There have been a lot of criticisms from fans and others over the way Kirk Ferentz runs his program but skimping on the strength and conditioning program has never been one of them.
Case in point? Iowa’s longtime consigliere Chris Doyle will retain his title as the highest paid strength and conditioning coach in the country with a recent salary bump to a whopping $800,000 in base pay according to the Des Moines Register.
To put that in context, defensive coordinator Phil Parker will make the exact same figure after a raise of his own. The pair will be entering their 21st season with the program as they continue to serve under the current dean of college football coaches in Ferentz.
Per USA Today, five other strength and conditioning coaches were over the half-million dollar mark in terms of salary -- with Ohio State’s Mickey Marotti coming closest to Doyle’s mark with a reported $735,000 base. The latter has long set the standard at the position and will apparently keep doing so as the Hawkeyes hand out staff raises on an annual basis.
And for those wondering, Doyle’s figure is also more than what nearly 30 FBS head coaches made in 2018 per the USA Today database and roughly double what somebody like UL-Monroe’s Matt Viator made.
Like we said, there’s no skimping in Iowa City in this respect.