Posted on 03/11/2009 2:37:24 PM PDT by 11th Commandment
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — Few Connecticut residents are calling foul on UConn men's basketball coach Jim Calhoun's recent outburst to a blogger who pressed him on his $1.6 million annual salary.
More than three of every five Connecticut residents surveyed in a new Quinnipiac University poll say Calhoun, the highest-paid public employee in the state, should keep his entire salary rather than donate a portion to help ease Connecticut's fiscal problems.
skip The poll came after the press conference in which Krayeske questioned whether Calhoun's salary was appropriate amid Connecticut's spending cuts, anticipated budget shortfalls and other fiscal problems. Calhoun lost his temper and angrily told Krayeske to "shut up." Rell later called it an "embarrassing display," and two state lawmakers called for Calhoun to be disciplined.
(Excerpt) Read more at charter.net ...
Most college coaches getting huge salaries are not being paid with taxpayer money other than the small base salary.
It is paid through donations, which wouldn’t exist if the program did not exist. So what is the problem? The money would not nor could not be spent on other things because it is donated money (unless UCONN is different).
Being a Dvision I basketball coach is not a tenured position. If you don’t produce the desired results, they fire your ass.
Actually most of it is through ticket sales and ad contracts. Urban Meyer and Billy Donovan probably make more from Papa John’s than they do from salary. At UF, and most other big time athletic schools,the athletic department donates money to the rest of the college.
I’ll bet UCONN’s Athletic Department runs a balanced budget, or even a small surplus in large part because of Jim Calhoun (the football program is growing, but not yet a significant contributor) and the Geno’s womens basketball program. Maybe the blogger should be demanding something different from Connecticut’s politicians and leave successful (and solvent) programs alone...
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Of course, now that everyone knows how much he makes, he’s going to get the hell taxed out of him. He’d be smart to by a home in New Hampshire and commute.
Coach Calhoun had a succinct point to make; he's paid $1.6 Million and his team brings in about $12 million. He's worth it to the state. Geno Auriemma does about the same with the womens' program.
Even the Chief of Surgery at the UCONN School of Medicine operates(literally)at a loss. The coaches are about the only state employees who operate at a profit
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