South Carolina Trustees Set To Give Football Staff Pay Increases

February 9th, 2012

Stephen Rhodes

Posted in South Carolina, Transactions

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Steve Spurrier and four assistant coaches returning from last season will see their salaries jump as a result of leading South Carolina to a school record 11 wins in 2011, including a 30-13 victory over Nebraska in the Capital One Bowl.

Spurrier, who received a two-year extension through the 2015 season in December, is expected to receive a raise to $3.3 million annually in guaranteed compensation when the Executive Committee of the Board of Trustees meets Friday afternoon, a source close to the USC athletics department confirmed on Thursday.

Spurrier was set to earn $2.875 million in 2012 and $2.95 million for the succeeding three seasons (2013-15), but will now see his paycheck increase by about $425,000 for the upcoming season.

Approval for the raise comes five weeks after USC concluded a historic season in which the Gamecocks swept through the SEC Eastern Division with a perfect 5-0 mark and recorded nine wins or more in back-to-back seasons for the first time in school history.

His anticipated raise to a level above the $3 million mark comes about 40 days after Spurrier collected a $1 million “longevity’ bonus from the school for staying as head coach through the 2011 season under the terms of a 2008 agreement with the Board.

Spurrier’s initial contract with USC in 2005 was worth $1.25 million per season, meaning he has nearly triple his yearly salary from the school in his seven years as head coach.

He is 55-35 in his seven seasons to rank second on USC’s all-time wins list. He needs nine victories to equal the school record of 64 wins held by Rex Enright. He is also third in games coached at USC behind Enright (140) and Paul Dietzel (96).

Spurrier (197-75-2 in 22 seasons as a collegiate head coach) needs three wins to reach the career 200-win plateau.

The school will invest $250,000 into the same incentive account for one more year, but the payments will stop after that, the source said.

“That’s still in place, but it will happen just one more year,” the source said. “We’ll do it one more year and then it’s over.”

Spurrier’s $3.3 million package for 2012 will place him fifth on the SEC coaching salary ladder behind Alabama‘s Nick Saban ($4.83 million in 2011), LSU‘s Les Miles ($3.86 million); Arkansas‘ Bobby Petrino ($3.64 million) and Auburn‘s Gene Chizik ($3.5 million).

But he is not the only member of the USC coaching staff that will enjoy more money in his pockets. Last season, five of the Gamecocks’ nine assistants made less than $200,000.

New defensive head Lorenzo Ward will be paid $550,000 in the wake of his promotion following the departure of former Assistant Head Coach for Defense Ellis Johnson, who accepted the head coaching job at Southern Miss in December.

Johnson was paid $700,000 in 2011, meaning Ward will earn $150,000 less per year than his predecessor.

Offensive line coach/run game coordinator Shawn Elliott, defensive line coach Brad Lawing and wide receivers coach/recruiting coordinator Steve Spurrier, Jr. are expected to see their salaries bumped upward to $300,000 apiece in 2012.

The only USC assistant coach who will not be awarded a raise is quarterbacks coach G.A. Mangus, whose salary was frozen at $175,000 in the wake of his arrest last summer in Greenville for nuisance conduct.

In addition to approving raises for the five returning assistants, the Executive Committee is also expected to approve the contracts for the four assistant coaches hired since the conclusion of the 2011 season.

Newly hired secondary coach Grady Brown will be paid $150,000 per year, linebackers coach Kirk Botkin will receive $185,000, while special teams coordinator/tight ends coach Joe Robinson is set to earn $280,000 and running backs coach Everette Sands will be paid $185,000.

All nine assistant coaches will be given two-year contracts.

Robinson and Sands worked in the ACC last season at North Carolina and NC State, respectively. Brown was plucked from the Southern Miss staff and Botkin coached at a Texas high school in 2010-11 after two years at Arkansas.

Below are the curent salaries of the South Carolina football staff: