Cincy on the Prowl
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Cincinnati Football: UC Ranks Middle Of The AAC In Assistant Coaches Salaries

By Chris Bains

Nov 14, 2015; Cincinnati, OH, USA; Cincinnati Bearcats head coach Tommy Tuberville reacts from the sidelines in the first half against the Tulsa Golden Hurricane at Nippert Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Aaron Doster-USA TODAY Sports
Nov 14, 2015; Cincinnati, OH, USA; Cincinnati Bearcats head coach Tommy Tuberville reacts from the sidelines in the first half against the Tulsa Golden Hurricane at Nippert Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Aaron Doster-USA TODAY Sports /
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The Cincinnati Bearcats rank fourth out of seven AAC teams who released their records for assistant coaches salaries with a pool of $1.95 million. Tulsa, Temple, Tulane, Navy, and SMU didn’t make their numbers known but the fact that UC isn’t at the top of the conference is concerning.

  1. UCF: $2.7 million
  2. Memphis: $2.114 million
  3. Houston: $2.113 million
  4. Cincinnati: $1.95 million
  5. UConn: $1.943 million
  6. USF: $1.74 million
  7. ECU: $1.7 million

First of all, Central Florida’s pool is inflated by the hilarious $1 million contract they signed with offensive coordinator Brent Key. He was given “Coach In Waiting” status, to succeed George O’Leary after the 2015 season. But when the Knights floundered their way to a 0-12 season, UCF’s administration took a 180, hiring Oregon’s offensive coordinator Scott Frost and paying Key an additional $700,000 to never coach another game.

In the long history of terrible contracts, that has to be in the top 10.

But even if Central Florida had a lick of sense, you’d have to expect the Knights would be willing and obviously able to pay Key in the $300-$400,000 range. That would bring their pool to around $2 million, still higher than UC’s.

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There’s no reason Cincinnati should be second or third in assistant salaries let alone the middle. When the Bearcats parade themselves as the class of the conference and don’t spend like it, that’s a problem. You can see why teams like Memphis and Houston passed UC up when they’re paying for better assistants.

Sure, you can argue that given the performance on defense and special teams this past season, Steve Clinkscale doesn’t warrant a $250,000 payday nor Ty Lindner $115,000. But when his available pool is middle of the road in the conference, what’s Tommy Tuberville to do? His allotment of cash is only so much, certainly less than his biggest competition in the AAC, so he struggles to seek out and pay a higher quality candidate or retain him.

This is also likely why Tuberville is so adamant about a contract extension. It’s not necessarily to get more cash for himself but for his assistants. Dropping the $640,000 out of the budget by way of Eddie Gran and Darin Hinshaw leaving frees up some space but UC administration needs to give him a few hundreds thousand more dollars to work with and hire better assistants.

It’s all about keeping up with the Joneses and while Cincinnati can boast about how much they’re able to pay Tuberville himself and the revenue being generated by Nippert Stadium, it’s all for naught if the Bearcats can’t match up when it comes to quality coordinators and position coaches.