Universities oppose paying their postdocs overtime, but will pay football coaches millions of dollars
Colleges and universities have made the indefensible argument that they can’t afford to pay their low-level salaried employees for their overtime under the Department of Labor’s new overtime rule. Universities have singled out postdoctoral researchers, many of whom spend 60 hours a week or more running the labs that turn out the nation’s most important scientific advances, as a group of employees that would just cost too much if they had to be paid for the extra hours they work each week.
Analyzed on their own, these postdocs—who are among the best-educated and most valuable employees in the nation, on whom our future health and prosperity depend, in part—obviously deserve to be paid for their overtime hours. After all, at a salary of $42,000 a year, these postdocs are being paid about $13.50 an hour (less than fast food workers are demanding).
When juxtaposed against the inflated salaries of university administrators with less stellar academic credentials making $200,000 to $3 million a year, the case for overtime compensation is only stronger. The comparison that really drives home how unfairly universities are treating their postdocs, however, is with the universities’ football coaches.
Note: The highest available head coach salary was selected for each state. Source: Data from USA Today and HKM Employment Attorneys LLPUniversities oppose paying their postdocs overtime, but will pay football coaches millions of dollars: Top NCAA College Football Coaches' Salaries by State, 2015
State
University
Head coach
Salary
Alabama
University of Alabama
Nick Saban
$6,932,395
Alaska
University of Alaska
N/A
N/A
Arizona
Arizona State
Todd Graham
$3,000,000
Arkansas
University of Arkansas
Bret Bielema
$3,954,166
California
UCLA
Jim Mora
$3,350,000
Colorado
University of Colorado
Mike MacIntyre
$2,009,778
Connecticut
University of Connecticut
Bob Diaco
$1,550,000
Delaware
University of Delaware
Dave Brock
Unknown
Florida
Florida State
Jimbo Fisher
$5,150,000
Georgia
University of Georgia
Mark Richt
$4,000,000
Hawaii
University of Hawaii
Norm Chow
$550,000
Idaho
Boise State
Bryan Harsin
$1,100,004
Illinois
University of Illinois
Bill Cubit
$915,000
Indiana
Purdue
Darrell Hazell
$2,140,000
Iowa
University of Iowa
Kirk Ferentz
$4,075,000
Kansas
Kansas State
Bill Snyder
$3,000,000
Kentucky
University of Kentucky
Mark Stoops
$3,250,000
Louisiana
LSU
Les Miles
$4,300,000
Maine
University of Maine
Jack Cosgrove
$186,995
Maryland
University of Maryland
Randy Edsall
$2,110,648
Massachusetts
Boston College
Steve Addazio
$2,585,655
Michigan
University of Michigan
Jim Harbaugh
$7,004,000
Minnesota
University of Minnesota
Jerry Kill
$2,500,000
Mississippi
University of Mississippi
Hugh Freeze
$4,300,000
Missouri
University of Missouri
Barry Odom
$2,350,000
Montana
University of Montana
Bob Stitt
$175,000
Nebraska
University of Nebraska
Mike Riley
$2,700,000
Nevada
University of Nevada
Brian Polian
$575,000
New Hampshire
University of New Hampshire
Sean McDonnell
$200,000
New Jersey
Rutgers
Kyle Flood
$1,250,000
New Mexico
University of New Mexico
Bob Davie
$772,690
New York
University of Buffalo
Lance Leipold
$400,000
North Carolina
North Carolina State
Dave Doeren
$2,200,000
North Dakota
University of North Dakota
Kyle Schweigert
$1,500,000
Ohio
Ohio State
Urban Meyer
$5,860,000
Oklahoma
University of Oklahoma
Bob Stoops
$5,400,000
Oregon
University of Oregon
Mark Helfrich
$3,150,000
Pennsylvania
Penn State
James Franklin
$4,400,000
Rhode Island
University of Rhode Island
Jim Fleming
$175,000
South Carolina
University of South Carolina
Steve Spurrier
$4,000,000
South Dakota
University of South Dakota
Joe Glenn
$145,010
Tennessee
University of Tennessee
Butch Jones
$4,100,000
Texas
University of Texas
Charlie Strong
$5,100,000
Utah
University of Utah
Kyle Whittingham
$2,600,000
Vermont
University of Vermont
N/A
N/A
Virginia
University of Virginia
Mike London
$3,196,724
Washington
University of Washington
Chris Petersen
$3,400,000
West Virginia
University of West Virginia
Dana Holgorsen
$2,880,000
Wisconsin
University of Wisconsin
Paul Chryst
$2,300,000
Wyoming
University of Wyoming
Craig Bohl
$882,000
Sen. Lamar Alexander, the Chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, opposes the Department of Labor’s new overtime rule because (he claims) it will cost Tennessee universities so much. But what about the University of Tennessee’s head coach, Butch Jones, and his $4.1 million salary? What about the assistant coaches? Are their salaries a burden? Did Sen. Alexander complain last year, when, as the Chattanooga Times Free Press reported, the school gave them millions of dollars in raises?
Tennessee increased the salary pool for its assistant football coaches by $275,000, bumping the staff’s combined salaries to $3.495 million, based on the amended contracts released Tuesday afternoon to the Times Free Press through a records request.
The eight returning coaches received $250,000 in raises, while the Volunteers are paying new offensive coordinator Mike DeBord $25,000 more than his predecessor.
Receivers coach Zach Azzanni and running backs coach Robert Gillespie, who were awarded new titles as Tennessee shuffled their staff’s roles after DeBord’s hire, each received $50,000 raises and now make $350,000 each.
And what about Memphis, whose head coach was paid $1.4 million last year? The priorities of our top universities, which routinely pay more than a million dollars to a football coach while starving the best-educated scientists in the world, are clearly wrong. They should be ashamed to be fighting a rule that will provide modest compensation for their employees’ long hours.
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