Upon Further Review: Summitt deserving of lofty pay
We all drag ourselves out of bed each morning with one common goal: Making it to work on time in order to get that weekly paycheck to provide for our family.
Now some have jobs they love to go to each day, and for others they wish for something better.
With the cost of raising a family or even if you’re single, money is always an issue and we all want to be paid top dollar.
Now what I’m about to say isn’t intended to start any type of gender war. But after reading head basketball coach for the Lady Vols Pat Summitt had her contract extended, I was curious to how one of the best coaches in college sports stacked up against some of her counterparts.
Coach Summitt received a $74,500 raise this week and extends her contract for two more years to the end of the 2007-08 season.
Last year Summitt was paid $675,000, which included her base salary, plus compensation for radio and television appearances and endorsements.
Now this lady has more than proven herself as one of the nation’s top coaches. She has been at Tennessee since 1974. She has won six national championships and ranks third in wins with 837. That’s third all time — for both men and women.
Now this lady is the third-winningest coach in the history of the game, yet her salary is the third highest at the University of Tennessee.
Phil Fulmer, who has one national title under his belt, makes $1.78 million, and three-year head basketball coach Buzz Peterson earns $769,500 a year.
Now many of you are hollering foul. But after a little research the men make more because of their increased obligations to radio and television.
When it comes to base pay, Petterson makes $55,000 less than Summitt and her base salary is the same as Fulmers’s at $275,000 a year.
College athletic programs have to be succesful in order to bring more recognition to the university. More national recognition means more students and more money. I think coach Summitt has done more than her share.
Tubby Smith, head coach at Kentucky makes $2.4 million a year, while Roy Williams is a little over $1 million. Bill Self at Kansas made $1.13 million and none of these guys are even close to the amount of wins — much less the six national championships — that Summitt holds. New Georgia coach Dennis Felton is making $700,000 a year, just a little more than Jim Harrick, whose scandal last year did little for the integrity of Georgia basketball.
So the question I ask myself is this: Is there discrimination among the ranks of college coaches?
One could argue that more people watch men’s basketball, so it’s more popular. I don’t know about many other states, but women’s basketball at the University of Tennessee has a large following. And I would go as far to say it has surpassed the men’s program in popularity among basketball fans across the state.
Yes women’s basketball has come a long way over the last 20 years, and coaches like Pat Summitt should be given the credit and respect they have earned.
When I was in school at Knoxville, I would go over after volleyball practice and run steps in the gym, while coach Summitt drilled her teams to perfection. Watching her and listening to the way she coached her team made me strive to work hard at my own game.
If your salary is based upon your success, then coach Summitt should be the highest paid coach in college athletics.