At long last, our series examining the salary markets for each position in major college football is complete. Last but certainly not least (what is the least important position? A debate for another day) is special teams.
Special teams is such an interesting position when it comes to staffing in college football.
In its run to the 2022 national championship, Georgia ran 437 special teams plays, compared to 1,961 standard scrimmage plays, across its 15 games. That's 29 per game, a shade above 18 percent. Yet those 18 percent of snaps have an outsized impact on the outcome of games.
Kirby Smart opted to navigate those plays without a dedicated special teams coordinator among his 10 on-field assistants. (Scott Cochran is Georgia's special teams coordinator, listed among Georgia's support staff, along with special teams analyst Kirk Benedict.) Other coaches do not have a dedicated special teams coordinator, splitting unit duties amongst the staff while employing an analyst or two off the field.
Others, as you'll see below, employ a dedicated special teams coordinator and pay him quite well.
1. Jeff Banks, Texas -- $1.1 million
2. Mike Reed, Clemson -- $800,000
3. Pete Lembo, South Carolina -- $725,000
4. John Papuchis, Florida State -- $700,000
5. Joe Lorig, Oregon -- $650,000
6. LeVar Woods, Iowa -- $625,000
7. Jay Harbaugh, Michigan -- $600,000
7. Sharrieff Shah, Utah -- $600,000
9. Coleman Hutzler, Alabama -- $595,000
10. Mike Ekeler, Tennessee -- $575,000
10. Ross Els, Michigan State -- $575,000
10. Eric Schmidt, Washington -- $575,000
13. Jay Boulware, Kentucky -- $550,000
13. Ed Foley, Nebraska -- $550,000
15. Scott Fountain, Arkansas -- $515,000
16. Todd Goebbel, NC State -- $505,000
17. Parker Fleming, Ohio State -- $500,000
17. Stu Holt, Virginia Tech -- $500,000
17. Kenny Perry, Texas Tech -- $500,000
17. Larry Porter, North Carolina -- $500,000
21. Eric Mele, Mississippi State -- $460,000
22. Erik Link, Missouri -- $450,000
23. Jeff Koonz, West Virginia -- $400,000
24. Ikaika Malloe, UCLA -- $390,000
25. Jordan Paopao, Arizona -- $375,000
26. Jake Cookus, Oregon State -- $370,000
27. Rob Wenger, Minnesota -- $365,000
28. Robby Discher, Illinois -- $350,000
28. Keith Gaither, Virginia -- $350,000
28. John Jancek, LSU -- $350,000
28. Matt Mitchell, Wisconsin -- $350,000
32. Jake Schoonover, Ole Miss -- $300,000
33. Taiwo Onatolu, Kansas -- $290,000
34. Nick Whitworth, Washington State -- $285,000
35. James Thomas, Jr., Maryland -- $275,000
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Missing: Ricky Brumfield, Georgia Tech; Jordan Langs, Iowa State; Karl Maslowski, Louisville; Charlie Ragle, Arizona State