Private schools pay up
Coaches often top college salary list
The lure of big money in sports has grown so powerful on college campuses that 39 private institutions, including Boston College, Providence, and Holy Cross, paid their men's basketball coach, football coach, or athletic director more than any other employee, including presidents and top professors, according to the most recently available federal tax statements.
No employee at a private college in America earned more in the 2007 tax year than Pete Carroll, the University of Southern California football coach, who received $4.4 million in total compensation, according to the school's IRS filing. Basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski, the highest-paid employee at Duke, ranked second among athletic officials at the nation's private schools at $2.2 million.
The findings are based on a study by the Chronicle of Higher Education as well as research and analysis by the Globe. A number of coaches at public universities draw similarly high salaries, but those figures were not reviewed because state institutions are not required to report the information to the IRS.
The salary issue struck a nerve with UConn basketball coach Jim Calhoun - Connecticut's highest-paid state employee at $1.6 million - when he was asked by a political activist at a news conference Saturday whether he would give back part of his income because of the severe economic downturn.
"Not a dime," Calhoun joked defensively. He then angrily asserted that his team generates $12 million a year in revenues for the school. (In its latest filing with the federal government, UConn reported that its men's basketball team raised $7.3 million in revenues, the women's team $5.3 million.)
At BC, basketball coach Al Skinner received $868,876 in compensation during the 2007 tax year: $689,521 in salary and $179,355 in benefits. The school paid former football coach Tom O'Brien $784,044 the previous tax year. Figures for Jeff Jagodzinski, who succeeded O'Brien after the 2006 season and was fired last month, were not available.
The figures do not include income many coaches collect from television and radio appearances, sneaker contracts, and other endorsement deals. As Calhoun acknowledged Saturday, he makes "a lot more than" $1.6 million.
High-profile sports programs help many schools enhance their brands, boosting marketing and ticket revenue, television and radio income, admission applications, alumni giving, and other fund-raising. BC, which has raised its national profile thanks largely to the success of its sports teams, last year reported that its athletic programs generated $61 million in revenue.
Nationally, coaches who were the highest earners at private colleges and universities in 2007 included Marquette's former basketball coach Tom Crean (now at Indiana), who received $1.86 million; Iona's former basketball coach Jeff Ruland ($1.5 million), Texas Christian football coach Gary Patterson ($1.3 million), and Syracuse basketball coach Jim Boeheim ($1.26 million).
Baylor, Villanova, Creighton, Gonzaga, Southern Methodist, Georgetown, and St. John's each paid their coaches more than anyone else on campus, as did Saint Joseph's, DePaul, Fordham, Seton Hall, Xavier, and Dayton.
At Baylor, former football coach Guy Morriss ($1.2 million), women's basketball coach Kim Mulkey ($700,936), men's basketball coach Scott Drew ($521,804), and athletic director Ian McCaw ($401,437) each earned more than provost Randall O'Brien ($317,800).
Big-time sports schools were not alone in lavishing rich salaries on coaches. Even small institutions such as Belmont, Samford, Siena, St. Bonaventure, and Saint Mary's of California made their basketball coaches the highest-paid employees on campus.
Many schools rely on income from their men's basketball and football teams to support the rest of their athletic programs. But the salaries many coaches receive has prompted critics to call on leaders of colleges and universities to curb the spending. They challenged the notion that big-ticket coaching salaries are driven by the free market.
"The evidence of the last two years in the national and international economy shows what happens when there are no controls on the market," said Michael Malec, an associate professor of sociology at BC who teaches about sport in society. "I see coaching salaries as part of an unregulated market, and the people who could control them are the ones who could be saying, 'This kind of money is crazy.' "
Malec linked the high salaries to an "athletic arms race" - first cited by sociologist Harry Edwards at the University of California at Berkeley - in which many colleges vie at great expense for supremacy in recruiting and competition.
"We're part of the arms race, and nobody is reining it in," Malec said.
However, there has been little, if any, backlash at BC and other schools. Even at universities where revenues from the football and men's basketball programs fall short of supporting athletic departments, high-profile sports teams are considered a vital source of pride and identity, despite the financial drain.
At BC, the person in charge of sustaining success in sports is athletic director Gene DeFilippo, the school's fourth-highest-paid employee in 2007 at $449,291. Other than Skinner, DeFilippo was outearned only by Cutberto Garza, the provost and dean of faculties, who received $499,241, and Andrew Boynton, dean of the school of management, who collected $450,422.
The story was similar at Providence College, where former basketball coach Tim Welsh topped the list at $658,185. Athletic director Bob Driscoll ranked third at $257,075.
At Holy Cross, men's basketball coach Ralph Willard for several years has been the school's highest-paid employee. Willard, who also serves as an assistant athletic director, received $448,090, according to the school's 2007 tax statement.
No coach or athletic director was listed among the highest-paid employees at private institutions such as Boston University, Northeastern, and the Ivy League schools in New England.
Bob Hohler can be reached at hohler@globe.com. 
