Des Moines Register
06-19-06
New contract makes Mac a millionaire
Pollard cites market value of coaches for McCarney's raise.
By RANDY PETERSON
REGISTER STAFF WRITER
Ames, Ia. — The state of Iowa, for the first time, has millionaires coaching
simultaneously.
Iowa State football coach Dan McCarney has agreed to a new contract that
provides the 11-season coach a yearly guaranteed salary of $1.1 million through
June 30, 2010, according to the new deal obtained Sunday by The Des Moines
Register.
Iowa football coach Kirk Ferentz received a $1.4 million raise on June 2 that
brought his annual guaranteed compensation to $2.7 million per year.
The only other coach in Iowa to earn more than $1 million in guaranteed salary,
according to the state salary database, was former Cyclone men's basketball
coach Larry Eustachy. His guaranteed pay was $1.1 million in 2002-03, his final
season at Iowa State.
At the time Eustachy cracked the million-mark, Ferentz's guaranteed salary was
$910,000 and McCarney earned $600,000.
"I appreciate the support that Dr. (Gregory) Geoffroy and Jamie Pollard have
given me," McCarney said during the Cyclones' annual football camp Sunday
afternoon. "I look forward to a long relationship with Iowa State and the people I
work for."
McCarney earned $925,000 under his previous contract renegotiation signed on
Jan. 18, 2003. His new contract, worth an additional guaranteed sum of
$175,000 a year, puts him in a tie for sixth among Big 12 Conference football
coaches.
"Our football coaching staff was clearly being paid at the bottom of the Big 12
Conference," athletic director Jamie Pollard said, "and we've made a
commitment to elevating their compensation packages to closer to the midpoint
of the conference. "Neither state funds nor student tuition dollars will be used to
pay for (McCarney's) compensation increases."
Guaranteed wages of coaches include base salary and money from outside
sources such as radio and television contracts, university-related speaking
engagements and money generated from apparel contracts.
"We want to compete, whether it's football or anything else at the universities,"
said Michael Gartner, president of the Iowa state Board of Regents. "We're
paying as close to market value as we can because we need to be competitive."
McCarney's contract includes success-based incentives that range from $25,000
for being named conference or national coach of the year to $100,000 for each
regular-season victory beyond seven.
"As I said from Day 1, Iowa State people have to understand that Dan's job, 12
years ago, was one of the worst in the country from the standpoint of facilities,
resources and compensation," Pollard said. "We're trying to get Dan's
compensation level and everything else in line with our expectations for the
program.
"Ratcheting up the overall compensation base and incentives gets us more in line
with where we ultimately need to be."
McCarney has records of 52-77 overall, and 26-62 while playing in the Big Eight
and Big 12 conferences. He replaced Jim Walden after the 1994 season, and is
the dean of coaches in the Big 12.
After winning only five conference games between 1995 and '99, the Cyclones
rebounded to play in bowl games five of the past six seasons.
Iowa State shared the Big 12 North Division title with Colorado in 2004, and then
finished one game behind the Buffaloes last season.
"From a compensation standpoint, Dan was 11th or 12th in the Big 12," Pollard
said, "but our fans don't expect the team to be 11th or 12th - nor do we."
In April, Pollard agreed to increase the salaries of McCarney's assistant coaches
from a total of $1.14 million for the nine assistants last season to $1.22 million.
"We appreciate the fact that the university is trying to continually keep improving
the compensation and salary of our staff," McCarney said.
AD: Demand for success drives salaries up
Iowa State football coach Dan McCarney agreed to his first contract on Nov. 28,
1994, for a total guaranteed sum of $196,000. Four raises have followed. By
Father's Day, he signed his first $1 million contract.
Iowa football coach Kirk Ferentz has had four raises since becoming the
successor to Hayden Fry at Iowa after the 1998 season. Ferentz, the state's
highest-paid state employee with an annual guaranteed income of $2.7 million, is
paid more than twice what McCarney makes.
"The market has changed significantly over the last few years," Iowa State
athletic director Jamie Pollard said.
That also is true at Iowa, where Ferentz's first contract called for a guaranteed
salary of $584,936. After a June 2 raise, he is the third-highest paid football
coach in the country.
Are football coaches' salaries too high?
"It's a two-edge sword," Pollard said. "From a business standpoint, salaries are
not too high because what's happened is that customers are demanding that you
be successful, which means you have to have good employees, and you have to
spend more to have good employees.
"As long as people support high salaries, it won't stop."
- Randy Peterson