Nick Saban is country's highest-paid public employee. Who is No. 2?

http://www.al.com/news/ ^ | 4/3/18 | Leada Gore

[BBell]

Nick Saban isn't just Alabama's highest-paid public employee. A new ranking shows he's the highest-paid public employee - by far - in the country.

GoBankingRates.com's ranking looked at the top-earning public employee in each state. In most cases, the person bringing home the biggest paycheck is a coach for a public university.

The rankings are based on 2017 figures and there have been some changes since it was calculated. For example, California's highest-paid employee, Jim Mora, earned $3.57 million a year before he was let go last year after the Bruins lost their third consecutive game to rival USC.

$11.1 million - Nick Saban, Alabama, University of Alabama football coach

$7.75 million - John Calipari, Kentucky, University of Kentucky basketball coach

$7 million - Jim Harbaugh, Michigan, University of Michigan football coach

$6.4 million - Urban Meyer, Ohio, Ohio State University football coach

$5.8 million - James Franklin, Pennsylvania, Penn State football coach

$5 million - Willie Taggart, Florida, Florida State football coach

$5 million - Kirk Ferentz, Iowa, University of Iowa football coach

$5 million - Scott Frost, Nebraska, Univeristy of Nebraska football coach

$5 million - Tom Herman, Texas, University of Texas football coach

$4.875 million - Chris Petersen, Washington, University of Washington football coach

$4.8 million - Bill Self, Kansas, Kansas's basketball coach

$4.2 million - Will Muschamp, South Carolina, University of South Carolina football coach

$3.8 million - Jeremy Pruitt, Tennessee, University of Tennessee football coach

$3.75 million - Bob Huggins, West Virginia, University of West Virginia basketball coach

$3.7 million - Jim Mora, California, UCLA football coach (former),

$3.7 million - Kirby Smart, Georgia, University of Georgia football coach

$3.5 million - Chad Morris, Arkansas, University of Arkansas football coach $3.5 million - Ed Orgeron, Louisiana, Louisiana State University football coach

[TexasGator]

Professional, not amateur ...

[Moonman62]

But is Nick Saban ever happy?

[itsahoot]

It’s a business.

Yes it is and Pro Football should finance their own farm teams.

[Wm F Buckley Republican]

I don’t have a big problem with this as these public employees earn their keep or they’re gone. A public school teacher will make a fraction of this but they do not have to produce anything.

[dfwgator]

But is Nick Saban ever happy?

Yes he is. I don't know why people always get the idea that he's unhappy. Yes, he's a perfectionist, but he keeps things in perspective as well.

[shanover]

There is something rotten about the NCAA and the CFL in general. I am sure Basketball is just as corrupt. And we wonder why there are those who want college athletes to be paid (obviously beyond the full ride).

[Psycho_Runner]

One needs to look beneath the surface. Most of the salaries are actually paid by donors and alumni. Thus the college coach state salary is relatively small compared to the donor and alumni donations.

The other factor is look at how much money the coach brings in. Yes the coach has a direct impact on the income. If the coach is successful, money tends to flow into the college coffers.

College football also supports all the other sports.

[OldMissileer]

I suspect there are a lot of other coaches at public universities that make enough to be on this list but are not.

Yep. This article is poorly researched. Mark Dantonio, Michigan State University Coach, has a salary of $3.24 million.

[NKP_Vet]

Coach Ratface at Dook makes about as much as Saban. Don’t know why his salary is not listed. He’s the highest paid basketball coach in the country.

[morphing libertarian]

they bring many more millions to the school. They earn their salary,

[morphing libertarian]

BTW I favor college athletes be paid in the sports that make money, just like minor league baseball.

[Captain Peter Blood]

The States do not pay those salaries, There is a base and the non-profit Athletic Foundations pay the bulk of those monies with funds donated by the Alumni.

[Celerity]

If I lived in these states I wouldn’t pay my taxes.

I’m considering a move to more than one of these states too.

I had only Jim Calhoun to worry about before.

[Palio di Siena]

Rat face isn’t a public employee. He’s at a private school.

[gbs]

My daughter too, Chemical Engineering (Presidential Scholarship) along with an honors engineering scholarship. Amounted to about 130,000.00 over her 4 years. Graduates in May with a 3.90 GPA. I’m proud as hell and really appreciate Bama’s Nick Saban bringing in the football money that basically enables these scholarships.

[georgiarat]

Coaches salaries such as Saban’s Do not come from state supported funds.

[gbs]

Jimbo Fisher at TA&M is 70 million over 10 years, so whoever researched this article did a lousy job.

[luckystarmom]

It was for 2017. Jimbo just started in 2018.

[luckystarmom]

Congrats to your daughter. Not only are our daughter’s smart, they have common sense and took advantage of a great opportunity.

Mine will graduate next May. She’ll go to grad school after that to be a speech therapist.

[Cletus.D.Yokel]

Without vegetables, I work for my #2.