Awhile back on ESPN they had a forum on how to reform the NCAA. This forum consisted of a panel of former college players, coaches, and commissioners as well as current coaches and athletic directors. Each day they focused on a topic and gave their opinions on how to rectify the current dilemma. Of course, there were those that opposed paying the players or allowing them the opportunity to market themselves and let the market determine their value. The disagreements on using this Olympic model didn’t surprise me, because the benefactors (coaches, ADs, analyst, etc…) are getting their money. It’s the players that are exploited. The question remains “Does the NCAA really want to change the corrupt culture of college athletics”?
Well, I have a solution that could change the dynamics of college athletics and restore it to its’ original roots of amateurism. The answer is to stop paying college coaches these inflated salaries! It is that simple! No coach should be paid a salary beyond $250,000 a year. $250K in any state is more than enough money to live well and retire with a nice nest egg. Why cut the coach’s salaries?
I believe in this stance for two reasons. One, it is hypocritical to pay coaches millions of dollars to coach a sport, but tell the student-athletes that they can’t receive any money for playing or have the opportunity to market themselves when their market value is at its’ highest. There have been several great college players that were not good professional players, so they missed the opportunity to take advantage of their marketability. On the other hand, coaches receive lucrative endorsements and other fringe benefits, because of their prestigious position. This extra money is on top of their enormous salaries, so having a $250K salary cap wouldn’t put them in the poor house. It would actually be comparable to how the NBA exploits the incoming draft picks with their salary cap.
Secondly and most importantly, it would put the money made from the blood, sweat, and tears of the student-athletes back into their education by providing better facilities and resources. Can you imagine the financial impact Nick Saban’s $4.6 million salary would make on Alabama’s campus or Mack Brown’s $5.1 million salary on Texas’s campus? Get the picture? Of course, these are the two highest paid college football coaches, but in 2009 the average salary for head coaches in NCAA division-I college football was $1.36 million. Again, that was just the salary and not the endorsements and other perks such as comped leased cars, housing, etc… With the money earned from television contracts, ticket sales, and merchandising coupled with a capped coach’s salary more funds can be funneled back into the educational institution providing a better college experience for the student-athlete.
In the end, more student-athletes would feel less exploited and pursue a college for the education it could give them instead of the long shot possibility of playing in the pros. This could change the playing field and actually create more parity between the smaller and bigger schools in the major revenue sports such as football and basketball. So to all the coaches who claimed they care about cleaning up college athletics the first things that needs to be scrubbed is your salary!
Well, I have a solution that could change the dynamics of college athletics and restore it to its’ original roots of amateurism. The answer is to stop paying college coaches these inflated salaries! It is that simple! No coach should be paid a salary beyond $250,000 a year. $250K in any state is more than enough money to live well and retire with a nice nest egg. Why cut the coach’s salaries?
I believe in this stance for two reasons. One, it is hypocritical to pay coaches millions of dollars to coach a sport, but tell the student-athletes that they can’t receive any money for playing or have the opportunity to market themselves when their market value is at its’ highest. There have been several great college players that were not good professional players, so they missed the opportunity to take advantage of their marketability. On the other hand, coaches receive lucrative endorsements and other fringe benefits, because of their prestigious position. This extra money is on top of their enormous salaries, so having a $250K salary cap wouldn’t put them in the poor house. It would actually be comparable to how the NBA exploits the incoming draft picks with their salary cap.
Secondly and most importantly, it would put the money made from the blood, sweat, and tears of the student-athletes back into their education by providing better facilities and resources. Can you imagine the financial impact Nick Saban’s $4.6 million salary would make on Alabama’s campus or Mack Brown’s $5.1 million salary on Texas’s campus? Get the picture? Of course, these are the two highest paid college football coaches, but in 2009 the average salary for head coaches in NCAA division-I college football was $1.36 million. Again, that was just the salary and not the endorsements and other perks such as comped leased cars, housing, etc… With the money earned from television contracts, ticket sales, and merchandising coupled with a capped coach’s salary more funds can be funneled back into the educational institution providing a better college experience for the student-athlete.
In the end, more student-athletes would feel less exploited and pursue a college for the education it could give them instead of the long shot possibility of playing in the pros. This could change the playing field and actually create more parity between the smaller and bigger schools in the major revenue sports such as football and basketball. So to all the coaches who claimed they care about cleaning up college athletics the first things that needs to be scrubbed is your salary!
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