[NU Sports] Walker's salary

[Jeff Beamsley]

Mark,

The problem wasn't that I had my facts mixed up.  The problem was that the
site which posted the whole compensation packages for most of the coaches in
the BT, didn't have a post for Walker.

The Walker number from Daily wasn't total compensation.  It was just salary.
I suspect that RW's total compensation is probably around $1M which puts him
right in the mix with everyone else.  As I mentioned in my post, one reason
for the salary being the highest in the BT might be that we just don't have
as many students and alums buying our merchandize every year as the bigger
public schools.

What I was trying to point out is the same thing you said.  There are two
streams of revenue here.  One is coming from the University and is fixed.
The other is variable and is a share of the revenues that are generated by
the Athletic department, or are the result of opportunities he personally
has because he is the head coach at NU.

In this second vein, there may be a hidden cost in Walker's position because
he isn't nearly as high profile in a big media market as many of the other
BT coaches.  Say what you will about Barnett, during '95-'96 he owned
Chicago and made a lot of money for NU.

That said, I am already on record as saying that RW has earned a contract
extension based on the results that he has delivered.

Jeff

-----Original Message-----
From: prplehaze at insightbb.com [mailto:prplehaze at insightbb.com] 
Sent: Wednesday, November 16, 2005 7:40 PM
To: jeffb at hilgraeve.com
Cc: Jeff Beamsley; nwu-sports at tssi.com
Subject: RE: [NU Sports] Walker's salary

Jeff,
I think your facts are a bit mixed up.  The fact that the rest of the Big 10
coaches "salary" are low and the rest of their compensation is high has more
to do with the nature of the institutions at which they work then anything
else. 
>From what I know about most public universities and big time athletic 
>programs,
the salary paid to coaches may be paid by the school, while the rest of the
compensation is paid by the athletic department, which is often a separately
chartered association into which all athletic generated revenue goes.  That
includes ticket, tv, conference revenue sharing, fund-raising and
sponsorship.
The practical reality is it makes little difference how it is paid to the
coach and ultimately the school is likely on the hook for all of it.  There
is still a big difference between the $600,000 Walker is getting and the
$1.5 and up that the rest of the conference coaches are getting.
Mark
--
Mark Ament
prplehaze at insightbb.com


>  
> Harry,
> 
> Sorry I have to pick on you again, but we ARE paying a lot of money to RW.
> 
> The daily lists Walker's salary at $602,887
> 
> Lloyd Carr's salary is half that much at UoM, but his total package is 
> estimated to be between $1M and $1.5M.
> 
> Barnett makes $1.6M a year (including slush funds) but his salary is 
> only $200K.  Ron Zook has a similar package.
> 
> Tressel is at a similar salary as Carr but his total package may be 
> closer to $2M.
> 
> Ferentz comes the closest in salary at $582,800 with a total package 
> in the same $1.5 - $2M range.
> 
> I don't have numbers on all of the BT coaches, but in terms of salary 
> Walker seems the highest paid.  It is certainly possible that he 
> doesn't make as much in terms of total package and so the board feels 
> that they have to make some of that up in salary because he doesn't 
> have some of the big endorsement and personal appearance opportunities 
> that the much bigger schools have.  But all of the "extra" money for 
> these other coaches isn't coming out of the athletic department budget 
> either.  It is whatever is considered their fair share of revenue that 
> they are generating for the school.
> 
> So don't claim that RW is here because we can't afford any better.
> 
> Jeff
> 
>