… it’s also about how you spend it after you get it.
When Doug Nussmeier arrived at the University of Alabama campus in January, he was struck by the machine-like efficiency of the athletic department. The swath of crimson-accented employees acts like a tiny colony of bees, buzzing in unison, working toward a singular purpose.
There are 146 non-coaches who work in the university’s athletic department. There are nine individuals who work under athletic director Mal Moore alone. There are positions that range from your run-of-the-mill secretary to titles such as assistant director of player personnel and recruiting operations coordinator. [Emphasis added.]
Dear Lord. Nick Saban is trying to solve Alabama’s unemployment problem all by his lonesome.
There is no freaking way the little guys can hope to keep up with that. To put it in perspective, at North Texas, Dan McCarney’s budget ($3.5 million) for his support staff and administration is almost a million dollars less than what Alabama has shelled out just in increases to the salaries and benefits paid to support staff ($4,366,308) from 2009-11.
(By the way, with the hours he puts in, Todd Grantham’s pay works out to about $160 an hour. That seems more than fair, considering the results. But it wouldn’t be at North Texas, because there isn’t that kind of upside.)
Get The Picture 
More about how terrific and unstoppable Alabama football has become.
Which is about the time the bubble pops and the shorts pile on.
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This Bulldog thinks Grantham should be making a million a year–we should do everything possible to keep him–and let him know he could become as beloved as ERK if he handles it the right way–in my opinion Erk Russell is the most Loved coach in UGA football history—some things money can’t buy-but him staying might put him in that position-I realize this is a reach he would also have to interact with current students like Erk did–he does seem to have the people person qualities
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Isn’t that capitalism at work, using the fruits of your success to make your future success more likely.
Of course some, rightly or wrongly, would rather use the fruits of their success on things not related to what brought their original success.
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What is discussed in this post is what I have been saying for years in a different way: Bama is Bama because the Bammers have a commitment to succeed that the UGA Administration does not have. I want the UGA Administration to have that same commitment. When the HC is expected to use his time doing menial administrative duties instead of coching, like what happened under ole Red Panties then you get a decline in the program. Thank goodness McGarity has taken some of that off CMR and put it on himself but there still needs to be more. The players are committed. The coaches are committed. The UGA Administration is: ” Meh, winning is OK as long as WE don’t have to do anything.” Hopefully that will change when/if we get a President who is not a douchebag.
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I agree Mayor, same can be said for Florida in some respects in terms of not settling for anything less than excellence. When the President and the AD are on the same page athletically, the results can be extremely positive. UGA has succeeded despite this not being the case. Should Adams replacement express the same appreciation for athletic success as McGarity, UGA will rocket to the top.
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I don’t know if it’s reasonable to expect Georgia, or any program for that matter, to go to the extremes that Alabama has. 146 athletic department employees just sounds absurd.
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Agreed on the 146 employees. There are certain ways that they appear more committed than us, but I don’t see how that many people in the AD is really that much more helpful.
Unrelated, but anybody else going to see Roger Waters at Philips tonight? Pumped!
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Let me be clear: I do not want UGA to become Bama. I do not want UGA to become like Bama. I do not want UGA to emulate Bama. I want the UGA Administration to take its collective foot off the neck of the program and be COMMITTED to success like Bama’s Administration is. And no, we don’t need 146 employees in the Athletic Department.
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P.S. How many Bammers does it take to change a light bulb in the AD’s office? Answer: 146–1 to hold the bulb and 145 to turn the ladder around and around.
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146. One to hold Saban up in the air with the bulb, and 144 to say, “Great job, coach!”
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and saban’s personal fluffer.
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Oh wait, I was confusing saban with Petrino… moving on
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Incorrect. The correct answer is still 146, but it only takes 1 to screw in the bulb – the other 145 will remenisce about how the Bear would have done it.
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Richt having the menial administrative duties was completely unnecessary. I think the fan base came down too hard on Richt when he said he had more time to study football. I completely understood what Richt meant and I will try to relate to all how I interpret that. I am not trying to toot my own horn but I have a PhD in Analytical Chemistry and my job is as a Research Chemist. Football, like chemistry, is fluid, dynamic and never ever static. I have the highest degree offered and I still have to read manuscripts and articles everyday to keep up with the newest innovations and technology. When I get the superfluous tasks like paper pushing or managerial stuff it takes away from my time to further my knowledge base and it can be very easy to fall behind. When success in your job is based on dynamics and innovation you will fall behind and fail if you stay static. Basically, if you are not moving forward then you are moving backwards. For this reason I place full blame on Damon Evans for not letting Richt do the job he was hired to do. I hope all who read this will understand a little more where Richt was coming from and take it easy on him for that quote.
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+1. ^THIS^
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Oh…so there may be something to the “lack the institutional will” argument after all…nice to be in good company….finally
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Strong to quite strong.
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Bama is playing fast and loose with who is a coach and non-coach. He is promising a lot to a lot of people. This is why the NCAA has to make stupid rules…because of shady crap. Hate that I defended the NCAA.
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Agreed, Bad M. Has anyone looked closely at the titles and who/how many can work for, say e.g., the recruiter? There has to be overlap as to responsibilities that goes beyond the rules. How many of them are volunteers? Salaries of U employees is a subject open to inquiry, isn’t it?
Hell, I don’t have that many people selling Fing Scooters.
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146 doesn’t sound unreasonable to me at all. We have 82 employees on gross revenue around $35 million. Alabama’s grossing way more than we are.
I’m actually stunned this is considered an exception. If an organization has artificial caps on the number of people it can hire to recruit and coach, then yes, I am going to go out of my way to hire as many $20/hour people as it takes to make sure the rainmakers – the coaches/recruiters – don’t waste 10 minutes making travel arrangements or filling out paperwork, etc.
Competitors tend to think we retain too many people and treat them too well. Our customers, on the other hand, love us because our people love their jobs, and nothing falls through the cracks because someone’s in-box overflowed.
I’d rather have too much capacity on that end than not enough. It pays me back over time.
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It makes sense that the high paid coaches should not have to perform menial tasks. This is always a problem for small business and will always be a problem for small schools.
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Wonder how many of them were involved with Derrick Henry’s decommit less than an hour ago?
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All 146. But they are not recruiters or coaches because NCAA Rules prohibit that.
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Imagine that. Another competitor reinvesting a large percentage of earned revenue into its product and its people and not into some athletic board slush fund.
The nerve…
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Mike Dubose…Dennis Franchione….Mike Price….Mike Shula….
Yeah, those Bammers are genius. Genius I tell ya’
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No updates all morning? I’m concerned that Senator Blutarsky has been captured by Saban’s operatives.
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Nancy Grace is on it. Initial reports had him in a patrol sampan proceeding down the Mulberry until it forks with the Sipsey to pick up Nick’s path at the Nu Mung Ba and infiltrate his team at the Black Warrior by whatever method available and terminate his command because Nick’s out there operating without any decent restraint totally beyond the pale of any acceptable human contact and he’s still in the field commanding troops. Latest reports have Bluto about 70 klicks above the Edmund Pettis bridge where he lost mission focus and got distracted by super-hot strippers in a helo landing zone.
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