We talked about the pay of certain basketball coaches earlier this morning…
…and we highlighted this Chuck Amato situation late last week (see 850TheBuzz’s comments today)…
…so, we thought it would make some sense to blend the two and talk about the coin that Florida State football coaches are now pulling down. (OK, we admit that it is really CBS that is interested in the topic. We are just using the recent entries to lead into the topic).
CBSSportsline.com recently ran a very interesting article focusing on the role of booster funds as compensation for the FSU coaches. You can read the entire article by clicking here.
Money raised by Florida State’s booster organization will be used to nearly double the pay of one new assistant football coach and increase another’s by 50 percent, according to copies of contracts released Wednesday.
Offensive coordinator Jimbo Fisher, whose base salary from the university is $215,000, will get $210,000 from the Athletic Development Fund raised by the Seminole Boosters.
The extra money is compensation for additional duties not required to draw his base pay, including fundraising, speeches, radio and television shows and public relations contacts with alumni, supporters and civic and community groups, official said.
Bowden hired Fisher, formerly offensive coordinator at LSU, to replace his son, Jeff Bowden. The younger Bowden, who drew fan and media criticism for Florida State’s poor offense the past few years, announced his resignation two days after the Seminoles lost at home 30-0 to Wake Forest.
Florida State’s boosters also are paying $537,000 to the younger Bowden as part of his resignation deal.
A lot has been made of Florida State’s new all-star coaching staff after the arrival of Jimbo Fisher and Chuck Amato. Make no mistake, SFN expects a large jump in the quality of Florida State football in the coming years.
Post-Script
We should have waited just a couple of more days and we would have had this article fom SI about how Bobby Bowden has re-tooled Florida State’s coaching staff and is excited about the 2007 season.
Contrary to what some diehards believe, the mere presence of Fisher and the other new coaches — Dawsey, former FSU running back Dexter Carter (running backs), highly regarded West Virginia offensive line coach Rick Trickett and longtime former Bowden assistant/NC State head coach Chuck Amato — will not in of itself send the ‘Noles vaulting back to the national championship game. Just from watching practice, it’s apparent FSU, which has been beset by injuries the past couple seasons, still lacks the quality depth it once possessed, particularly at receiver, offensive line and linebacker.
In addition, this fall’s schedule is so brutal — road trips to Florida, Virginia Tech, Boston College, Clemson, Colorado and defending ACC champ Wake Forest, plus home or neutral-site games against Miami and Alabama — that even a much-improved ‘Noles squad might not win significantly more games.
What’s also apparent, however, is that FSU’s long, six-year nightmare is over. With Fisher in charge, the ‘Noles’ offensive production will quickly start heading in the other direction.
