Fla. football coach Urban Meyer gets raise to $4 million annually

[Blue_Tires]

Source: AP via the Richmond Times-Dispatch

GAINESVILLE — Florida football coach Urban Meyer is getting a $750,000 raise.

The school said Monday that Meyer signed a six-year contract worth $4 million annually, up from $3.25 million, after leading the Gators to two national championships in the last three seasons. The new deal also makes Meyer co-chairman of a university scholarship program.

The Florida Opportunity Scholars Program was created by school president Bernie Machen to provide financial assistance to first-generation, financially disadvantaged students working toward bachelor’s degrees. Meyer has committed $1 million to the program over the duration of his contract.


Read more: http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/sports/college/college_football/article/fla._football_coach_urban_meyer_gets_raise_to_4_million_annually/283799/

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Someone back in the 90s said that with the mega-huge TV contracts and advertiser dollars, sports had become one of the only surefire recession-proof industries...I present the latest exhibit....

[Buzz Clik]

1. With that kind of salary, the lockers gilded with gold will have to wait awhile.

:silly: :crazy:

[Cant trust em]

2. Seems like more evidence that investment in sports does not benefit the university at large.

That is my opinion.

[Sgent]

13. How So?

None of the money came from UF -- but rather from athletic boosters and the SEC television contract.

[Cant trust em]

14. How does this extra funding from different sources benefit the university?

There seems to be a lot of money available for football. Meanwhile...

http://www.miamiherald.com/news/florida/story/1090001.html

I understand that different pots of money is used for different things, but I'd love to see more evidence that college athletics aren't just a self-sustaining beast.

[Sgent]

17. The football team

showed a profit of 32 million last year. That money is used to fund essentially all athletics except for baseball and men's basketball.

[Cant trust em]

18. I know that, yet somehow I'm not satisfied.

One of these days when I see that the new chemistry building was paid for by the athletics program, then I'll be happy.

Not to say that I don't approve of college athletics, but it does seem like the tail wags the dog sometimes.

[Jack from Charlotte]

27. The Library system at Florida is funded by the athletic dept. NFM

[Cant trust em]

28. That's awesome. Thanks for sharing. nt

[LiberalFighter]

3. Instead of students playing each other. The coaches should duke it out for that much money.

[givemebackmycountry]

4. He deserves every penny...

After all, he IS coaching JESUS up as his QB.

Fuck, Urban Meyer.
I hope he gets his ass kicked this year.

[BeGoodDoGood]

6. We'll see..........

But I don't think my Volunteers are gonna have the horses this year.

Walt

[rfranklin]

5. It is because the populace is easily distracted with sports...

and celebrity scandals and other equally meaningless fascinations, that the ultra rich find it so easy to take our money.

[T Wolf]

7. They have to spend the money that does not go for education or partying somewhere. UofF knows where

its strength and reputation are.

[RedCloud]

8. Go Gators, go!

I wuz there!

[Myrina]

9. This is what is horribly wrong with this country.

I bet the Math, History and English profs max out at about $70k a year.
Yet some aging jock gets $4M.

:wtf:

[inwiththenew]

15. When those professors can fill Ben Hill Griffin stadium 8 times a year

They could probably start commanding that kind of money. I hate Florida but Meyers has won 2 National Championships which helps sell tickets and merchandise.

[Blue_Tires]

23. if you want to get technical, the fans aren't flocking the stadium to see Meyer, either

[Psephos]

31. They're flocking to see what his knowledge, experience, and skill produce

Do you think they should get one of those math profs to run the football program?

[Blue_Tires]

32. it's still the players who are the draw, imo

and aside from his infinite resources and recruiting successes, do you really think he is THAT much more experienced, skilled and intelligent than any number of other coaches??

[Psephos]

35. I think we're on the same page here

A top coach is a top recruiter. That's the single largest contributor to a winning team and program. Top coaches also know how to develop and maintain a program's image and aura, which naturally attracts the most talented players.

The coach's "product" is the team and its performance - so yes, the draw is the team. But the man who causes that team to come together and play to their capability and beyond is who created the team and who deserves credit. Athletics is surprisingly bullshit-free because it's judged on performance. A coach who loses a lot will get kicked to the curb. A coach who wins a lot will rise to the top.

I say this with some nose-wrinkling because I hate Florida football. UM and MSU all the way. ;)

[Hestia]

33. Those stadiums are filled with corporate logos from stem to stern. It's why I won't watch any sports

period. I want to watch the game, not the logos spinning on the marque things. It's not a sport anymore but a franchise.

[SeriousEbony]

16. They're getting as greedy as movie stars nowdays

Meanwhile ticket prices keep going up.

[Jack from Charlotte]

36. Greedy? Have you ever....turned down... a raise? NFM

[AngryAmish]

24. Close

83k for top 25% in math (I expect U of F to at least be there), 113k for top 10%

Not bad for eight months of work.

[WriteDown]

26. 8 months?

Hourly its probably more like 4 if you're tenured.

[BeyondGeography]

10. Decadance

Now are you ready for some footballllllllllll1!!111!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!111

[backwoodsbob]

11. simple economics

the guys a good coach and puts asses in the seats.

They probably make ten times that on merchandise and his coaching ability helps sell the crap.

Does ANY athlete or coach DESERVE that kind of money?...nope
As long as they put asses in the seats they will get it however

*edit*

Found some numbers

http://money.cnn.com/2007/01/08/commentary/sportsbiz/index.htm

*snip*According to filings college athletic departments make with the U.S. Department of Education, Ohio State is only the seventh most profitable team to go to a bowl this year, with revenue in the football program exceeding expenses by $28.5 million during the 2005-06 school year. Meanwhile Florida is No. 5, with an operating profit of $32.4 million.

[Robb]

12. ...Am I the only one who initially misread this headline

...and wondered why flag football coaches get paid so much? :D

[tableturner]

19. Athletic Dept. gives big $$ to UF.....

Since 1990, the athletic department donated about $45 million to the university, $6 million of that last Fall. From the website of the University of Florida.....1/4 of the way down the page......

http://www.president.ufl.edu/budget-reduction/faq.html

"The University Athletic Association has a long history of pumping much-needed funds into the university for academic programs. Since 1990, the UAA has donated about $45 million to UF. A gift last fall of $6 million helped fund the Florida Opportunities Scholarship program and is believed to be the largest single gift nationally of an athletic department to a university.
Because of their success and the support of Gator fans everywhere, UF's athletic programs (women's and men's) require zero state funding and zero funding from the university. That's particularly important to point out now when state resources are scarce."

Meyer helped to bring in the money the athletic department donated to the university by virtue of his superior coaching. Florida could have had an average SEC coach, who still would have cost about $2 million, and they would not have had even close to the same amount of money available to be donated to the university. Yeah, save $1-2 million on the coach's salary, and give up more than that thanks to lesser success on the field.....that's smart.

Plus, those big games draw influential alums and business leaders, and have been great tools for garnering donations for the academic side of the university.

Please look at the big picture.

[ProudDad]

21. Yep, the big picture in fascist USAmerika

Bread and circuses, bread and circuses...

while the corporations own it all, run it all and are killing us all...

Life in fascist USAmerika...

By the way, you got any numbers on the hundreds of colleges that don't make SHIT on their "football programs"...?

[northzax]

34. how can it be the biggest gift?

how about Notre Dame, where all revenues from the football program (and all other sports) go directly into the student fund? in 2007 alone, the Irish contributed 21 million to the general fund at the school (and every bowl game check goes right into the general scholarship fund, not the athletic department.)

[ProudDad]

20. Disgusting...

:puke:

[democracy1st]

22. ESPN :That salary is paid by boosters

[MountainMamma]

25. Where does this end?

Surely we have lost our minds to sports. This makes me sick!

[backwoodsbob]

29. so lets see

between gate and bowl revenue..32 mill profit...probably AT LEAST THAT in merchandising....the boosters pay most of his salary..and the profits they bring in finance the sports that arent profitable...giving MANY other people the chance to go to college.

Oh AND the athletic department isn't funded by the school...so his salary has NOTHING to do with professors pay AND they donate a SHITLOAD of money to the school

Yep...sounds like an evil bastard system to me.

Sorry but the faux outrage on this is silly

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

30. Probably when he starts losing on a regular basis.

[defendandprotect]

37. Ah, so essential, because we all know "sports builds character" . . .???!!!

Primarily males seem to be involved with being distracted by and playing with "balls" --

This has been another pressure on our local schools and universities -- in fact, in my

town they've spent a fortune on a soggy piece of land on which they elected to play soccer

-- and after turning the land into a suitable surface for soccer ...

including $1 million dollars worth of astroturf -- they added lighting for night time play!

The amount of money we spend alone on grooming for the playing fields in our town would

probably support the local poor for a year!

[WriteDown]

38. Mia Hamm, Michelle Wie,.....

Serena Williams, Venus Williams, etc. may disagree with you.