Malzahn Ranks Third Among Highest Paid UA Coaches

By now you’ve probably heard that Gus Malzahn, the University of Arkansas football team’s new offensive coordinator, was given a starting salary of $150,000. What didn’t make the rounds, however, is where he now stacks up among his coworkers.

Malzahn almost doubled the $84,232 he reportedly made this year as head coach at Springdale High School, where his Bulldogs went 14-0 to win the Class AAAAA State Championship.

But that was no surprise since Malzahn has been the most heralded football Gus (in Arkansas at least) since Ed Asner, Don Knotts, Johnny Unitas and Dick Butkus teamed up in 1976 to film “Gus,” the movie about a field goal-kicking mule.

Thirty years later, Malzahn has become the third highest-paid UA assistant coach. That’s according to state records on July 1 (which marks the state’s fiscal year). Obviously, the staff’s salaries will undergo changes again next summer.

In the meantime, the assistants shake out like this: Defensive Coordinator Reggie Herring gets $300,000 in total compensation ($225,000 state salary, $75,000 “outside income”) followed by Defensive Line Coach Tracy Rocker ($165,000) and Malzahn.

Assistant coaches Bobby Allen ($143,780) and Michael Markuson ($140,000) are next in line. Longtime UA insider, Louis Campbell, who’s returning from administration to coach the defensive secondary, will likely be among the highest-paid UA assistants when he’s back on the Razorbacks’ staff next year if for no other reason than his 16-year tenure.

Coordinators at other Southeastern Conference schools have a wide compensation range, according to a recent report by the Marshall Town News in Marshall, Texas. Consider just the two schools that wound up in this year’s SEC Championship game:

Jimbo Fisher, Louisiana State University’s offensive coordinator, and Bo Pelini, the Tigers’ defensive coordinator, earn $400,000 each — more than Arkansas head Coach Houston Nutt’s base state salary of $329,644.

Nutt isn’t hurting though, winding up with $1.039 million after $710,000 in “outside income.” (The NCAA defines “outside income” as other athletically related income that coaches earn such as shoe and apparel contracts, personal services and speaking agreements and TV show contracts, etc … and requires that it be reported annually to their school chancellors.)

Neil Callaway, the University of Georgia’s offensive coordinator, and Willie Martinez, UGA’s defensive coordinator, make a paltry $180,000 each.

Although Malzahn starts a little lower on the SEC coordinator pay scale, he did vault ahead of a few UA deans:

UA deans on the Fayetteville campus behind Malzahn in pay include Jeff Shannon Jr., dean of the School of Architecture ($148,812); Reed Greenwood, dean of the College of Education ($147,372); and Howard Brill, interim dean of the School of Law ($142,728).

Previously:
• Nutt’s Salary Tops $1 Million; Academic Cracks the Top 5