Jimbo Fisher’s 10-year, $75 million contract gets most of the press but Texas A&M isn’t saving money elsewhere by skimping on assistant salaries. In fact, the Aggies are certainly making sure that the school’s assistant salary pool is more than commensurate with their head coach’s hefty pay check.
Per USA Today’s Steve Berkowitz, contracts obtained through freedom of information requests have been returned and it appears as though A&M ponied up some significant raises to lure top talent to College Station in DC Mike Elko and strength coach Jerry Schmidt.
Fisher had targeted LSU defensive coordinator Dave Aranda when he was first hired at the school but the Tigers ponied up a four-year, $2.5 million contract to keep him in Baton Rouge. Fisher moved on to hire Elko away from Notre Dame after just one season with the Irish and it appears he had to pay a pretty penny to do so.
Schmidt was lured from Norman after over two decades with the Sooners thanks to that nice six-figure salary, which puts him in the same category as Alabama’s Scott Cochran ($585,000), Ohio State’s Mickey Marotti ($575,000) and Iowa’s Chris Doyle ($675,000).