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Steve Alford's star power and coaching resume are reasons the University of New Mexico paid the former Indiana Hoosiers All-American handsomely to coach the men's basketball program in late March. Alford's contract, worth about $975,000 per year, is nearly double what former coach Ritchie McKay earned.

Photo by Craig FritzTribune

Tribune

Radio personality Henry Tafoya interviews UNM Steve Alford during a news conference to announce him as the men's basketball coach. "We hired a great coach and we paid market value for him," said Athletics Director Paul Krebs of Alford's deal at UNM, which pays him $975,000 per year.

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The University of New Mexico coaches can thank colleague Steve Alford, who can thank Billy Gillespie, who can thank Nick Saban, who can thank . . .

The college world of bloated coaching contracts starts from the top down, and as schools keep pouring millions into their top-shelf coaches, some say everyone who totes a whistle or carries a clipboard in college athletics will continue to reap the benefits.

The annual financial packages of Lobos coaches pale in comparison to Alford, the men's basketball coach who was hired on March 23.

Alford's contract is worth an estimated $975,000 per season. That's more than one-third of the $2.7 million budget currently designated for UNM head coaches.

Athletics Director Paul Krebs defends the size of Alford's contract, saying the salary is in line with what it takes to attract an experienced, high-profile, successful men's college basketball coach. Alford brings star power along with X's and O's. Alford, the former Indiana Hoosiers All-American and 1984 Olympian, made trips to the NCAA Tournament as the coach at Southwest Missouri State and Iowa before coming to UNM.

"We went out and got a great coach and paid market value for him," Krebs said.

Alford's base package at Iowa was worth about $925,000 per year. The contract also included incentives that could make his deal there worth $1.27 million per year, according to a March USA Today database of coaching salaries published in March.

At least 20 coaches from the 2006 NCAA Tournament earned more than $1 million per year, according to the USA Today study that linked tournament success to fatter paychecks for head coaches.

It's becoming a flourishing market throughout college athletics, coaches say - UNM coaches included.

"If somebody makes more money, it raises the market," UNM women's basketball coach Don Flanagan said. "I'm not jealous (of Alford's contract). I'm just thinking, `Hey, coaches are pretty valuable.' "

Consider Gillespie, the new Kentucky men's basketball coach who received a deal worth a reported $2.3 million per year. That's chump change compared to Alabama football coach Nick Saban, who agreed to an eight-year, $32 million deal to leave the Miami Dolphins three months ago.

The inflation of coaching salaries has seeped into women's basketball as well. Duke women's basketball coach Gail Goestenkors left the Blue Devils for a seven-year deal reportedly worth $1 million per season, not including incentives, at Texas to replace Jody Conradt. Then Baylor's Kim Mulkey in early April agreed to a 10-year deal worth more than $10 million, the Dallas Morning News reported.

Flanagan, who declined comment on any financial negotiations he might make with UNM in the future, said he made $45,000 when he started in 1995. He has since increased his income more than 600 percent at $302,624 per year.

That's what seven NCAA Tournament appearances will do for you, including an appearance in the Sweet 16.

Although Krebs acknowledges salary inflation occurs at a higher rate in the athletics business, that doesn't mean Steve Alford's hiring has morphed Krebs into an ATM with a neck tie.

Alford's hiring does not suggest across-the-board raises for all UNM coaches.

"I do not like nor am I under the belief that if you pay this coach that (amount), then I need this (amount)," Krebs said. "You make the argument based on what you deserve, not what others have received. I don't feel that (Alford's salary) in any way it creates an argument.

"You pay people based on market, based on experience and expertise."

Numerous UNM coaches say Krebs made the right move to hire a big-name coach in a basketball market fixated on the success of the program. Others, including football coach Rocky Long ($440,000 per year), chose not to discuss their salary or what somebody else makes because it's not under their control.

Long said he's been asked "enough" times from outsiders about the fact that Alford makes more than twice his salary.

Long declined comment on whether the inflation within men's basketball becomes a bargaining tool for him or other coaches.

"I have a personal feeling about coaches' salaries I don't tend to share," Long said.

Others at UNM and in the community aren't as supportive.

Gail Houston, director of the UNM Women's Center, said "there is a lot of angry faculty" upset about the size of Alford's contract.

Sen. Joe Carraro told The Tribune on March 24 that $975,000 for Alford is "absurd" and "ridiculous."

"The UNM Medical School can't afford to hire a neurosurgeon because most of them won't move for less than $500,000 a year, but we're going to pay a basketball coach almost twice that amount?" said Carraro, an Albuquerque Republican.

Men's soccer coach Jeremy Fishbein, who has lifted UNM to powerhouse status on the pitch, said one coach's salary doesn't affect the median income in other sports.

Fishbein, who makes about $101,000 per season, reached the NCAA championship game in 2005. Alford, who makes almost 10 times as much as Fishbein, has never been past the Sweet 16 as a coach.

That no college soccer coaches make $1 million per year makes it easy for coaches like Fishbein to accept this realization. A women's basketball coach can reach seven figures, which might explain Flanagan's meteoric rise in pay over the years.

"People who are upset about this don't know all the statistics," Fishbein said. "It's a big figure, but whoever hires him, he's hired to make money. You can't look at the expense, you have to look at the return. Would I like to make $900,000? Yeah. But it's apples and oranges. I'm really happy with my situation and I wish him (Alford) the best of luck."

Most coaches know what they're worth, said Krebs, who hasn't heard any complaints from anyone in his department about Alford's salary. Fair compensation helps athletics departments cultivate a sense of family, a place where everyone can succeed, Krebs said.

This is especially true when a coach first enters a program. The old adage is the best time to bargain is when you first accept a job, and Alford and two other first-year UNM coaches proved this.

New volleyball coach Jeff Nelson has an annual package of $120,000 per season, the fourth-highest among UNM head coaches. His predecessor, Kelley McKee, had a base salary of $75,265 in June 2004. That doesn't include a courtesy car worth about $5,000 per year, and UNM implements an annual raise of up to 5 percent if a coach merits the boost.

First-year softball coach Ty Singleton's package of $95,000 per year dwarfs former coach Kim Newbern's 2004 salary of $54,457.

Both coaches entered Albuquerque with impressive coaching credentials.

Nelson guided six NCAA Tournament teams during his coaching stints at Texas Tech and San Francisco. Singleton, who previously coached at Missouri, led the Tigers to four NCAA Tournament appearances.

On different scales, Krebs has made three different financial splashes for a coach he wants - a big name in their coaching circle who might demand more money than most. All this during his first year as AD.

"The most important thing you do is hire people," Krebs said. "When you have a chance to hire difference-makers, to me that's the heart of any enterprise."

Singleton praised Krebs' aggressive pursuit of Alford, saying "a million sounds like a real steal" in the basketball market.

Such a sentiment leads to baseball coach Rich Alday's expression of his status in the world of college athletics. Alday earns $73,702 per year, fourth lowest among UNM's head coaches and less than all of Alford's assistant coaches.

"I should have been a basketball coach," Alday said.