The highest-paid coaching staff in the conference, Washington, is No. 16 nationally on the list compiled by USA Today in its annual look at assistants and coordinators.

*** The Pac-12 Hotline newsletter is published twice a week. (Sign up here for a free subscription.) This edition, from Dec. 16, has been made available in archived form.

Salaries: How the Pac-12 Compares

Allow us a brief respite from coverage of COVID cancellations, championship game matchups, recruiting classes and coaching searches to discuss another piece of the Pac-12 machinery: Money.

In that regard, Tuesday was one of the most informative days of the year.

USA Today published its annual look at salaries for coordinators, assistant coaches and strength coaches for all public universities in major college football.

We’re always curious about the resource investments within the conference and how those investments compare to the peer leagues in the Power Five.

Here’s the USAT database for the coordinators and assistants — the salaries for strength coaches are on a separate page — but allow the Hotline to highlight a few items:

• Washington has the highest-paid staff in the conference in 2020, with a total investment of $5.1 million, followed by Oregon at $4.8 million.

How does that compare? UW’s salary pool is merely No. 16 nationally, with the Ducks checking in at No. 20.

Again, this does not include private universities, whose coaching contracts are not subject to public records requests.

• Three of the four lowest-paid coaching staffs in the Power Five are in the Pac-12:

Oregon State, Colorado and, at the bottom, Arizona, which allocated $3.07 million this season.

When campus officials bemoan the Pac-12 Networks’ lagging revenue, it’s often with an eye toward their ability to offer competitive salaries for top assistants.

Remember when Mel Tucker bolted Colorado for Michigan State last winter?

Tucker’s salary pool for assistants in East Lansing this season is $5.7 million.

Colorado’s staff was paid $3.3 million.

• The top-paid assistant in the conference in 2020 is Washington defensive coordinator Pete Kwiatkowski, at $1 million.

After Kwiatkowski are two offensive coordinators: Utah’s Andy Ludwig and Oregon’s Joe Moorhead, each at $900,000.

As the top-paid assistant in the conference, Kwiatkowski’s compensation amount ranks 23rd nationally.

(Note: I am excluding pandemic-related reductions, which vary greatly by the school, but USA Today’s database lists those, as well.)

• Washington’s Tim Socha is the highest-paid strength coach in the Pac-12 — and No. 19 nationally — at $400,000 annually.

Only 10 strength coaches earn less than $300,000. Five of them are in the Pac-12.

• Here’s the list of Pac-12 staff salary pools (figures rounded). And as you examine, keep in mind that noted football powerhouse Louisville pays its staff $4.6 million:

Washington: $5.1 million
Oregon: $4.8 million
UCLA: $4.3 million
Utah: $4.3 million
ASU: $3.7 million
WSU: $3.6 million
Cal: $3.6 million
Oregon State: $3.4 million
Colorado: $3.3 million
Arizona: $3.1 million

USA Today also publishes annual salary figures for head coaches in football and men’s basketball, plus revenue/expense data for all public universities.

It’s a critical public service and the Hotline would encourage all college sports fans to support the endeavor. — Jon Wilner

Hot off the Hotline

A busy past five days. Let’s take things in chronological order …

• The weekend began in unflattering fashion for the conference, when ESPN’s Kirk Herbstreit — arguably the most influential media figure in college football — said the Pac-12 gets less respect than the American conference. We reported on those comments and others in a rare Saturday afternoon column.

• ‘Saturday Night Five‘ addressed a wild day in the Pac-12, with Utah’s upset, USC’s escape, Kevin Sumlin’s dismissal and plenty more.

• My latest AP top-25 football and basketball ballots.

• Our Week Six rewind highlighted the USC-UCLA thriller, Utah’s upset and the best and worst from the weekend.

• Opinion: The Pac-12 should not treat USC and Oregon as equals — one team won its division, the other did not. Play the title game but give the Trojans a pass into the New Year’s Six.

• What’s the model for coaching success at Arizona? We took a deep dive into their search and the relevant history of the program. Our top candidate for the Wildcats: San Jose State coach Brent Brennan.

• The Hotline examined the top recruiting storylines headed into the early signing period, with a focus on the Pac-12’s ability to keep the top west coast prospects from leaving the footprint.

• The top-two teams in the latest power ratings are based in Los Angeles. Yep, we’ve got UCLA (3-3) just behind the Trojans.

• The Friday edition of the newsletter examined the potential impact on Pac-12 media rights negotiations of ESPN’s recently announced all-in deal with the SEC. There might not be any premium broadcast windows available for the Pac-12 once 2024 arrives.

• Previous editions of the newsletter are available in archived form.

Support the Hotline: Several Hotline articles will remain free each month (as will the newsletter), but for access to all content, you’ll need to subscribe. I’ve secured a rate of $1 per week for a full year or just 99 cents for the first month, with the option to cancel anytime. Click here. And thanks for your loyalty.

Legal Affairs

• It doesn’t get more legal than this: The Supreme Court announced Wednesday that it will hear the NCAA’s appeal in the Alston case, which challenges the association’s longstanding economic model. Per USA Today’s Steve Berkowitz: “The justices’ decision to take the case adds a momentous element of uncertainty to an enterprise that has been shaken by state and Congressional legislative efforts concerning not only athletes’ ability to make money from their name, image and likeness, but also the fairness of their overall treatment by the schools for which they help generate billions of dollars annually. ‘I think it would be hard to overstate the potential significance of it for a number of reasons, primarily because it is so rare for the Supreme Court to hear any cases involving the sports industry, much less college sports,’ Gabe Feldman, director of the Tulane Sports Law Program and Tulane University’s associate provost for NCAA compliance, said in an interview last week. ‘And then, in this case, particularly to hear a challenge to the NCAA amateurism rules.’”

Huddle Up

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• USC’s playoff chances are less-than-zero after being ranked No. 13 by the committee on Tuesday evening. If you were perplexed by some of the decisions, so was Sports Illustrated columnist Pat Forde: “This is a joke. A bad joke. A bad joke that keeps getting worse the closer we get to Selection Sunday.” (We agree. The rankings released Tuesday were the worst in the history of the CFP.)

• That said, Bill Plaschke of the L.A. Times believes the Trojans were probably “doomed from the start, irreparably damaged by their recent history and their conference’s incompetency … With a lousy television deal leading to lousy recruiting leading to lousy football teams, the national perception of the conference has fallen to an all-time low. Its football depth is nonexistent, its bumbling commissioner Larry Scott is no longer taken seriously.”

• Meanwhile, Colorado fans should also be frustrated with conference leadership, according to the Denver Post’s Sean Keeler. “First, we’d do the fun part: Telling Larry Scott where he can shove his Merlot.”

• Seattle Times columnist Larry Stone takes a futuristic view of the current state of the conference. “Mr. Scott could always be counted on to make decisions that were in the worst interests of the Pac-12.”

• Oregonian columnist John Canzano calls the Pac-12 title game the “Money Grabber Bowl” and adds: “The right thing to do when it comes to crowning a champion is let the best two teams decide it on the field. The Pac-12 isn’t doing that here.”

• Oregon coach Mario Cristobal addressed the speculation that he’s at or near the top of Auburn’s wish list. “I can say that I haven’t been contacted, OK? I don’t know of my agent being contacted.” (There’s no denial in that non-denial denial.)

• However, the Oregon trustees are scheduled to meet Thursday to approve a new deal for Cristobal.

• Arizona athletic director Dave Heeke wants to hire someone who “cares deeply” about the program.

• “Our offensive line is completely gone.” That’s UW coach Jimmy Lake describing the decision to withdraw from the Pac-12 championship game which, it seems, really wasn’t much of a decision.

• Washington State would become bowl-eligible with a victory over Utah, but coach Nick Rolovich indicated the Cougars would take a hard pass.

• If any team should pass on a bowl bid this season, it’s Stanford, which has been on the road for weeks after getting booted by Santa Clara County. “I don’t see how we could do it,” coach David Shaw said.

• Chip Kelly was noncommittal when asked about UCLA’s interest in bowling.

• Utah’s players will decide whether the program participates in the postseason, if they beat Washington State.

• Anything less than 70 points this weekend will be a disappointment for Arizona State. Just kidding, but the Sun Devils do have momentum.

• USC safety Talanoa Hufanga is playing as well as anyone in the conference, on either side of scrimmage.

• Of note: Santa Clara County health officials have shortened the COVID-19 quarantine period to 10 days to align with recent CDC guidance. That’s an important initial step for Pac-12 sports. If other counties move to the 10-day period, the basketball season becomes more viable.

Recruiting Trail

The early signing period began this morning and is unfolding furiously as we prepare the newsletter for publication.

• At this point, Oregon has the top-rated class in the conference and the No. 6 class in the country, according to 247sports. Within the Pac-12, the Ducks are followed by (in order) USC, Cal and Utah.

• The Ducks are viewed more favorably — No. 3 nationally — in the Rivals rankings, which have USC on the edge of the top 10.

• 247 analyst Brandon Huffman breaks down the incoming group of quarterbacks, led by five-star prospect Sam Huard, who’s Washington-bound.

• The top commitment for each team, regardless of position or need.

• Defensive end Korey Foreman, the 37-star prospect from Corona, is one of a handful of recruits with program-changing potential. And in his case, that program is USC, writes Yahoo’s Dan Wetzel.

• But is Foreman leaning to USC? The Rivals analysts discuss.

• This is interesting: UCLA flipped four-star defensive end Quintin Sommerville from Michigan.

History: Made

• Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer collected her 1,099th career victory on Tuesday night to become the winningest coach in the history of women’s college basketball. She passed Tennessee legend Pat Summitt with a 104-61 beatdown of Pacific.

• After the game, the Cardinal players presented her with a ‘T Dawg’ jacket, and then her mom called.

• VanDerveer’s impact on the conference and the sport was captured by the Pac-12 in a video tribute featuring her fellow coaches.

• ESPN columnist Mechelle Voepel published a deep dive into VanDerveer’s career and success that included this comment from Warriors coach Steve Kerr: “She’s understated, but she’s clearly in charge. When you’re in the room with her, you feel like, ‘OK, she’s the boss.’ But she doesn’t need to yell and scream. It’s more just poise and knowledge, and players feel that.”

Looking Ahead

What’s coming on the Pac-12 Hotline:

• Coming Wednesday afternoon: The latest basketball power ratings, including an update on the cancellation pace and what options might be available to the conference.

• One group of Pac-12 administrations were at the epicenter of the testing and scheduling issues during this tumultuous season. Somebody, get the ADs a drink.

• Look for updates on conference matters later this week.

• Our picks of the week (against the spread) will be published Friday, with a breakdown of the championship game.

The next newsletter is scheduled for Friday. Enjoy it? Please forward this email to friends (sign up here). If you don’t, or have other feedback, let me know: pac12hotline@bayareanewsgroup.com.

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