Report: O'Brien lagging behind on pay

Although he has 20th-ranked Boston College in contention for first place in the ACC's Atlantic Division, the $733,626 salary Eagles coach Tom O'Brien receives ranks him among the lower third of the league's 12 coaches, seven of whom earn more than $1 million annually, according to a USA Today study on coaches' salaries.

Maryland's Ralph Friedgen, who brings his No. 21 Terrapins to Alumni Stadium tomorrow, earns $1,691,864 annually with a base salary of $252,511, according to the report.

According to the newspaper, which gathered data on O'Brien's salary from 2005 federal tax returns filed by the school, O'Brien ranks 10th in the league in total compensation. Virginia Tech's Frank Beamer is the highest-paid ACC coach, with an annual salary of $1,893,000 and a total package of $2,008,000.

O'Brien's annual salary, which the report said is the same as his total compensation, is fourth highest among the league's coaches.

"I don't comment on salaries," BC athletic director Gene DeFilippo said. "And that's not an accurate figure."

DeFilippo declined to say which number was inaccurate.

According to the study's methodology, information gathered from tax returns included all income paid by the school, including benefits, perks, and performance bonuses. The returns did not break down the expenses into separate income categories and, in O'Brien's case, did not include income from outside sources.

"I don't want to talk about my salary," O'Brien said yesterday.

In addition to Beamer and Friedgen, the five other ACC coaches who make more than $1 million annually are Miami's Larry Coker ($1.8 million total; base not reported); Virginia's Al Groh ($1.785 million total; $252,000 base); Florida State's Bobby Bowden ($1,691,900 total; $352,200 base); Clemson's Tommy Bowden ($1,198,028 total; $273,028 base); and Georgia Tech's Chan Gailey ($1,009,191 total, $437,582 base).

Ryan Glasper, No. 24 on BC's roster, might switch his number in his last game at Alumni Stadium. Glasper, this year's recipient of the Jay McGillis Memorial Scholarship, is thinking about following the example set by last year's McGillis Scholarship winner, Jazzmen Williams, who donned McGillis's No. 31 in honor of the late Brockton native, who died of leukemia July 3, 1992. "I'm going to speak to Jazz about it, too, because I don't know if it was something that Jazz just wanted to do," Glasper said. "So, we'll see. Maybe it'll become a new tradition where the [scholarship] winner wears the [No. 31] jersey on senior day." . . . If junior running back Andre Callender, who needs 148 yards to reach 2,000 for his career, reaches the milestone in the next two weeks, he will join junior L.V. Whitworth (2,100 career yards) as the only backfield in BC history with a pair of 2,000-yard rushers . . . O'Brien said wideout Tony Gonzalez (neck) will be available against Maryland , but center Kevin Sheridan (left knee), linebacker Mike McLaughlin (ankle), and cornerback Taji Morris (groin) will sit out.