SEATTLE — Washington will spend more than $3 million on its assistant football coaches’ salaries in 2014.
The school released salary information on Monday for eight of UW’s new assistant coaches, who will be paid a combined total of $3.075 million in the first year of their two-year contracts. That’s without factoring in the salary of tight ends coach Jordan Paopao, the only coach retained from Steve Sarkisian’s staff, whose new deal has not yet been finalized.
Pete Kwiatkowski, UW’s new defensive coordinator under new coach Chris Petersen, will be the highest-paid assistant in 2014 at a salary of $485,000. Offensive coordinator Jonathan Smith, offensive line coach Chris Strausser and linebackers coach Bob Gregory will each be paid $425,000 in 2014. Defensive backs coach Jimmy Lake will be paid $375,000; receivers coach Brent Pease and defensive line coach/special-teams coordinator Jeff Choate will each be paid $345,000; and running backs coach/recruiting coordinator Keith Bhonapha will be paid $250,000.
Each coach is scheduled to receive a $15,000 raise in the second year of their contract, and each coach would owe a buyout equal to his remaining guaranteed compensation if he were to leave for another assistant position in the Pac-12.
Washington’s assistant coaches in 2013 earned a total of just more than $2.8 million, topped by former defensive coordinator Justin Wilcox’s salary of $800,000.
Petersen will earn a school-record $3.2 million in the first year of his five-year, $18-million deal.
Cree leaves team
Washington defensive end Connor Cree, a native of Sammamish, has decided to leave the program, the UW confirmed Monday.
Cree, who played at Skyline High School, recorded 11 tackles and a sack in his third-year sophomore season. He played in 12 games in 2013, and appeared in 12 games in 2012.
Cree is the third known player to depart the program since the end of the regular season. Defensive back Cleveland Wallace left the team before its bowl game, and offensive lineman Erik Kohler retired from football for medical reasons.
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