Clemson AD: Football assistant coaches to receive raises
Clemson’s assistant football coaches are set to be rewarded for helping the Tigers reach the College Football Playoff for the third consecutive year.
Tigers Director of Athletics Dan Radakovich told The State in an interview this week that all of Clemson’s assistant coaches from last season will get a salary increase.
“They had a pretty good year,” Radakovich said smiling.
The details of the deals are still being finalized. Radakovich is working with head coach Dabo Swinney on the particulars of the new contracts.
“I think everybody will get raises. It’s the total that Dabo and I are still having some discussions about,” Radakovich said.
This news comes after several assistants drew head coaching interest near the end of the 2017 season.
Defensive coordinator Brent Venables and offensive coordinators Tony Elliott and Jeff Scott were all rumored to be in the mix for head coaching jobs before staying with the Tigers.
Venables made a salary of $1.7 million in 2017, according to USA Today’s database. Scott and Elliott were each paid $800,000 in 2017.
“I think Dabo’s done a really good job of creating a very positive culture for people to want to stay. In some programs, I’ve been at six different places over my career, and there’s some places where an incredibly talented coach would take the first opportunity that was put in front of them,” Radakovich said. “Here, I think because of the culture and how their working conditions, the success of the program, how Dabo treats his staff, they want to go to the right one, not necessarily the first one. So that certainly aids and helps us in retaining these coaches.”
Venables’ $1.7 million salary made him the second-highest paid assistant in 2017, just behind LSU defensive coordinator Dave Aranda, who made $1.8 million.
Aranda received a big salary bump this offseason, signing a four-year, $10 million deal earlier this month that will pay him $2.5 million annually.
While the salaries of assistant coaches continually rising is a challenge, Radakovich feels strongly that Clemson is getting its money’s worth.
Venables won the Broyles Award, which is presented to the top assistant coach in college football, in 2016. Elliott won the award this past season.
“You have to look at your entire program. Football is a huge, huge part of our program,” Radakovich said. “It creates an incredible amount of revenue. And there is some cost associated with it. So you look at the return on your investment there. It’s certainly been incredibly positive for us (as far as) return on investment with our football program.”
Other salaries for Clemson’s assistants in 2017 include offensive line coach Robbie Caldwell making $515,000, special teams coordinator and tight ends coach Danny Pearman ($460,000), quarterbacks coach and recruiting coordinator Brandon Streeter ($430,000), cornerbacks coach Mike Reed ($420,000), safeties coach Mickey Conn ($350,000) and defensive line coach Todd Bates ($250,000).
Clemson’s assistant coaches made a total of $5,725,000 in 2017.
Earlier this month Clemson hired Lemanski Hall as its 10th assistant coach. Hall signed a two-year deal that will pay him $300,000 per year.
This story was originally published January 23, 2018 at 10:43 AM.