Universities’ core mission is educating, not winning games

Joe Paterno’s salary in his final year as head coach of the Penn State football team in 2011 was just a shade more than $1 million.

Now, just 10 years later, the current PSU head football coach, James Franklin, is guaranteed to make $7.5 million per year through base salary, supplemental pay and an annual retention bonus under the terms of a new 10-year contract that was recently announced.

Franklin is also in line to make considerably more if he reaches certain incentives in his new contract.

So, given those numbers, you would expect Franklin to be a significant upgrade over Paterno in terms of on-field performance.

There just one problem with that line of thinking — it’s not true.

Not as successful as Paterno: In fact, Franklin, under any barometer, has not been nearly as successful as Paterno.

Paterno has the edge in winning percentage (75% to 67%), undefeated seasons (five to zero) and national championships (two to none).

Yet, Franklin will make 7.5 times more than Paterno made 10 years ago.

Yes, inflation can account for some of that increase. You will need about $1.23 to buy what a 2011 dollar purchased. That’s a 23% increase. Franklin’s salary, however, will be about 750% higher than Paterno’s final salary.

How can the powers-that-be at PSU argue that Franklin’s is deserving of such an exorbitant paycheck?

The going rate? Well, they are sure to say that it’s just the going rate for a major college football head coach. And they would be right — to a degree.

Michigan State’s Mel Tucker, a coach with a relatively limited resume, just agreed to a 10-year, $95 million extension after one very successful season. Southern Cal just hired Lincoln Riley away from Oklahoma, and Louisiana State just plucked Brian Kelly from Notre Dame. Although financial details haven’t been released for the Riley or Kelly deals, it’s almost certain that both men will make significantly more than either Franklin or Tucker.

No one can blame Franklin, Tucker, Riley or Kelly. They are simply doing what most anyone in their position would do — getting every dollar they can.

When will the madness stop? Still, it begs the question: When will this monetary madness stop?

The people who run our nation’s major universities are constantly complaining that they are dealing with declining enrollments and severe financial pressures, yet they can always find the money to pay millions of dollars to their head football coaches.

Just who is running the colleges — the football coaches or the presidents?

Well, based on the salaries, you would have to say it’s the coaches. PSU’s president, Eric Barron, makes less than $1 million per year.

So, what is the answer to the problem?

Time to say enough is enough: It’s relatively simple. The administrators and the controlling boards at our major universities must muster up the gumption to say enough is enough.

Yes, there will be raucous complaining from the school’s football fans and big-money boosters, who don’t care about tuition rates, only winning rates. Those folks will also claim many university athletic budgets are selfsustaining, requiring no money from other university sources.

That may be true in some cases, but certainly not all.

It also doesn’t see the bigger picture. No matter where the money comes from, it’s simply a bad look when the university president’s salary pales in comparison to the football coach. After all, these are supposed to be institutions of higher academic learning.

At some point, the folks who run our universities must reassert their authority over the athletic programs, especially football.

They need to remember that the core mission of our colleges is to educate our young people, not win football games and fill stadiums.