Good funds for staff ‘critical’
Holgorsen gains a commitment from school for valued assistants
New University of Houston football coach Dana Holgorsen is not the only one who will benefit from the richest deal in school history.
As part of his contract — a five-year deal worth $20 million that makes him the highest-paid coach at a Group of Five public school — Holgorsen will have at his disposal a $4.5 million annual budget to assemble a staff.
The money is earmarked to cover the salaries of 10 assistant coaches, a strength coach, recruiting, operations, quality control and analytics staff and any other off-field personnel “deemed necessary to successfully operate the football program,” according to documents obtained through an open records request.
“It was critical,” Holgorsen, 47, said of the school’s financial commitment to assist in hiring a staff. “I can assure you I’m better at running a football team now than I was eight years ago , but running a football program is like running a large organization. You have to hire a lot of people to be able to build a program the right way. You have to have money to be able to do it. I feel really good about the assistant coaches that I have contacted and talked to already.”
The $4.5 million assistant salary pool is the highest among schools from the American Athletic, Mountain West, Mid-American, Conference USA and Sun Belt. Memphis, which plays in the AAC, had the top payroll for the 2018 season among the Group of Five public schools for 10 assistants and strength coach at $2.9 million, according to USA Today, which publishes an annual data base of college football head coaching and assistant salaries. Houston had a budget of $2.3 million for former coach Major Applewhite’s staff last season.
UH’s commitment, even for assistants’ pay, is a jump from previous years. UH paid $1.82 million in Tony Levine’s final season in 2014 and $2.1 million and $2.42 million in Tom Herman’s two seasons from 20152016, according to data from USA Today. Those figures do not include salaries for a strength coach and support staff.
“Our investment is serious,” UH president and chancellor Renu Khator said.
As he begins the interview process, Holgorsen said he plans to bring in experienced coaches with successful track records.
“I’ve had a lot of interest,” he said. “We’re bringing in big-time football coaches that have been at big-time places and understand what it takes to treat the student-athletes the right way.”
One responsibility Holgorsen does not plan to give up: he will call UH’s offensive plays.
“I’ll make no bones about that,” he said. “It’s the best way that I can manage things.”
One of Holgorsen’s most important hires will be defensive coordinator after the Cougars ranked among the nation’s worst units this season.
“(While offense is important) there’s another side of the ball that is potentially more important on that defensive side,” he said.
Holgorsen is expected to bring at least two former West Virginia assistants to UH. One is Tyron Carrier, a former standout wide receiver/return man at UH. Carrier spent the past three seasons on Holgorsen’s staff at West Virginia and was named the top wide receivers coach in FBS by FootballScoop this season.
“Chances look good,” Carrier said. “I’m back at home. This is my alma mater. This place is really special to me.”
The other is Doug Belk, a cornerbacks coach for the Moutaineers the past two years.