USA Today released their annual salary database of college assistants and strength coaches today, and the salary info on strength coaches illustrates that we're not far off from the profession's first $1 million coach.
The list is highlighted by some of the most respected strength guys in the profession, with Iowa's Chris Doyle, Ohio State's Mickey Marotti, Tennessee's Craig Fitzgerald, Clemson's Joey Batson, and Texas A&M's Jerry Schmidt rounding out the top five.
Doyle, the highest paid strength coach in the country since a pay bump back in August, has been with the Hawkeyes dating back to the hire of Kirk Ferentz back in 1999 and now makes $800k annually.
Marotti ($735k), Fitzgerald ($625k), and Batson ($600k) all make over the $600k mark annually, with Schmidt, Tommy Moffitt (LSU), Ben Herbert (Michigan), and Rob Glass (Oklahoma State) are all set to make over half a million dollars annually.
The major takeaway from the assistant coaches salary database is that while athletic directors may lean toward offensive guys historically to be their head coaches, coaching (and coordinating specifically) on the defensive side of the ball is where the money is.