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By BRETT McMURPHY, The Tampa Tribune

Published: February 23, 2008

Updated: 02/22/2008 11:11 pm

TAMPA - Long ago, University of Florida athletic director Jeremy Foley realized you usually get what you pay for. So, it's no surprise Foley has been proactive in making the Gators' coaching staffs among the highest paid in America.

Billy Donovan is the nation's highest-paid college basketball coach, earning about $3.5 million, while Urban Meyer ranks among the nation's highest-paid college football coaches at about $3.25 million.

But it goes deeper than that.

A survey of football and basketball coaching salaries at many major universities - including Florida, Florida State and the University of South Florida - reveals several intriguing comparisons. Here are some notable items based on a fall 2007 Division I-A athletic directors survey:

•Florida State offensive coordinator Jimbo Fisher ($625,000) earns more than 41 Division I-A head coaches and makes $180,000 more than USF's five offensive assistants combined.

•Football assistant Greg Gregory's $120,000 salary at USF makes him the lowest-paid offensive coordinator among Bowl Championship Series schools. Gregory also makes less than every offensive coordinator in Conference USA, the Bulls' former league. Overall, 94 of 119 Division I-A offensive coordinators make more than Gregory.

•In 2007, Florida's nine football assistants made a combined $1.88 million, a shade above the SEC's average of $1.84 million. The total for FSU's assistants is $2.18 million, 135 percent more than the ACC average of $1.61 million. USF's assistants received $950,000, 73 percent of the Big East average of $1.29 million.

•Of the 1,071 Division I-A football assistants, 1,065 made more than USF tight ends coach Larry Scott's $50,000 salary in 2007.

At Florida, Donovan and Meyer garner the most headlines - and dollars - but Foley said it is important for assistant coaches to be well compensated, too.

"Assistant coaches have a tough, tough gig," Foley said. "It's incumbent we pay them. As long as they work hard, you want to take good care of them. They have a lot of responsibility, hours and pressure. You want to make sure they're not focused on money and only focused on their jobs."

Foley, the nation's highest-paid athletic director at $1.2 million, has the luxury of working in one of the richest athletic departments in the country. In 2006-07, Florida's athletic department revenues were $107.7 million, according to the U.S. Department of Education.

By comparison, FSU's revenues were $42.1 million, though the Seminoles made similar commitments as the Gators to football coach Bobby Bowden, Fisher and defensive coordinator Mickey Andrews.

Bowden's $2.5 million salary ranks among the nation's 10 highest. Fisher, anointed FSU's next coach when Bowden retires, is easily the nation's highest-paid offensive coordinator at $625,000. And Andrews ranks among the nation's top 15 defensive coordinators at $315,105.

"The costs of assembling a first-rate coaching staff have increased significantly in recent years," FSU President T.K. Wetherell said. "If you are going to compete at the highest level, you have to be willing to pay. We think we've done that."

In part because of the relative infancy of USF's 11-year-old football program and young alumni base, the Bulls' coaches, with the exception of football coach Jim Leavitt, are among the lowest paid at BCS schools. Five of USF's nine football assistants, women's basketball coach Jose Fernandez and a women's basketball assistant are the lowest paid in their respective positions at BCS schools.

However, Athletic Director Doug Woolard - whose $421,000 salary is the only one among USF's 19 positions (including 18 football and men's and women's basketball coaches) to exceed the Big East average - is striving to increase USF's coaching salaries.

"It's a goal of mine to reward our coaches where we can be competitive within the Big East Conference," Woolard said. "We're closer and moving in that direction. We're making strides, but we're not where we want to be."

Although Leavitt is only two years into a seven-year, $7 million deal, Woolard has offered Leavitt two new contracts - a seven-year, $12.6 million deal through 2014 or a six-year, $10.4 million deal through 2013. In both proposals, USF's assistant pool, previously slated to increase to $1.05 million in 2008, would increase by $200,000 to $1.25 million, just shy of the 2007 Big East average of $1.29 million.

Negotiations began in November. Leavitt has yet to sign.

Foley said he understands the difficulty of competing financially against schools with deeper pockets. USF's $28.1 million in athletic department revenues in 2006-07 was barely one-fourth of UF's revenues.

"South Florida has done a good job keeping Jim Leavitt," Foley said. "That's why they've been successful. When you keep your staff together, it breeds success. When you're able to do that, it's a credit to the leadership of the university."

Reporter Scott Carter contributed to this report. Brett McMurphy can be reached at (813) 259-7928 or bmcmurphy@tampatrib.com.

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