All of this comes off the news from Penn State
No one is batting an eye at this. A DC makes over $3m a year but a S&C coach makes $1m per year and the world went upside down? Why does this bother so many people? Seriously? Chances are you’re cringing right now as you read this and read the title. But why? Shouldn’t these FEW S&C coaches who earn $1m, or more, per year be celebrated - not villainized?
Let’s address the elephant in the room, yes this will only happen in P4 football or the NFL. Deal with it. You cannot pay a S&C coach a million dollars per year in a sport that does not earn a lot of money. So although it would be great for the men’s lacrosse S&C coach or the women’s water polo S&C coach to make a mill - it ain't happening, you can’t get blood from a stone.
Now that we have that out of the way, It is VERY common for OC and DC and even SC to make over a mill a year. Ok sure Special Teams coordinators don’t make a mill a year like OC and DC - but it happens and no one bats an eye. No one bats an eye when coordinators make $2mil or more. But when a S&C coordinator makes HALF that people get up in arms???
Let’s give people the benefit of the doubt and say that they don’t understand the value of a P4 or NFL S&C coach.
My First Hand Experience
Well let me break it down for you from someone who was an assistant to what would have been the first mill per year S&C coach in Coach Doyle (side note, I have no problem with S&C coaches making a mill a year - but when the assistants are not making 6 figures like I and the other assistants who did A LOT of the work - then I have a problem. So don’t be that mill a year coach. Pay your staff over 6 figures and work to get their salary closer to $200k).
The offensive coordinator coordinates the offense. They are responsible for the game plan, calling of plays, coaching style, etc…for the offense. Same goes for the DC and ST coordinator. These three coaches also play a part in recruiting. They will be on the road recruiting, will host recruits, and will have convos with potential recruits. Sure the head S&C does not call plays, watch film, or go on the road recruiting - but here is what they do, do.
Instead of calling plays during the game, S&C coaches call the plays in the offseason. Instead of “only” calling plays 12-20 times per year (depending if you are in P4 or NFL) head S&C coaches call the plays every single training session. There are MULTIPLE training sessions per day. You can have 2-3 groups for 5 days in a week for a 8 week phase. That right there is 80-120 times calling the plays on the sets, reps, percentages, movement, etc…That is a HUGE responsibility. That is just in the winter off-season. Take into account spring ball now you have 2-3 more groups 2-4 more times per week over 3-6 weeks. Summer looks like the winter, and then in-season is just a long spring ball. All in all S&C coaches “call the plays” around 300 times. Sure coordinators call plays at practice, but I just showed you that S&C coaches have more exposure to training and thus “call more plays”
What about watching film? Sure we don’t watch film with the players to fix mistakes in practice, but what we don’t watch in film we get through continued education (at least we should - if you are that coach that doesn’t keep learning SMH). We get this in the form of textbooks, blogs, articles, research papers, podcasts, etc…We then put that into practice by training with these new modalities. Remember, YOU CANNOT SIMPLY PROGRAM SOMETHING FOR YOUR ATHLETES IF YOU HAVE NOT TRIED IT: yourself or with a colleague. Stop adding random exercises because they look cool. Understand the principle of why the movement is there.
Now to recruiting. Yes we don’t go off and visit kids in schools or go to in-person visits for recruits. You know what we do? We recruit the kids that are on campus. We recruit and develop them to become the people and athlete that the coaches want. While coordinators and positions coaches are off recruiting and looking for the next best player - we are trying to help the players in the facility to keep their job and NOT be out recruited. While position coaches might spend hours recruiting new players - we spend the same amount of time (if not more) working with the players in the organization. Not to mention the fact that when there are in-person recruiting visits or camps we will also be in attendance.
Let’s not forget that fact that many times us S&C are the culture drivers of the organization. Add that to our plate of coordinating the training for the team, rehabbing injured athletes, working with high performance team, etc…This is fine that we will instill the HC culture - but that is ANOTHER thing we are coordinating and running. Why shouldn’t we get paid a mil a year working in a world where other coordinators make more than a mill per year.
So, now that you see there is WAY more to what a head football (P4 and NFL) S&C coach does - you should feel better about them making a mil per year and next time you hear about it you won’t villainize them. Rather, you will congratulate them for what they have been able to accomplish. If you want help with your finances check out these free resources we have at SCN.
