College football notes
Published 10:31 pm Thursday, November 29, 2007
PENN STATE: Joe Paterno’s salary is no longer one of the most closely guarded secrets in college sports. The Penn State coach will earn more than $500,000 this year.
The Pennsylvania State Employees’ Retirement System released Paterno’s salary Thursday, more than a week after the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled that his salary and those of other top Penn State officials are public information.
Paterno was paid $427,220 in the first 10 months of 2007 — putting his year-end salary on track to be $512,664. He was paid $490,638 last year, according to the retirement system.
“I’m paid well. I’m not overpaid,” Paterno said earlier in the day, during an interview with reporters about his upcoming College Football Hall of Fame induction. “I got all the money I need.”
But it’s not even close to what some other big-name coaches are making. Alabama’s Nick Saban is the highest paid coach at $4 million per year, while Oklahoma’s Bob Stoops makes over $3 million. Ohio State’s Jim Tressel, Florida’s Urban Meyer and South Carolina’s Steve Spurrier make upward of $2 million annually.
Many coaches receive substantial bonuses or outside income, but the retirement system data did not show other forms of compensation.
Paterno said Thursday he makes more money than is reflected in the retirement system’s figures, but didn’t specify how much.
A 2006 comparison by USA Today showed that Big Ten coaches’ salaries ranged from $231,000 at Purdue to $2.8 million at Iowa.
MISSISSIPPI: Ole Miss had been among the most thrifty SEC schools before hiring head coach Houston Nutt, who resigned at Arkansas on Monday.
Nutt jumped into the upper echelon of coaching salaries when Mississippi signed him to a four-year, $7.4 million contract. His average salary of $1.85 million is twice as much as what his predecessor Ed Orgeron was paid and $500,000 more than he made at Arkansas.
The university will pay a base salary of $200,000 and the rest will be provided by outside sources.
Nutt has three one-year options worth a total of $6.6 million built into the contract and can win incentives up to $380,000. The school will pay him $240,000 for winning a national championship, $90,000 for a Southeastern Conference title and $25,000 apiece for SEC and national coach of the year.
There also are smaller awards for appearances in championship games, a Bowl Championship Series game or a lesser postseason game.
He also gets two automobiles, season tickets for football and basketball, use of a private stadium box, country club membership and moving expenses.
ALABAMA: A Alabama jury awarded $5 million to a former University of Alabama football booster who claimed the NCAA defamed him when it imposed penalties on the Crimson Tide in 2002.
The state court jury awarded Ray Keller $3 million in punitive damages, $1 million for mental anguish, $500,000 for economic loss and $500,000 for damage to reputation.
Keller, a timber dealer and fan whom the university severed ties with because of the probe, argued that the NCAA slandered and libeled him during the announcement of penalties by referring to him and others as “rogue boosters,” “parasites” and “pariahs.”
NCAA spokesman Chuck Wynn said the organization will ask the judge to set aside the verdict. “If not,” he added, “we’ll appeal to the Alabama Supreme Court.”
KENTUCKY: Kentucky fans who swarmed the field after the Wildcats upset then-No. 1 LSU have had trespassing charges against them dismissed.
University spokesman Jay Blanton said school officials expressed their desire not to go forward with the cases, and Fayette County prosecutors dropped the charges this week.
Several people were charged after jumping down and onto the Commonwealth Stadium field to celebrate after the Oct. 13 triple-overtime game. It was the first time since 1964 that the Wildcats had beaten a top-ranked team.
UCLA: Patrick Cowan, who hasn’t played since suffering a concussion and slight collapse of his right lung Nov. 3, will start at quarterback for UCLA against No. 8 Southern California on Saturday.
RUTGERS: Rutgers has accepted a bid to play in the International Bowl, marking the third consecutive season the Scarlet Knights will play in a bowl game after a nearly three-decade drought. Rutgers, which has a 7-5 record after losing 41-38 to Louisville on Thursday night, will play a team from the Mid-American Conference, most likely Ball State. The Cardinals earned a share of the Mid-American Conference West Division title with a 27-21 victory over Northern Illinois last Saturday. The second International Bowl will be played on Jan. 5 at Toronto’s Rogers Center.
Associated Press
