Willie Taggart's New Salary Deal Upsets Some At Western Kentucky University.
Taggart deal upsets some WKU faculty
Regent Minter: ‘Priorities are horribly misplaced’
By LAUREL WILSON
If Western Kentucky University’s Board of Regents approves a new four-year contract between the university and head football coach Willie Taggart, he will become WKU’s highest-paid employee - a circumstance that, while not unusual in the realm of high-level college athletics, frustrates some representatives of the school’s faculty.
Taggart’s new contract, the details of which were released Wednesday, more than doubles his base salary to $475,000, up from his current base salary of $225,000.
The raise comes after Taggart led WKU’s football team to the biggest single-season turnaround in Sun Belt Conference history, finishing the 2011 campaign with a 7-5 overall record after starting the season 0-4.
The Hilltoppers finished 2-10 in Taggart’s first season in 2010, and had compiled a 2-22 record in the two seasons before Taggart, a former WKU quarterback, returned to campus as head coach.
If regents approve the contract in January, Taggart will be earning more than WKU President Gary Ransdell, who currently holds the highest salary at the university at about $360,000. Taggart would also surpass men’s basketball coach Ken McDonald, currently the second-highest paid employee at about $250,000.
University officials such as athletic director Ross Bjork and Provost Gordon Emslie say Taggart’s success with the Hilltoppers means the school must bring the coach’s pay to a level more in line with those of other coaches in the Sun Belt Conference, and that continued momentum in the highly competitive and publicized world of the NCAA’s Football Bowl Subdivision will boost the profile of the entire institution.
But Faculty Regent Patti Minter, an associate professor of history at WKU, said Wednesday it’s hard to see Taggart’s salary double when it’s been more than four years since faculty members have received a merit pay raise: “Obviously, this is completely demoralizing,” she said.
“I think what Coach Taggart’s raise tells us is that the university’s priorities are horribly misplaced,” Minter said.
This year, faculty received only a 1 percent raise, and the average faculty salary is $61,554, according to the university’s 2011 Fact Book.
“A 1 percent across-the-board raise, while always appreciated, does not reflect the wonderful work that we do,” Minter said.
Minter said she had already received a number of emails from faculty members angered by Taggart’s raise. She said she looks forward to discussing their frustrations with her fellow regents.
University Senate Chairwoman Kelly Madole, a professor of psychology, said it’s too early to know if faculty will draft a resolution addressing Taggart’s raise, although there’s definitely concern among the faculty members she has spoken with.
Madole said that any time WKU makes a monetary commitment to an area of the university, a choice is being made.
“I think anybody along the way could have chosen academics and they didn’t,” Madole said. “It makes a strong statement about where WKU puts its values.”
However, officials with the WKU Department of Athletics stress that money isn’t being taken away from WKU’s faculty, staff or academic missions in order to pay Taggart. In an email to the Daily News, Senior Associate Athletic Director Todd Stewart emphasized that Taggart’s current and proposed salaries are funded entirely through the university’s $21 million athletic budget - money that has never been intended for any use other than athletics. WKU’s overall budget is about $385 million, Stewart said.
Bjork - who came to WKU in 2010 and whose contract pays him a base salary of $185,000 annually - said Wednesday night he is sensitive to the fact that Taggart’s proposed raise might not sit well with some WKU employees.
“That’s understandable. It’s tough times, economically, we admit that - understand that,” Bjork said. “But we’re in a competitive environment. College athletics, right or wrong, is a competitive environment.
“I don’t think we did anything outside of any boundaries, other than we had to compete. This still puts (Taggart) at fourth (among Sun Belt Conference coaches) - tomorrow or the next day he might be fifth or sixth, depending on what happens. Unfortunately, because of that, you’re going to put yourself under the microscope, but I think because it’s athletic revenue, because of our commitment to Willie, we knew this day was coming. I think it’s just part of the investment plan that we have to do as an institution and as an athletic department to raise the profile of football.”
Before the raise, Taggart was among the lowest-paid coaches in the FBS; even with the raise, Taggart still won’t be in the top half of FBS coaches, Stewart said. Within the Sun Belt Conference, Taggart will be the fourth highest paid football coach if his raise is approved.
Among Sun Belt coaches, Middle Tennessee State University football coach Rick Stockstill is tops with an annual base salary of $588,780, according to an online database of national coaches’ salaries maintained by USA Today. At Kentucky’s FBS programs, University of Kentucky coach Joker Phillips is paid $1,701,339 annually, while University of Louisville coach Charlie Strong earns $2,300,000 a year.
Nationally, University of Texas coach Mack Brown leads the FBS with an annual base salary of $5,192,500.
Emslie, who spoke on behalf of the WKU administration because Ransdell is traveling out of the country, said the market for football coaches is so competitive that it’s important for Taggart to have a salary in line with the rest of the Sun Belt Conference, especially after such a successful season.
“Keeping Willie will keep WKU in the spotlight,” Emslie said.
Taggart said in a news release that he appreciates the commitment made by administrators in offering him a new contract.
“I am very humbled by this show of support, and I will earn every bit of it,” Taggart said in the release. “As I often say, ‘WKU is in my DNA’ and this is where I want to be.”
Taggart’s new contract will be presented to the Board of Regents’ executive committee Dec. 16, and will be submitted for the full board’s approval at the next regular meeting Jan. 20.
- The Daily News’ Chad Bishop contributed to this report.
Sun Belt Conference football coaches’ pay
Middle Tennessee Rick Stockstill $589,405
North Texas Dan McCarney $545,000
Florida International Mario Cristobal $497,183
Western Kentucky Willie Taggart $475,000
Florida Atlantic Carl Pelini $450,000
Troy Larry Blakeney $381,000
Louisiana-Lafayette Mark Hudspeth $361,000
Louisiana-Monroe Todd Berry $225,000
Arkansas State Vacant* $202,160
Source: USA Today college football coach salary database
*New coach has not been hired; number reflects 2011 salary
Regent Minter: ‘Priorities are horribly misplaced’
By LAUREL WILSON
If Western Kentucky University’s Board of Regents approves a new four-year contract between the university and head football coach Willie Taggart, he will become WKU’s highest-paid employee - a circumstance that, while not unusual in the realm of high-level college athletics, frustrates some representatives of the school’s faculty.
Taggart’s new contract, the details of which were released Wednesday, more than doubles his base salary to $475,000, up from his current base salary of $225,000.
The raise comes after Taggart led WKU’s football team to the biggest single-season turnaround in Sun Belt Conference history, finishing the 2011 campaign with a 7-5 overall record after starting the season 0-4.
The Hilltoppers finished 2-10 in Taggart’s first season in 2010, and had compiled a 2-22 record in the two seasons before Taggart, a former WKU quarterback, returned to campus as head coach.
If regents approve the contract in January, Taggart will be earning more than WKU President Gary Ransdell, who currently holds the highest salary at the university at about $360,000. Taggart would also surpass men’s basketball coach Ken McDonald, currently the second-highest paid employee at about $250,000.
University officials such as athletic director Ross Bjork and Provost Gordon Emslie say Taggart’s success with the Hilltoppers means the school must bring the coach’s pay to a level more in line with those of other coaches in the Sun Belt Conference, and that continued momentum in the highly competitive and publicized world of the NCAA’s Football Bowl Subdivision will boost the profile of the entire institution.
But Faculty Regent Patti Minter, an associate professor of history at WKU, said Wednesday it’s hard to see Taggart’s salary double when it’s been more than four years since faculty members have received a merit pay raise: “Obviously, this is completely demoralizing,” she said.
“I think what Coach Taggart’s raise tells us is that the university’s priorities are horribly misplaced,” Minter said.
This year, faculty received only a 1 percent raise, and the average faculty salary is $61,554, according to the university’s 2011 Fact Book.
“A 1 percent across-the-board raise, while always appreciated, does not reflect the wonderful work that we do,” Minter said.
Minter said she had already received a number of emails from faculty members angered by Taggart’s raise. She said she looks forward to discussing their frustrations with her fellow regents.
University Senate Chairwoman Kelly Madole, a professor of psychology, said it’s too early to know if faculty will draft a resolution addressing Taggart’s raise, although there’s definitely concern among the faculty members she has spoken with.
Madole said that any time WKU makes a monetary commitment to an area of the university, a choice is being made.
“I think anybody along the way could have chosen academics and they didn’t,” Madole said. “It makes a strong statement about where WKU puts its values.”
However, officials with the WKU Department of Athletics stress that money isn’t being taken away from WKU’s faculty, staff or academic missions in order to pay Taggart. In an email to the Daily News, Senior Associate Athletic Director Todd Stewart emphasized that Taggart’s current and proposed salaries are funded entirely through the university’s $21 million athletic budget - money that has never been intended for any use other than athletics. WKU’s overall budget is about $385 million, Stewart said.
Bjork - who came to WKU in 2010 and whose contract pays him a base salary of $185,000 annually - said Wednesday night he is sensitive to the fact that Taggart’s proposed raise might not sit well with some WKU employees.
“That’s understandable. It’s tough times, economically, we admit that - understand that,” Bjork said. “But we’re in a competitive environment. College athletics, right or wrong, is a competitive environment.
“I don’t think we did anything outside of any boundaries, other than we had to compete. This still puts (Taggart) at fourth (among Sun Belt Conference coaches) - tomorrow or the next day he might be fifth or sixth, depending on what happens. Unfortunately, because of that, you’re going to put yourself under the microscope, but I think because it’s athletic revenue, because of our commitment to Willie, we knew this day was coming. I think it’s just part of the investment plan that we have to do as an institution and as an athletic department to raise the profile of football.”
Before the raise, Taggart was among the lowest-paid coaches in the FBS; even with the raise, Taggart still won’t be in the top half of FBS coaches, Stewart said. Within the Sun Belt Conference, Taggart will be the fourth highest paid football coach if his raise is approved.
Among Sun Belt coaches, Middle Tennessee State University football coach Rick Stockstill is tops with an annual base salary of $588,780, according to an online database of national coaches’ salaries maintained by USA Today. At Kentucky’s FBS programs, University of Kentucky coach Joker Phillips is paid $1,701,339 annually, while University of Louisville coach Charlie Strong earns $2,300,000 a year.
Nationally, University of Texas coach Mack Brown leads the FBS with an annual base salary of $5,192,500.
Emslie, who spoke on behalf of the WKU administration because Ransdell is traveling out of the country, said the market for football coaches is so competitive that it’s important for Taggart to have a salary in line with the rest of the Sun Belt Conference, especially after such a successful season.
“Keeping Willie will keep WKU in the spotlight,” Emslie said.
Taggart said in a news release that he appreciates the commitment made by administrators in offering him a new contract.
“I am very humbled by this show of support, and I will earn every bit of it,” Taggart said in the release. “As I often say, ‘WKU is in my DNA’ and this is where I want to be.”
Taggart’s new contract will be presented to the Board of Regents’ executive committee Dec. 16, and will be submitted for the full board’s approval at the next regular meeting Jan. 20.
- The Daily News’ Chad Bishop contributed to this report.
Sun Belt Conference football coaches’ pay
Middle Tennessee Rick Stockstill $589,405
North Texas Dan McCarney $545,000
Florida International Mario Cristobal $497,183
Western Kentucky Willie Taggart $475,000
Florida Atlantic Carl Pelini $450,000
Troy Larry Blakeney $381,000
Louisiana-Lafayette Mark Hudspeth $361,000
Louisiana-Monroe Todd Berry $225,000
Arkansas State Vacant* $202,160
Source: USA Today college football coach salary database
*New coach has not been hired; number reflects 2011 salary
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