Collegiate coaches, how do you make a living when getting paid terribly as a coach?

Many coaches are rich fan boys living on their parent's trust funds. Others have a spouse who is paid well. The most important thing is to coach in a small town with a very low cost of living.

I make 71K a year coaching. It may not be at your level, but I'm ok with it, thank you.

vin can get by in piss hole town like methville usa but if he was in the big city he'd be living in the poor side of town and be driving an american junk heap.

My wife and I make 60k a year my kids go to college tuition free (we get full pell grants to cover the rest). I pay all my bills and have a nice house. I want for little and have good program. Not sure what is wrong with that. Oh and my wife works half time. Anyways there is more to life then money.

a D2 caoch wrote:

My wife and I make 60k a year my kids go to college tuition free (we get full pell grants to cover the rest). I pay all my bills and have a nice house. I want for little and have good program. Not sure what is wrong with that. Oh and my wife works half time. Anyways there is more to life then money.

I have no need for inordinate amounts of money either. I was speaking for those coaches that get very little (<35k/yr). I would like my wife to stay home with the kids as much as possible and be able to send the kids to a private school when the time comes.

at what level do college head coaches make $35K? that seems a bit low.

Hookers and Blow my friend Hookers and Blow.

That's your problem- nobody does that anymore- your wife has to work. Try to live in the cheap house in the nice neighborhood- you'll be ok.

No vin salary wrote:

a D2 caoch wrote:

My wife and I make 60k a year my kids go to college tuition free (we get full pell grants to cover the rest). I pay all my bills and have a nice house. I want for little and have good program. Not sure what is wrong with that. Oh and my wife works half time. Anyways there is more to life then money.

I have no need for inordinate amounts of money either. I was speaking for those coaches that get very little (<35k/yr). I would like my wife to stay home with the kids as much as possible and be able to send the kids to a private school when the time comes.

It's all about lifestyle choices. If you look at coaching purely from an economic standpoint there are a tons of jobs that are going to pay more, and that is no matter if you're the highest paid college coach in the country or the lowest. Even Vin, I guarantee if he was all about the bottom line he could find a job elsewhere that would pay more than Oregon pays him.

In my case, I worked in another profession for about 15 years, got my financial matters in order, then when the opportunity to coach came up I was in a position to be able to take a job that gave me a lifestyle that I enjoy. I make about $15k/year to coach 3 teams at my school. That is in line with what most other "part time" coaches at my school make. We're not happy with that, but every time a coaching position opens up at my school we have a line of applicants, so if you recognize the supply/demand equation and want to coach you put up with the pay they offer.

My job is defined as ~800 hours/year, but in reality it's 1100-1200. It could easily be FT with only some minor adjustments in priorities by the school. 1100 hours certainly creates compromises in what you are able to accomplish, but until the school's focus changes that's the reality of the situation.

So how do I make it work off $15k/year? I have another job with a race production company that pays more than coaching for a similar time commitment, which brings me up above your $35k threshhold. That job has an opposite annual schedule as coaching so it fits together well. House is paid off (see the first paragraph above about having your financial matters in order). 401k is on track. Camps, clinics, and I do some coaching on the side of post-college runners which helps keep the cash flow rolling when school isn't paying me. I also do an occasional subcontract job in my former profession and can pull in a couple thousand for a week's work when those opportunities arise. And beyond that I just hustle, I'm not afraid to work hard. Have a friend who's a contractor, if he calls me for a week or two of roofing or framing work and I'm not otherwise engaged I won't ever turn down the work. Have another friend who's a caterer, if he calls with an opportunity to do food prep for one of his jobs I'm in.

Not married, no kids, awesome girlfriend who happens to be low-maintenance and baggage free. Very modest house convenient to both my main jobs. These are lifestyle choices that I didn't make with some master plan to coach for low $'s in mind, but that don't hurt now. I don't feel I'm missing out on anything in life.

I make 33,000 + benefits a year coaching full-time men/women xc/indoor/outdoor. With my wife income we around 50k. We have two kids (one in private school) and own a home.

How do we make it work?

We simply spend less than we make. We don't live in an expensive area, we rarely eat out, and we budget Dave Ramsey style. In fact, we will debt free except the house by mid-year.

I'm not going to say that I wouldn't love to make a little more, but I'm not willing to sacrifice time with my family to get a second job just to buy more stuff.

You can make it on less than you think, it just depends on what your goals/priorities are.

Small College Coach wrote:

We simply spend less than we make.

Wow!! Now if only the US and state governments would use that strategy!!