:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/51547489/IMG_6037.0.0.jpg)
On Wednesday, USA Today released its annual list of college football coaches’ salaries. You should definitely check it out. The whole list is interesting, but for the purposes of our Maryland sports website, I’ve grabbed the rankings of all the Big Ten coaches to see where DJ Durkin ranks in all of this.
Durkin’s $2.4 million puts him ninth among Big Ten coaches and 46th among coaches nationally. Certain schools didn’t have to release this information, though all Big Ten schools did.
I think it’s fun to check out what head coaches’ salary rankings look like when they’re matched up with their teams’ current S&P+ rankings. As expected, salary and current team success have a mostly positive correlation, but not a completely positive one.
| Team | Coach | Salary Ranking | S&P+ | Salary | |
| 1 | Michigan | Jim Harbaugh | 1 | 1 | $9 freaking million |
| 2 | Ohio State | Urban Meyer | 2 | 5 | $6 million |
| 3 | Penn State | James Franklin | 10 | 16 | $4.5 million |
| 4 | Iowa | Kirk Ferentz | 11 | 42 | $4.5 million |
| 5 | Michigan State | Mark Dantonio | 14 | 81 | $4.3 million |
| 6 | Northwestern | Pat Fitzgerald | 28 | 57 | $3.35 million |
| 7 | Nebraska | Mike Riely | 42 | 22 | $2.8 million |
| 8 | Wisconsin | Paul Chryst | 43 | 10 | $2.7 million |
| 9 | Maryland | DJ Durkin | 46 | 63 | $2.4 million |
| 10 | Indiana | Kevin Wilson | 50 | 47 | $2.3 million |
| 11 | Purdue | Darrell Hazell | 53 | 112 | $2.2 million |
| 12 | Rutgers | Chris Ash | 57 | 116 | $2 million |
| 13 | Illinois | Lovie Smith | 60 | 85 | $1.8 million |
| 14 | Minnesota | Tracy Claeys | 68 | 39 | $1.4 million |
Some quick notes, without much research:
- Durkin makes more than Chris Ash, Lovie Smith and Tracy Claeys, the conferences other two new head coaches (Claeys was hired last year as an interim, but I’m including him here because it’s still his first full year being a head coach)
- Yes, Darrell Hazell is still on this list even though he got fired from Purdue
- Jim Harbaugh makes sooooo much money. He’s not just the highest-paid coach in the conference. He’s the highest-paid coach in the country. Nick Saban, the second-highest-paid coach in the country, makes $6.9 million a year
- Wisconsin’s Paul Chryst seem like the biggest bargain, at least for this season
- Grading people only on what their S&P+ ranking is right now is probably silly, since coaches are in various stages of rebuilds across the Big Ten, and those can take some time
What are your thoughts? Share in the comments.
In other news
Maryland volleyball upset Ohio State last night for second straight season..
Darrius Heyward-Bey and Vernon Davis were standouts among Maryland alumni in the NFL last weekend.
In our weekly podcast, we previewed Indiana and discussed what the Michigan State win means.
Maryland women’s soccer lost to Minnesota, 6-0, to end its season.
The Cubs won the second game of the World Series.
Good stuff from SB Nation’s Bill Connelly on whether or not this is the year a two-loss team makes the College Football Playoff.