Most NBA and NFL coaches earn about what you'd expect them to earn. While it's hard to get your hands on hard-and-fast figures, most seem to be in that $5 million-ish to $7 million-ish range.
We do have hard-and-fast figures in Major League Baseball, and the salaries there aren't what you'd probably expect them to be.
They're much, much less.
Of the 33 MLB manager salaries compiled by USA Today, the median manager at the highest level of professional baseball in the world earns... $1.3 million.
Five managers earn $4 million or more per year, and every one of them is a big name that's been around the game for a long time:
Mike Scioscia, Los Angeles Angels -- $6 million
Joe Maddon, Chicago Cubs -- $6 million
Bruce Bochy, San Francisco Giants -- $6 million
Terry Francona, Cleveland Indians -- $4 million
Buck Showalter, Baltimore Orioles -- $4 million
And then there's the bottom five full-time managers:
Brian Snitker, Atlanta Braves -- $800,000
Scott Servias, Seattle Mariners -- $800,000
Alex Cora, Boston Red Sox -- $800,000
Gabe Kapler, Philadelphia Phillies -- $803,000
Mickey Callaway, New York Mets -- $850,000
You've probably familiar with each guy on the top list, and may not be familiar with any of the guys on the bottom list, but that doesn't mean they're bad at their jobs. Cora's Red Sox have MLB's best record at 90-42. The Braves and Phillies are in first and second place in the NL East, respectively. The Mariners are 74-57.
And yet they're making as much as Group of 5 head coaches (Western Michigan's Tim Lester and Western Kentucky's Mike Sanford both made $800,000 last year) or Power 5 coordinators (Clemson's Tony Elliott, Texas's Tim Beck, Auburn's Chip Lindsey, to name three).
A year ago, Nick Saban made $927,667 per regular season game. Snitker, Servias and Cora will make $4,938.
So, what's driving the difference? Baseball's statistical revolution has turned new-school managers into middle managers. Oftentimes, it's the general manager who controls the team, and the manager is paid to be his conduit.
"It’s different now,’’ Maddon told USA Today, “with front offices seeking out managers who are able to assimilate with them better, and accept the methods. If guys coming up don’t want to accept analytics, numbers and methods in that regard, you pretty much eliminate your chance of becoming a major-league manager."
So you don't get to call the shots, you get paid pennies compared to your peers and, worst of all, you have to watch all nine innings of close to 200 baseball games a year. No thanks.