Is the rumor true about Carlson leaving Notre Dame for Hoka?

not an official wrote:

He makes $250K. He isn't leaving.

LOL. Stay off the drugs

JYwl wrote:

Didn't Notre Dame just lose their head coach to LSU? Notre Dame doesn't pay. Not worth it dealing with religious cult.

Actually, Kelly had a good deal at ND, and definitely appropriate for the market. A desperate LSU just bought him with a market-leading financial package of nearly 100mm, almost all guaranteed. And a ten year deal for a guy who is 60. They are going to regret it and ND is happy he's gone.

Why would ND pay less than the surrounding P5 schools? It has a huge donor base and is one of the few that has donors for track. You can check the state schools to see that schools like Iowa State are paying $250K.

Kelly left because he was tried of having to recruit with Notre Dame's academic standards. He felt like it stopped them from getting a national championship and said so when he left. Besides, it sounds like Notre Dame had gotten very tired of him. They made no effort to keep him.

Do you have a link to that quote from him? I never heard it. ND should be easy to recruit for because the cost is $75k per year and it is one of the best schools in the country. Sure you will lose some kids who don't qualify but every kid who qualifies will want to attend over Indiana or Michigan State.

RandomDomer wrote:

I’ve heard from a reliable source close to the team that he isn’t happy with his salary and is looking to leave.

$125k is pretty good for a high school coach.

I assume you are making some type of joke or meaning with teaching and coaching track and cross country.

Vikings wrote:

I assume you are making some type of joke or meaning with teaching and coaching track and cross country.

I was referring to Carlson's coaching experience and obvious lack of self awareness (refer to their collapse at 2021 XC). Carlson is a good HS coach and should return to that level. D3 would also be a good fit. The aforementioned 2021 XC debacle and Nuguse in Tokyo prove that he doesn't make wise decisions.

That makes the point that he probably should stick with his current situation.

not an official wrote:

That makes the point that he probably should stick with his current situation.

In that case, the rest of the NCAA will happily watch him blow all the talent he has.

You guys are harsh. They had one bad meet.

Vikings wrote:

You guys are harsh. They had one bad meet.

Agreed. Overall Carlson has done well there. And I've read a lot of accusations about Carlson being at fault for Naguse not running in Tokyo, but nothing that has been convincing.

I expect Naguse would have loved to run in the games and Carlson would have loved to have one of his athletes run in the games.

Old Big East 1 wrote:

Outside of football, basketball, and perhaps hockey, salaries for athletic staff at Notre Dame are not what a lot of people think they are. The University does provide good benefits, especially if you are married with kids. Plus the cost of living is relatively low compared to other parts of the country.

Reported salaries of Notre Dame coaches are rarely accurate. What often gets reported is what the University itself is paying the coach and release publicly on their IRS forms, but that is oftentimes not even half of the coach's overall salary. Brian Kelly's total compensation was reported at only $1.863 million in 2019, which isn't even remotely close to what it really was. I know that he was in the $6.5 million to $7.5 million range depending on bonuses. The bulk of his compensation came from a variety of sources, including Under Armor, NBC, his radio show contract, with the rest of the salary actually endowed by rich donors to the University. He was a top 10 paid coach nationally even before he took the LSU job. Muffet McGraw (women's basketball coach) was the highest paid women's coach outside of Auriemma at over $2 million per year. Mike Brey's compensation is approximately $3 million, placing him in the top 25 nationally. I'm not sure you can find a sport at Notre Dame where the head coach isn't paid among the top 25 in the country for their respective sports. Trust me, Notre Dame pays, especially if a rich donor is into the sport.

Regarding Carlson, as he isn't really the head Track and Field coach, his position isn't endowed, but he still is receiving secondary compensation, likely from Under Armor. I believe the $250K number mentioned earlier is approximately correct, with the potential for bonus compensation up to $400K or so for winning a National title in cross country. I would think Sparks' contract is approximately $400K + bonuses.

Old Big East 1 wrote:

Kelly left because he was tried of having to recruit with Notre Dame's academic standards. He felt like it stopped them from getting a national championship and said so when he left. Besides, it sounds like Notre Dame had gotten very tired of him. They made no effort to keep him.

Kelly had 3 years left on his contract at Notre Dame, and there was no interest from their end in extending him whatsoever unless he won a national championship in those 3 years. Even after 12 seasons, he never really endeared himself to anyone at Notre Dame and also used every opportunity to leverage himself into a better contract. Notre Dame called him on his bluff this year, and he pretty much backed himself into a situation where he had to take another job (he was trying for USC and Florida as well). Kelly actually just really hates recruiting in general. He was a great program organizer, CEO, political schmoozer, and was very good at Xs and Os, but he was a terrible recruiter because he put no effort into it. If Marcus Freeman has even a modicum of coaching ability, Notre Dame feels like they are better off with Kelly being gone. The fan base is energized again with Freeman, and many, myself included, thought Kelly was a tremendous jerk (Charlie Weis was too, but he was an alum and was one of us). I would be surprised if Kelly has success at LSU. It's such a non-fit it's hilarious. He's simply cashing checks now.

Former ND Employee seems to have the most accurate (not a high bar) information here. S/he cites 2019 figures. ND’s Form 990 for 2020 shows just three salaries from the Athletic Department (probably the three highest):

Brian Kelly with total compensation (from ND) of 2,670,213

Michael Brey, head coach men’s basketball, 2,526,745

Muffet McGraw, head coach women’s basketball 2,301,398

Carlson is the Head Coach of Men’s Cross Country, and Assistant Track Coach for Men’s middle and long distance runners. He’s been there 10 years. He has massively improved the program and proved he can recruit (even with ND’s demanding academic standards). So I would guess that $250,000 from all sources for Carlson is not out of the question. Oh, and I very much hope he is not tempted by any other offers!!

Do not compare the non-revenue sports to football & basketball, especially at Notre Dame. I seriously doubt the head position pays $250K. For non-revenue coaches at ND, most assistant coaches base salary are in the $50-100K range. Assistant coaches only receive apparel allotments from the shoe companies - not the cash Head football & basketball coaches get. The additional pressure for ND football is that in addition to the athletic budget, football is expected to generate $30 million a year for the academic budget.

If you want to compare public schools, most states have a link that allows you to look up the salaries of state employees. This is required by open records laws. Yes, most coaches at public universities are considered to be state employees.

Why would ND pay less than competitors. Supply and demand says that they will end up with lowest qualified personnel.

As head XC/assistant track there's about a zero percent chance that Carlson is making 250k.

This is track and field. Texas A&M's assistants are making between 110-150k a year. Same with LSU. That's with top 5 finishes at NCAA bonus included.

ND isn't giving someone double SEC assistant money for finishing 2nd at nationals in a sport few care about.