How much is winning season worth to South Carolina? Rise of coaches' salaries tells tale
COLUMBIA – How much is winning worth to a school that competes in the football-crazed Southeastern Conference?
Perhaps a not-so-exact scientific measurement might be a breakdown of how the coaching staff's total salary balloons up.
Following the University of South Carolina Board of Trustees meeting Friday, when it approved contract extensions and pay raises for four on-field assistants and the contract of the 10th assistant coach, the Gamecocks' football staff will be worth $5,390,000 million in 2022.
That number soared more than $500,000 from last year.
Football coach Shane Beamer's initial staff was paid a total of $4.88 million. Both coordinators, Marcus Satterfield and Clayton White, signed the largest deals — $900,000 annually, which ranked middle of the road among SEC teams.
South Carolina defied national, and even most local, expectation of how things would unfold during Beamer's first season.
Beamer and his staff coached the Gamecocks to a 7-6 season, the program's first above .500 in three years. USC dominated North Carolina in the Duke's Mayo Bowl in December for its first bowl game victory since 2017.
South Carolina beat both Florida and Auburn down the stretch in 2021 to clinch a bowl bid.
White, one of the coaches who received a contract extension and raise Friday, now joins several other SEC defensive coordinators who pull in more than $1 million. White will make $1.1 million per season on his three-year deal.
Satterfield remains at $900,000 for the final year of his original two-year deal.
Offensive line coach Greg Adkins, who oversaw one of the more criticized positions on the football team in 2021, also stays at his $550,000 salary for this year.
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Torrian Gray, South Carolina's defensive backs coach, already had a built-in salary escalator onto this three-year contract and is slated to make $475,000 in 2022, up from $350,000 last year.
Wide receivers coach Justin Stepp, a coveted assistant on Beamer's staff, got a raise and an extension through 2023, making $475,000 in 2022 before increasing to $525,000 next year.
Pete Lembo (special teams coordinator) got a $15,000 pay increase to $465,000 this year, while defensive line coach Jimmy Lindsey and running backs coach Montario Hardesty also received one-year extensions and raises to $375,000 and $350,000, respectively.
New tight ends coach Jody Wright, a former New York Giants staffer, is set to haul in $350,000 in 2022, a $150,000 pay raise for that position. Former South Carolina tight ends coach Erik Kimrey's salary was $200,000.
USC is actually saving a little money at the outside linebackers and edge rushers position with new assistant Sterling Lucas. He's set to make $350,000 in his first season while former coach Mike Peterson, who had been in Columbia for six years, was making $420,000 before his departure to Florida.
Stringing together impressive wins on the field followed by plenty of positive publicity and vibes in the early offseason, led to staffers landing pay bumps and years added onto their deal, USC athletic director Ray Tanner told media members.
Winning expands athletic departments' pockets and at South Carolina, it's no different. With a more expensive staff, expectations will also rise.
The task will be to carry the momentum into 2022, when South Carolina will be paying the most its ever paid for its football staff.
Cory Diaz covers the South Carolina Gamecocks for The Greenville News as part of the USA Today Network. Follow his work for all things Gamecocks on Twitter: @CoryDiaz_TGN
This article originally appeared on Greenville News: How much is winning worth? South Carolina ups its staff's salary
