Iowa Strength Coach Is Making $595,000 This Year

There comes a moment in every fan’s life when they realize that certain power programs’ claims that they can’t afford to pay players don’t stand up. I hope this is someone’s moment!

From an open records request, USA Today reports that Iowa Hawkeyes football strength and conditioning coach Chris Doyle will earn a base salary of $595,000 this season. That’s more than double what it was just five years ago, and it’s certainly unique in college football: Doyle’s pay is more than that of 29 FBS public school head coaches.

“Most of the people who follow our program know that what’s very important to Kirk is student-athlete development — physically, mentally, leadership,” Iowa athletics director Gary Barta said Monday. “He relies heavily on Chris’ role in that.”

Iowa prides itself on its development, because it’s recruiting prowess isn’t up there with the nation’s elite. But there is a lesson here, and it’s an economic one. When a highly lucrative “not-for-profit” has the vast majority of its labor costs artificially fixed, that money has to go somewhere. An arms race among coaching salaries is one outlet. Another is that big, beautiful facility behind Doyle in the screengrab at the top of this post: Iowa’s $55 million performance center, which opened in 2014.

[ USA Today]