Salary of a Collegiate DI XC Coach?

It doesn't really matter so much. What matters is if you can actually get a job. There aren't many available and the ones that are will be a competition amongst many highly qualified people. Its not easy to land these jobs b/c the competition is so deep. Good luck if you do get one. The pay won't be great, just hope if you get one it will be in a cheap area to live. If you pull in over 20k consider yourself to be extremely lucky.

I really don't disagree with anything you've said, although I don't know about the $20k thinng - seems too low. My question is if the pay is so low, why is there so much competition? Is it really such a good job?

If you wanna move up in the coaching world to a position with more money and more prestige doing something you love, you've got to start somewhere. Believe me, there are a lot of coaching positions that pay even less than $20k. Sounds pretty good for a starting out D1 full-time assistant, though (unless it includes track too, then it might be right). Usually they'll call it a stipend rather than a salary to avoid being subject to minimum wage laws. I figured it out once and you don't wanna know what it comes out to hourly.

DI Assistant Coach (Part-time)

$8,000 for XC, Indoor Track, Outdoor Track (Yes, that's TOTAL, not $8k for each season)

Definitely not in it for the $$$$.....

Competition b/c a lot of distance runners have a dream of being a coach, but there are only so many coaching jobs that open each year. So, everybody applies for those few.

Clarification on the pay thing. I was talking about being assistant for xc and track. If you are just assistant for xc you can expect much less, probably 8-10k a year. Don't be so surprised by the low pay, its very common at the small D-I schools. Believe me when I say that if you make 20k or more you will be the envy of many assistant coaches.

ASSISTANT coaches don't make crap. That's because they are ASSISTANTS. Think of it like a substitute teacher or teacher's aid position. You're not the big man in charge so you get crapped on. A HEAD COACH on the other hand should make "decent" money to start out with at an average D1 school (decent meaning probably 30-40k in "midwest dollars").

Coaching wrote:

ASSISTANT coaches don't make crap. That's because they are ASSISTANTS. Think of it like a substitute teacher or teacher's aid position. You're not the big man in charge so you get crapped on. A HEAD COACH on the other hand should make "decent" money to start out with at an average D1 school (decent meaning probably 30-40k in "midwest dollars").

Yes, that seems to be a pretty fair assessment.

What can you expect as far as raises go? Is it normal to start off low, and as your team succeeds the pay increases? Or does your pay increase based on the years you have been coaching? I am specifically reffering to the assistant coaching position.

Pay will stay the same. Don't expect to see any raises. Of course this could differ by athletic department but usually there is a standard that the assistant coaches are paid for various sports and they don't change much.

The coach at my school makes $100,000 total for cross and track combined.

Oregon is paying Martin Smith $500,000 to do nothing but read letsrun.com.

salary wrote:

The coach at my school makes $100,000 total for cross and track combined.

Unless you are one of the top programs in the country, I'm calling BS on this.

The head coach of my track team was reportedly making >$100k per year and that was over ten years ago.

Of course there are coaches who make that much money, but the original poster specifically asked about small DI programs. Top schools in the big conferences pay well but you won't find it at the small DI schools, unless its some rare exception.

A) You're not going to get a job.

B) Extremely low pay, many hours of grunt work, and no credit for what you've done is standard. You do little coaching, much meet organizing, recruiting and such.

C) If you do somehow land a job, you will have to get another job to survive.

Small D1 school that really sucked. The Head XC and Track coach was making in the mid 90K range.

No Offense wrote:

Small D1 school that really sucked. The Head XC and Track coach was making in the mid 90K range.

this board is as anonymous as it gets - throw us a bone and tell us which school pays/paid a salary this generous for a track/xc head coach. (and include the coaching duties for said coach, i.e. men's xc, men's mid-distance/distance indoor and outdoor or men's and women's cross country and director of track and field, etc.)

Now if I did that I would have to kill you.

Men's and Women's Head XC

Men's and Women's Head Track

Many years

For any public institution, you should be able to find out the salary as it is public knowledge. I went to a state univeristy for grad school, and their was a book in the library that listed the names and salaries for all university faculty and staff.