Mr. $6.5 Mil “Slick Nick” — Worth Every Penny

I still can’t often rationalize these coaching salaries in college football, seemingly no matter who it is — starting with the fact Brady Hoke is the 8th highest paid coach ($4.1 mill) in college football, and we “Michigan folk” are bracing ourselves for yet another 8-9 win campaign in 2014. But this might shock you when I say that yesterday’s announcement is “totally justified in my mind” that Alabama’s Nick Saban will now have a whopping $6.5 mill “base salary” contract (which doesn’t count an additional $400K every year if he “completes” the year) to lead The Tide all the way to 2023. So that is actually a $6.9 million base. I mean you can say what you want about this fiery/smug/often degrading football coach with the crabby public persona — but this “recruiting-machine” is damn well worth it. College football is a “bottom line business” — like any other business. And when you consider for the 2012-13 football season, Bama grossed $89 million (clearing $50 mill) from its football program- with plenty of that used to support the “non rev sports” on the Tuscaloosa campus — well, you get my point. Slick Nick has 3 National Titles and counting for Alabama (to go with the one he garnered at LSU). Nuff said. He is simply the best !!!