Hidden "Cost' of Coaching

[RAFWiki]

States where full-time minimum wage is around $35,000/year ($16.82/hour):

-Alaska ($14.00)

-Arizona ($15.15)

-California ($16.90)

-Colorado ($15.16)

-Connecticut ($16.94)

-Delaware ($15.00)

-Florida ($15.00)

-Hawaii ($16.00)

-Illinois ($15.00)

-Maine ($15.10)

-Maryland ($15.00)

-Massachusetts ($15.00)

-Michigan ($13.73)

-Missouri ($15.00)

-Nebraska ($15.00)

-New Jersey ($15.92)

-New York ($16.00)

-Oregon ($15.55)

-Rhode Island ($16.00)

-Vermont ($14.42)

-Washington, DC ($17.95)

-Washington ($17.13)

[1032004]

4 hours ago, Le duke said:

If a school is paying a wrestling coach $35,000, they likely don't have an RTC that will provide any additional compensation. 

 

4 hours ago, LJB said:

you might be better served to actually do some real looking into things before making such assumptions...

I’m sure there are some schools that intentionally pay less through the school knowing the RTC will cover the rest, but based on how the OP was written I’d guess this isn’t one of those.

[fishbane]

23 minutes ago, RAFWiki said:

States where full-time minimum wage is around $35,000/year ($16.82/hour):

...

This is assuming full time work.  40 hr/week 52 weeks per year.  Is this $35k assistant coach position expected to work that much?  

If this isn't an school with a RTC offseason freestyle program they likely work far less than 8 hours/day.  The exception would be in season when there are competitions.  The light time requirements of a traditional assistant coach position is why for so many years they were used by athletes trying to make a world team to make ends meet whilst training.  Only in the RTC era has the time commitment expanded significantly. 

So, if this isn't an RTC program they aren't averaging close to 40 hours/week for the year and if it is then they are likely to be getting paid by the RTC to coach there and for camps in the summer.

[LJB]

tOSU coaches salaries

[LJB]

Filter FTE 100 and then sort lowest to highest…

[Nak21]

I don’t know about this one.

I know assistants in non-revenue sports don’t make much and work a lot but we might need to see this one and risk embarrassing the school/coach.

A quick search shows that there’s slightly more money out there than $35k. Maybe Loggie Bear needs to do a better job with his salary ask??

https://apps.hr.osu.edu/Salaries/Home/Salaries?Funding=0&CostCenter=CC12646 Athletics | Wrestling&IsValid=True

 

The well funded Ath Dept at Frostburg St is willing to kick in an extra $10k/yr. Div 2 but hey, moneys money.

https://collegesports.jobs/jobs/frostburg-state-university-assistant-mens-wrestling-coach
 

Hofstra will go an extra $20k/yr and give you a $6k car stipend.

https://careers.insidehighered.com/job/3523681/assistant-wrestling-coach/
 

I wish there was more money in wrestling for these guys but I think most aren’t in it for the money.

[fishbane]

PSAC Schools

https://opengovpay.com/employer/pa/pennsylvania-state-system-of-higher-education?jobTitle=wrestling

[2001Hokie]

2 hours ago, bnwtwg said:

And hate to break it to you all, but $100k isn't much in 2026. The $100k you have in your mind from three decades ago is actually about $225k presently.

While locale certainly matters, and I get the point you're making, but $100,000 is still a very healthy salary that a heavy majority of working adults don't see.  Based on what I see, less than 20% of working adults make $100k +, and less than 50% of American households earn that much.  

I'm sure there's plenty of reporting bias in both directions for those published numbers, but as a person that has hired a lot of people over the last 20 years in clinical lab settings, even highly educated people in the sciences aren't pulling crazy money consistently.  

So all that to say...$100k is still a lot of freaking money!

[WrestlingRash]

A smart head coach who can build solid enough revenue streams to pay assistants for camps and RTC work is key. 

[LJB]

6 minutes ago, 2001Hokie said:

While locale certainly matters, and I get the point you're making, but $100,000 is still a very healthy salary that a heavy majority of working adults don't see.  Based on what I see, less than 20% of working adults make $100k +, and less than 50% of American households earn that much.  

I'm sure there's plenty of reporting bias in both directions for those published numbers, but as a person that has hired a lot of people over the last 20 years in clinical lab settings, even highly educated people in the sciences aren't pulling crazy money consistently.  

So all that to say...$100k is still a lot of freaking money!

this...

it never ceases to amaze me just how out of touch some people are...

[bnwtwg]

Just now, LJB said:

this...

it never ceases to amaze me just how out of touch some people are...

This is the richest country in the world with the most educational and upward mobility possible. So forgive me if I don't like that those on the upper echelon don't share some of the pie with those on the lower end, but that's a different topic because socialism or communism or whatever boogey man word of the week you want to trickle down my balls.

In America, $100,000 is not much. It may be much to a person, I know because I was one growing up and did my best to change my situation, but it is not much.

[LJB]

1 minute ago, bnwtwg said:

This is the richest country in the world with the most educational and upward mobility possible. So forgive me if I don't like that those on the upper echelon don't share some of the pie with those on the lower end, but that's a different topic because socialism or communism or whatever boogey man word of the week you want to trickle down my balls.

In America, $100,000 is not much. It may be much to a person, I know because I was one growing up and did my best to change my situation, but it is not much.

[bnwtwg]

20 minutes ago, LJB said:

No, I simply replied with a dose of your own "out of touch" medicine. I gave up on being angry a long time ago and now I just do something about it.

[LJB]

14 minutes ago, bnwtwg said:

No, I simply replied with a dose of your own "out of touch" medicine. I gave up on being angry a long time ago and now I just do something about it.

[Alces Alces Gigas]

Not every school can have additional revenue streams like camps and RTCs. Many of you guys are stuck in the D1  bubble (power schools at that).  Many  D2s, D3s  NAIA and JUCO programs rely on GAs as assistants and volunteer hang arounders .  

[cowcards]

1 hour ago, Alces Alces Gigas said:

Not every school can have additional revenue streams like camps and RTCs. Many of you guys are stuck in the D1  bubble (power schools at that).  Many  D2s, D3s  NAIA and JUCO programs rely on GAs as assistants and volunteer hang arounders .  

When I was a full-time assistant at an NAIA school, 15 years ago, I got paid 19k. I also had to work night time security at the school 3 nights a week for 4-6 hours a night. I lived in my office because I couldn't afford to live off-campus. During the season, my wrestlers would let me use their meal cards to eat once a day because they weren't going to use them. Moved on pretty quickly.

[Alces Alces Gigas]

16 minutes ago, cowcards said:

When I was a full-time assistant at an NAIA school, 15 years ago, I got paid 19k. I also had to work night time security at the school 3 nights a week for 4-6 hours a night. I lived in my office because I couldn't afford to live off-campus. During the season, my wrestlers would let me use their meal cards to eat once a day because they weren't going to use them. Moved on pretty quickly.

Its typical.    Athletic admins know that they can position next to nothing because if you don't like the wages somebody else will.   Many more kids want  to coach tan jobs available 

[Le duke]

2 hours ago, Alces Alces Gigas said:

Not every school can have additional revenue streams like camps and RTCs. Many of you guys are stuck in the D1  bubble (power schools at that).  Many  D2s, D3s  NAIA and JUCO programs rely on GAs as assistants and volunteer hang arounders .  

This is what I'm getting at.

Ohio State is a top 5 program that has actual funding from donors for their RTC. They put on camps that draw a LOT of attendees.

There are D1 (never mind D2 and D3) where they have no "RTC", other than the same college guys and their coaches training FS during the summer, and any camps they have barely cover costs. 

[MNRodent]

5 hours ago, LJB said:

tOSU coaches salaries

Logan Stieber is wishing he won 4 NCAA titles during the NIL era.

 

[LJB]

The real question is if he would have won that number of titles in today’s climate?

There is a reason there is a long standing saying about money and the root…

[ScottishSteel]

14 hours ago, LJB said:

this is a total assumption, but...

any assistant at a D1 program taking 35K a year is more than likely provided with housing and food...

the assistants making that little are at the very entry level of coaching, but, there are definitely some at Big10 schools making that salary currently and probably considerably more making even less at other programs...

In the 20ish years I was involved in D1 college athletics, I don't know a single Oly sport assistant coach that was provided housing

 

Food? for sure we all eat what we can from the athlete meals at MAAC and MVC level schools

[MoveCountermove]

18 hours ago, LJB said:

you might be better served to actually do some real looking into things before making such assumptions...

Yeah, it’s almost the opposite? Pay your assistants $35k from the university, supplement through the RTC…

[1032004]

13 hours ago, LJB said:

tOSU coaches salaries

\/

14 hours ago, 1032004 said:

 

I’m sure there are some schools that intentionally pay less through the school knowing the RTC will cover the rest, but based on how the OP was written I’d guess this isn’t one of those.

 

This is a better question however: 

13 hours ago, fishbane said:

This is assuming full time work.  40 hr/week 52 weeks per year.  Is this $35k assistant coach position expected to work that much?  

 

[kschlosser]

In the discussion of coaches salaries, multiple d1 schools have fundraised endowments to supplement or prop up university salaries. The school contract secures retirement credits and benefits for the coach and potential family while the endowment can multiply a salary. This creates another end around where the program pay can exceed standard base pay

[IslandStyle]

This is a great topic. We glamorize coaching and being a college coach, but unless you are at a D1 or a very well funded smaller school, you would be better off coaching high school, pulling a teacher's salary, and coaching on top of it. It will admit, teaching is not the easiest, but if you are a good coach, you can find a school that will take care of you and give you an easy class load where you can spend most of your time coaching. You could also run a club or camps on top of that for additional income if desired. It requires humility, but you will always have a paycheck, healthcare, and retirement. 

I feel like this has created a really big gap in college coaching, especially at the lower level. It is why there are some really great lower level college coaches, and some absolutely horrendous ones. Some are professionals and some are barely paid a living wage. Schools will literally take anyone they can find that is willing to work full time for $35k in 2026. It's better to just coach and teach high school. 

Granted, there are some in are sport that are doing well, but those guys are the exception and not the rule. This results in a lot of guys acting like they are entitled to money for coaching without actually working for it. Lots of dudes want to run a club and make a decent living doing it, but not everyone wants to put in the work and build a business/brand. 

Can someone start a post on clinic fees? I could rant on that too.