Arizona, ASU football and basketball coaches’ 2019 salaries unveiled

The current annual salaries of the nation’s college football and basketball head coaches, along with those of assistance coaches and strength coaches in football, have been made known.

That, of course, included the salaries of the coaches at schools in Arizona, including ASU and Arizona.

Because Arizona and Arizona State are public universities, their coaches are state employees and, therefore, their salary information is supposed to be publicly available. This is the case a lot of places, which is why USA Today Sports was able to request the salary records of coaches across the country.

Some schools, though, were able to get around releasing the information, or there were “amounts that cannot otherwise be determined.” For that reason, not every school’s coaches’ salaries are available, and that can skew the actual rankings slightly.

Keep in mind, also, that the figures below are what USA Today described as “total pay.” That includes money guaranteed by the university, along with “athletically related compensation received from non-university sources.”

Herm Edwards, ASU football head coach: $2.83 million

The Herm Edwards hire was initially criticized by many, but ASU’s performance since then makes it seem like it was the right move.

Edwards’ salary is 59th in the country — not bad for a program that was ranked No. 17 last week — but the team’s success in the long run will prove whether Edwards was worth the investment, or whether he’ll get $50,000 in possible bonuses.

Edwards’s pay is also third-lowest in the Pac-12.

The highest-paid coach in college football is Clemson’s Dabo Swinney at $9.35 million, followed by Alabama’s Nick Saban and Michigan’s Jim Harbaugh.

Kevin Sumlin, Arizona football head coach: $2.025 million

Sumlin’s arrival at the University of Arizona came with a shiny toy at the quarterback position in Heisman hopeful Khalil Tate, but the Wildcats have gone 9-10 since then. But there’s this: His pay is only 68th in the nation and second-last in the Pac-12.

Sean Miller, Arizona basketball head coach: $2.7 million

Miller’s total pay was 30th in the nation among publicly-available college basketball coaches’ salaries, and third in the Pac-12 behind Utah’s Larry Krystkowiak and Oregon’s Dana Altman (the salaries of Stanford’s and USC’s coaches weren’t available). He has $1.26 million of maximum available bonuses and a $3.891 million buyout.

The top-paid hoops coach in the country is John Calipari at $9.276 million. Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski and Michigan State’s Tom Izzo followed after that.

Bobby Hurley, ASU basketball head coach: $2.355 million

Hurley’s salary ranks fifth in the Pac-12 and 45th in the nation, though his $6.825 million buyout is 30th-most in the country. He has $1.985 million in maximum bonuses. He’s actually been paid $200,000 in bonuses, according to USA Today.

Rob Likens, ASU football offensive coordinator: $700,000

Interestingly, ASU’s total amount spent on assistant coach salaries is $3.73 million, ranked 28th in the nation among the schools whose figures were available. Likens’ pay was 61st in the nation among football assistant coaches and the highest among all assistants in the state of Arizona.

The top-paid football assistant in the nation is LSU defensive coordinator Dave Aranda, who makes $2.5 million.

Danny Gonzales, ASU football defensive coordinator: $525,000

Despite carrying the title of “assistant head coach” in addition to being defensive coordinator, Gonzales is the second-highest paid coach on the staff behind Likens.

His salary is the fourth-most in the state behind Likens and the two Arizona coordinators, Noel Mazzone and Marcel Yates, despite the fact that the ASU defense has improved drastically since Gonzales took over. His salary ranks 114th out of 1,040 assistants whose “total pay” was known.

Noel Mazzone, Arizona football offensive coordinator: $600,000

Mazzone ranks 91st in the country in salary as he is the highest-paid assistant on Sumlin’s staff. He can earn up to $55,000 in bonuses and has no buyout.

Marcel Yates, Arizona football defensive coordinator: $560,000

Yates’ salary is 105th in the nation and carries a whopping $644,000 school buyout. Like Mazzone, he can earn up to $55,000 in bonuses.

Other salaries of assistant football coaches in Arizona are available at the USA Today link near the top of this article.

Joe Connolly, ASU football strength coach: $210,000

Connolly’s salary ranks 47th in the nation and seventh in the Pac-12, though USC’s and Stanford’s salaries weren’t known.

The top-paid strength coach in the country is Iowa’s Chris Doyle, who makes $725,000.

Brian Johnson, Arizona football strength coach: $175,000

Johnson’s salary was 57th in the nation and last in the Pac-12 among the 10 known salaries.

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