slate | Perhaps nobody has profited quite so handsomely from the college sports arms race as the top coaches in NCAA football and basketball, who routinely pull down seven-figure paydays.
But who knew that these were boom times for golf and tennis coaches too?
The American Association of University Professors is out with its
latest annual report on the economic health of its members' profession.
Executive summary: It’s pretty weak. But this year, the AAUP has added a
fun little wrinkle by comparing the growth of academic and sports
spending. Particularly intriguing is this chart contrasting pay growth
for faculty and head coaches. In the top football and basketball
divisions, the median inflation-adjusted pay for head coaches roughly
doubled between 2005-06 and 2011-12. But coaches in minor sports didn’t
do so badly either: In D1-AA golf and tennis, pay packages grew by 79
and 53 percent, respectively. Meanwhile, even at doctoral institutions
(shown here as category I), professors only managed a 4 percent real
raise over that time.
