-17. Price per win: $1,256

David Perno (UGA): $195,402 – The Bulldogs rose to No. 1 in the nation at one point, but fell off late, Eleven players were drafted from their roster, leaving fans to wonder what could’ve been after a 38-24 season. Price per win: $5,142

Danny Hall (Ga. Tech): $296,497 – Georgia Tech made their third straight NCAA Regional. Still, a 47-15 record is nothing to sneeze at. Price per win: $6,308.

Posted by Caleb Rule on Apr 2 2011. Filed under Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.