Fom the St. Louis Post Dispatch:
The spike in salaries for assistant coaches comes at a time when money in college athletics is getting more attention, from rising television contracts to talk of paying athletes a stipend above the value of their scholarships.
The SEC paid its assistant coaches an average of $276,122 in 2010, according to figures compiled by St. Louis attorney and agent Bob Lattinville of the firm Stinson Morrison Hecker.
The Big 12 was second at $232,685 and the Big Ten a distant fourth, behind the Atlantic Coast Conference, at $187,055. In each instance, the averages do not include salaries at private schools such as Baylor, Penn State and Vanderbilt.
"We've gone over a million (for an assistant) and I think that will be a trend,'' said Lattinville, who provides research for various USA Today salary studies. "Everyone recognizes the marquee value of pulling in an SEC assistant. Week in and week out they're facing the best opponents. That's why they'll pay more to keep them."
Some will undoubtedly think that this is a bad thing. The economy remains weak and colleges and university budgets have followed the economic trend. Besides, the business of higher education is teaching and research, not sports. Why spend more on athletics when academic budgets have been weak?
Whether colleges should reduce their emphasis on athletics is an important question, especially in these days of the higher education bubble. But regardless of what higher education should be about, the reality is that schools have chosen the athletic route and if they want to remain competitive on the field, they have to be competitive in the market for coaching talent.