Salaries revealed for UGA’s new football coaches
New Georgia assistant football coaches Will Friend and Kirk Olivadotti will be paid annual salaries of $200,000 and $250,000, respectively, according to documents obtained by the AJC under the state’s open records law.
The coaches’ contracts were not yet available, according to UGA, but their salaries were contained on “employee personnel report” forms.
Friend is the new offensive line coach, hired from Alabama-Birmingham to replace Stacy Searels, who left for Texas.
Olivadotti is the new inside linebackers coach, hired from the NFL’s Washington Redskins to replace Warren Belin, who left for the Carolina Panthers.
Searels and Belin had salaries of $290,000 and $190,000, respectively, at Georgia last year.
Tell us what you think about the site
Customer Care »
Vacation stops, manage subscriptions and more
AJC Services
Sections
Other Editions
Visitor Agreement | Privacy Statement
© 2013 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
110 comments Add your comment
Concerned
February 21st, 2011
4:18 pm
I think it’s sad that a coach, not even the head coach, in a college football program makes more than a full time professor at the same school. What is the real purpose of college? To educate. Who does that? Teachers. The coaching, which, yes, is an education, applies to maybe 130-150 kids. That low of a number is not a good enough return for that amount of money. Priorities are lost these days. I guess the new saying is, “Those who can, teach; those who can’t, coach.”
AltamahaDawg
February 21st, 2011
4:37 pm
Except that for a student to learn, for a teacher to teach, there must be folks enrolling in the first place. Football attracts that. Not to mention the revenue from the athletic program are not only self-sufficient but give back to the academic side. Got to look at the bigger picture.
Stated another way: just go on and close the football program, or even refuse to pay the type of salaries that it takes to attract the proper coaches, and see how long before there is even less to pay teachers.
AltamahaDawg
February 21st, 2011
4:42 pm
Balzella, the only way that is relavant is to look at what an O-line coach at THAT midwestern University makes. You are comparing apples to oranges. I suspect that a Dean at UGA does pretty well.
And less than half of these guys salaries sounds pretty damn good to an awful lot of folks. What’s he putting in, 12-14 hrs a day, 6 days a week?
Shawn
February 21st, 2011
4:43 pm
So funny to see guys like Alabama Jack(arse) get on here and talk about how expensive it is to “coach them down.” Coach Richt has coached them down to a 3-1 mark against Bammer. What does that say for bammer coaches?
Hector
February 21st, 2011
4:47 pm
What’s the latest on Murray’s injury? Are we being told everything!!!!!!!!!!!
Concerned
February 21st, 2011
4:52 pm
AltamahaDawg, “Not to mention the revenue from the athletic program are not only self-sufficient but give back to the academic side.
Hate to break it to you, but that is simply not true. Less than 40% of the college athletic programs today are self-sufficient. Most rely on university subsidies, mainly student fees. In many of the top universities the athletic programs do not end the year with funds available, most are in debt, yet they somehow mysteriously find the money to continue on. They do bring people to the school, but why? I said our priorities were out of whack, and that is evident by your statement. The very thought that colleges would be empty if not for the athletic programs is ludicrous.
I wasn’t debating whether college football was bad, rather stating that sending the message to a student sitting in a classroom that what is done out there on the field is more important than what is done in the classroom is tragic. Education is not a priority in our society these days, and our society is, and will continue to, pay for it.
JDAWG
February 21st, 2011
4:59 pm
http://isportsweb.com/2011/02/21/georgia-hires-kirk-olivadotti/
Shawn
February 21st, 2011
5:01 pm
Wasted a little time doing a little research last night. I found out that UF averaged 37 pts a game the last 4 years. They had one of the best(if not the best CFB player ever) at QB, played patsies non conference, and had more talent than almost anyone in the nation around him. Mean while Bobo has had 3 different QB’s in 4 years, played BCS teams all over the country, and massive amounts of injuries on the O-line for his most talented O in 2008. As terrible as all You arm chair QB’s make him out to sound he has averaged better than 32 pts a game. Give the guy a little credit for what he has accomplished offensively. When the D catches up we will be winning again. I suspect this year will be the time with our second year coordinator!
AltamahaDawg
February 21st, 2011
5:07 pm
Hate to break it to you, but I was talking about this program, the topic of this article. Wasn’t trying to make a blanket statement about ALL programs.
Nor did I say the classroom would be “empty”. I said a more high profile Athletic department brings attention, attention bring higher enrollment. I don’t think that’s even debatable.
Not sure we could even begin to list the things in society that are are out of whack in these pages. But the topic of THIS discussion……an employee making $200,000 in an extremely high stakes, high pressure industry, is not very high on it. Nor would it be on the list at all of poor investments.
Shawn
February 21st, 2011
5:08 pm
New report is a sprained ankle. He’ll be fine. So will Richt, Bobo, and the rest of the coaching staff!
South GA Dawg
February 21st, 2011
5:10 pm
Shawn,
Great post, I love looking at the positive. D win games. GO DAWGS
YardDawg
February 21st, 2011
5:12 pm
Not trying to bash Richt at all, but it would not be such terrible news if we, for once, had a QB ready to go if the starter goes down.
Charlie Hayes
February 21st, 2011
5:12 pm
Well we profited $30k and it appears from the word on the street that this was a very good exchange of coaches. Olivadotti is being painted as a fierce competitor that doesn’t accept losing. This is what we need in a LB coach to drive our LB’s to make plays and disrupt the opponents offense. Since Odell Thurmond left UGA we have lacked that guy in the middle that can cause chaos for a QB. Maybe Olivadotti can coach-up Jarvis Jones and Richard Samuel to have that same mentality as his father instilled for years into big time players. As for Friend, I just hope the old Neil Callaway rubbed off enough on him. Callaway also did a fantastic job of run blocking and pass blocking. He and Richt worked well together during the first of the CMR Era to put together a good offense that won two (2) SEC titles. Maybe Friend learned enough from Callaway to make the UGA O-Line a dominating force for SEC Defenses.
I disagree with removing Bobo from the equation at this time. Bobo’s numbers as OC are much better than Richt’s numbers as OC. Go ahead and compare them then you will sit back and say ‘wow’. The big problem is that Richt didn’t have the moxy to fire his buddy Willie Martinez. If Grantham or whomever would have been brought in when Van Gorder left UGA would have had another SEC title if not two in our pockets. While I agree that the Offense has struggled, the Defense has been the root of UGA’s problems. Building up with the 3-4 scheme and now Grantham having some quality players in-hand (i.e. Jarvis Jones, Jon Jenkins, etc) we will have a solid Defense in 2011.
Larry
February 21st, 2011
5:16 pm
“News out of Athens is Murray has two broken bones in ankle. Not good”
UGAX,
Just a sprained ankle…you should be banned!
Larry
February 21st, 2011
5:17 pm
“Bobo’s numbers as OC are much better than Richt’s numbers as OC.”
Wow! That’s encouraging!
YardDawg
February 21st, 2011
5:19 pm
Shawn, what does Bobo’s offense average against teams with winning records?
Come on, if Bobo was a good coordinator, he would have had a head coaching job by now. He is obviously easy to prepare for and easier to adjust to during games.
Charlie Hayes
February 21st, 2011
5:20 pm
Hey Larry – Can you read? Both the AJC and Athens Banner are reporting a sprained ankle in their updates, not two broken bones. Go encourage yourself!
Athens Tea Party
February 21st, 2011
5:23 pm
`
How did 7 loss Todd Grantham get $750,000 per year ?
Shawn
February 21st, 2011
5:23 pm
So. Ga Dawg, Thx. I get a little tired of coming on here and hearing all this negativity. Negativity breeds more negativity. Some of these knee jerk, arm chair, whining band wagoners need to start trying to focus more energy on being Dawg fans! They get on here and bash our offensive coordinator when the guy has put up good numbers. It reminds of the bashing that Dan Marino gets for not winning a championship when the guy never played a down on one of the worst defenses year in and out.
Shawn
February 21st, 2011
5:30 pm
Yard dawg, he plays 8+ winning teams a year. I’d say his #’s are pretty good! Look for yourself. Of course you can only probably look back at last year. BTW, LY he had 31 at AU, 31 in Jax, 40+ against UT and Kentucky…. They had some lower scoring games early but he did have a freshman QB and 2 knucklehead RB’s who could not stay on the field. As a whole he does a good job and they are not nearly as easy to prepare for as you think. BTW, what does it matter if they are easy to prepare for? Dooley would just about tell the other D a RB was running off tackle and succeed. Prepare all you want and not stop him!
Larry
February 21st, 2011
5:34 pm
Charlie,
Are you that stupid? I know it was a sprained ankle, Goober. I said so in my reply of “Just a sprained ankle…” to “UGAX” who first reported here the two broken bones.
Can YOU read, Goober?
harold
February 21st, 2011
5:35 pm
OBVIOUSLY GEORGIA DOES NOT HAVE A STAR STUDDED STAFF LIKE AUBURN, ALABAMA AND FLORIDA! AFTER THE LAST TWO YEARS AT 13-12 THESE GUYS WILL FIRED ALONG WITH RICHT!
Charlie Hayes
February 21st, 2011
5:37 pm
I agree with that Shawn. Who cares if they know what is coming. Student body right, Student body left…Stop us if you can…We have depended too much on AJ Green the past three years and have abandoned our hard nose running game. Welcome Mr. Crowell to the new UGA O. Run it down their throats! USC lived by it last year and with the threat of a deep ball by Murray it will freeze the safeties in play action so we can get into the second level on every carry. I can’t wait to see them on the field in the dome! Gonna chant ‘Over Rated’ again to the Broncos!
Charlie Hayes
February 21st, 2011
5:38 pm
Sorry Larry – I did misread your post. I do admit that it was Goberish of me!
Salary info
February 21st, 2011
5:49 pm
A half a mil per year for these 2 mediocre coaches? Are you serious??? What a total waste of taxpayer money.
Larry
February 21st, 2011
5:56 pm
Sorry Charlie, too! The old Irish in me lost total control over my keyboard!
San Man
February 21st, 2011
6:02 pm
McGarity proves once again, he’s the cheapest AD on the planet in the SEC. Forbes was right. And every SEC team Georgia lost to last year, spent a higher % of income than McGarity did.
Jborodawg
February 21st, 2011
6:25 pm
San Man, I’d venture to say those two salaries are in the lower range compared to LSU, AL, AU, and FL. They’re probably right there with what AR, MSt, MS, and Vandy pay. And, now we hear that Searels made $290k. With Olivadotti’s experience, I stand by my original post; “…looks like a bargain…”.
Whoda thunk an article about the two new coaches salaries would revert to the usual diatribe about CMB (whose offense averaged over 30 points per games last year…in the SEC)?
Tweets that mention Salaries revealed for UGA’s new football coaches | UGA sports blog -- Topsy.com
February 21st, 2011
6:26 pm
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Florida, Georgia Sports Now. Georgia Sports Now said: Salaries revealed for UGA’s new football coaches http://bit.ly/hzFDer #UGA [...]
AltamahaDawg
February 21st, 2011
6:29 pm
“Come on, if Bobo was a good coordinator, he would have had a head coaching job by now”
So that means there are no good coordinators, anywhere.
AltamahaDawg
February 21st, 2011
6:39 pm
Thanks Shawn. I have beenn stating that same thing for a long time. EVERYBODY know what the other team is going to do. It’s what they do. That’s why they do it. And you don’t fool ‘em or be unpredictable as a substitute for doing what you do, but well. (which we didnt).
And when what you do, doesnt work………running something you don’t do, isn’t going to be a better option. If it wasn’t the best option on Wednesday, it’s not going to be on Saturday either. Need to figure that stuff out in March and August.
Watch any team 2-3 times and you’ll know what they are going to do with 75% accuracy the rest of thier season.
Curious to know why the AJC never publishes
February 21st, 2011
8:27 pm
Why is it the AJC never has the time to do an Open Records request for and publish the salaries of coaches at Georgia Tech??? While I have no problem with the outstanding efforts of the AJC to inform all readers of the salaries of coaches at The University of Georgia I do find it rather odd that there is no similar journalistic zeal to avail the readers of compensation at GT. Why is that?
Seems to me that reporting half of a story is sort of like half of one’s butt, halfassed!
BigGAdawg
February 21st, 2011
8:37 pm
UGA Alumnus
February 21st, 2011
1:59 pm
If you work for the state you’re salary is public. You can look up professor salaries, secretary salaries, and Michael Adams’ salary as well. It’s public information.
AND
Salary info
February 21st, 2011
5:49 pm
A half a mil per year for these 2 mediocre coaches? Are you serious??? What a total waste of taxpayer money.
Someone ELSE correct me if I am wrong but I thought that their salaries were paid by the Athletic Association. NOT TAXPAYER funding. This is the same Athletic Association that I recently read was the second most profitable in the NCAA, wrote the check to renovate Stegeman, donates 6 figures to the University every year. They don’t need your approval for what they choose to pay coaches NOR do the deserve your criticism. Assuming that I do understand correctly.
Tech Buzz
February 21st, 2011
8:37 pm
Ga’s wasting money on these two losers—-$450,000 per year—get real. Ga Tech upsets Ga in 2011—book it.
JB
February 21st, 2011
9:37 pm
Tech Buzz…………..you and your group said the same thing the last two years,,,,and the last 9 of 10…..Book it doesn’t win. 2 star talent won’t beat SEC talent very often. We’ve been horrible the last two years….and managed to win. Year before last one of your best teams ever….against a pretty poor Dawg Team. We own you. Sorry.
ASA
February 21st, 2011
9:40 pm
GIVE ME 15.000 A YEAR LET ME COACH THE BASEBALL TEAM WILL NOT RECRUIT 1 PLAYER OUTSIDE OF GEORGIA AND IF I DON’T HAVE A WINNING RECORD I’LL GIVE YOU YOUR MONEY BACK AND YOU WILL STILL BE AHEAD 250,000 AHEAD OF THIS JOKE
It's the economy, stupid...
February 21st, 2011
9:40 pm
Well, labor costs just dropped $30k…
Our already massive (and, IMHO grossly inappropriate until we see a better season) operating margin just widened again.
But I’ve met Friend in person and he’s pretty legit. Probly won’t have him for more than a couple years, especially if he performs. He could OC.
And Olive-head is the perfect person to have in our 2nd year in the 3-4.
He’s got a tested and long-term working relationship with Grantham and he’s been teaching the 3-4 to PLENTY of new NFL LBs transitioning to the 3-4 for YEARS now. It’s basically his niche, frkm what I’ve been told. And that he’s a teacher of the game, which is what you want in a position coach.
Not that anyone cares, but I’m pleased with the hires.
Now if we can just explain to Aaron Murray that he is an AMERICAN FOOTBALL player, I’d feel a lot better about our prospects next season.
GATA
kral
February 21st, 2011
9:42 pm
I would not say book-it I would say bet it ooh confident one…tech with a buzzzzzz
FBI
February 21st, 2011
9:44 pm
If Perno goes please get Greg Frady from Georgia State. That guy can coach. He is also coach of the German National baseball team, and has just been named coach of the year in Germany.
kral
February 21st, 2011
9:46 pm
no sports never relate to the economy…or movie stars..or gm’s…or gov..officials …where you been man
kral
February 21st, 2011
9:48 pm
add CEO’s
jaxdawgfan
February 21st, 2011
10:04 pm
I’ll echo “Buster.” Since the AJC doesn’t mind disclosing our new coaches’ salaries, I’m sure they’ll have equal ease disclosing Tim Tucker’s annual paycheck. So, what’s THAT number?
Roll Tide
February 21st, 2011
10:41 pm
Two good coaches for fair market price. Go Dawgs! (After Bama of course)
AltamahaDawg
February 21st, 2011
10:44 pm
No chance of Jon Jenkins twisting and ankle in a game of international football is there?
kral
February 21st, 2011
11:07 pm
roll charmin said something semi nice ..the Lord does work in mysterious wys
Take Notice
February 22nd, 2011
6:18 am
The Red and black did not use names, they stated “Athletic Dept. Sources”. Student journalism at it’s best. Wonder if there are some future CNN and New York Times journalist there?
Alabama Jack
February 22nd, 2011
7:00 am
Our coaches and players get bonus money from the alumni at our schools in Alabama. That’s why we win!
Buckeye
February 22nd, 2011
7:31 am
As State employees, what are their Union dues?
UGASlobberknocker
February 22nd, 2011
7:52 am
As long as someone else above went off the subject track and posted about the baseball team and Perno, I will too….I agree Perno must go. Here we are in one of the talented baseball states in the country, yet Perno states his goal this year is to make the SEC TOURNAMENT? Are you kidding me? We should be in the Top 10 every year. I’m glad McGarity is here because he won’t care that he is Dooley’s sons best friend. I predict if we don’t make the NCAAs this yr Perno is going to be back in the tux business.
King Gator
February 22nd, 2011
8:51 am
I hope they’ve added a bonus for winning the Liberty Bowl this year…it seems there was some incentive missing last year. Go Gators!