Do you know what the average Division I college football coach makes? According to USA Today, the average is $1.64 million per year. That is just the average. Nick Saban, head coach for the University of Alabama, makes $5.5 million a year.
Do you know the graduation rate for NCAA DI student athletes? According to the NCAA, student athletes who began college in 2006 had a graduation rate of 82 percent. This percentage was based off of athletes who graduated within six years. Doesn’t sound too shabby, right? Well, what about the other 18 percent?
I bring up both of these topics because I find it interesting that college coaches get paid millions of dollars to recruit some of the best athletes in the country and win games. They are not paid to graduate their players.
This becomes an ethical issue, in my eyes. Granted, I know a lot of people disagree, and that is completely understandable. But, here is what bothers me — coaches placing more effort on winning than concentrating on what really matters, getting their players a degree.
I am not saying these coaches don’t impact their players’ lives. Trust me, I have seen SportsCenter specials about coach and player relationships that brought tears to my eyes.
In the grand scheme of things, students go to college to earn a degree. I know a lot of student athletes would disagree with me and say they went to school to be able to continue playing sports, but let’s be real. We need to focus more on the school part and a little less on the sports part.
Don’t get me wrong, I love college sports. The 18 percent of players that did not graduate are probably wishing they had spent a little more time studying for a test than studying their playbook. Now, their playbook days are over, and they need to have a degree.
I hope the Nick Sabans of the college coaching world can see the bigger picture. I want to see more of an effort to get student athletes graduated instead of pushing for a national title. A national title will not get these kids a job, but a degree will.
