SEC
Assistant coaches in college football have seen salaries skyrocket over the past couple of years, especially at the top programs.
In order to compete in the SEC these days, you have to be willing to pay for top coordinators, and it appears many SEC schools are.
On Wednesday, USA TODAY’s compilation of 2018 assistant salaries came out, and there were plenty of SEC assistants making more than $1 million. Below, you can see the 10 assistants who made the most in 2018:
- Dave Aranda, LSU DC — $2,500,000
- Kevin Steele, Auburn DC — $2,050,000
- Mike Elko, Texas A&M DC — $1,800,000
- Mel Tucker, Georgia DC — $1,500,000
- Todd Grantham, Florida DC — $1,401,500
- Tyson Helton, Tennessee OC — $1,205,000
- Mike Locksley, Alabama OC — $1,200,000
- Travaris Robinson, South Carolina DC — $1,200,000
- Chip Lindsey, Auburn OC — $1,100,000
- Tosh Lupoi, Alabama DC — $1,100,000
Helton, Tucker, Locksley and Lindsey have all already left for other jobs, but there are sure to be some high-paid assistants taking their place in 2019.
LSU could have had about a dozen of Missouri’s Ryan Walters for that pay-day. It wasn’t worth it in these three games, Walters only allowed 10 more points to Alabama, Walters held Florida to a lower score, and Walters held Arkansas to a lot lower score. Florida’s Grantham allowed almost all their opponents in-common with Missouri more or similar point totals compared to Walters. And Walters was a ‘first-year’ defensive coordinator. Maybe we better see a graph of Coordinators, points allowed within their division only per million dollars. So LSUs points would be multiplied by 2.5 while some coaches would have there points allowed cut in half, quartered, or even less on this graph.
LSU held UGA to 16 and won the game…. How did Missouri do?
There are a lot of factors to consider other than points. Offensive production, time on the field, field position… A bad offense and/or special teams can make a huge difference. Aranda earns every penny.
Aranda get paid more than most coaches. Wow!.They better shut out UCF