Some ETSU coaches score low, others score big

Monday we told you just how much employees at East Tennessee State University make when it comes to their salaries and how they compare to their peers.

Of the 168 ETSU employees who make more than $100,000 a year, four work for ETSU Athletics, according to our review of data provided to us by the Tennessee Board of Regents. Those four people include Athletic Director Dave Mullins who makes $135,960 and three of his head coaches.

Like faculty and executives at ETSU, coaches negotiate their salaries. Men’s Basketball Coach Murry Bartow negotiated the highest salary. Bartow’s base pay is $164,800.

According to the athletic director, the long-time men’s basketball coach brings in roughly $1.2 million in revenue a year. He also has a winning record and several NCAA tournament appearances.

“We're not really overdoing it for our staff, we're just trying to remain competitive," Mullins said of the salaries in the athletic department. "We've been able to make improvements over the last few years so that we're about the average for our conferences in most salaries, probably between fourth and sixth in a lot our coaching salaries."

Women’s Basketball Coach Karen Kemp doesn’t bring in as much money to the school as men’s basketball, but Mullins says the women’s program, which is just above .500 under Kemp, does make money. Like Bartow, NCAA tournament appearances, a winning record, and a long career all put Kemp near the top of the pay list with a salary of $128,544.

Speaking of long careers, Hall of Fame Golf Coach Fred Warren has spent more than 25 years at ETSU. Golf doesn’t generate revenue and it is not a spectator sport, yet Warren still makes six figures. He takes home $103,399. 44 tournament wins, national exposure, financial support from the community for the program, and interest from other schools helps drive his salary, Mullins said.

“Coach had several opportunities several years ago and his contract and salary were increased because of those opportunities,” Mullins said. "Where coaches have had a lot of success particularly and they have offers from other programs, if we're going to keep outstanding coaches, then we've got to be competitive with their salaries, and we try to do that."

Mullins says salaries at the mid-major school are now better than what they used to be. According to the athletic director, when ETSU was in the Southern Conference the university was at the very bottom of the salary scale.

“We’ve moved up,” Mullins said. “We’re still not at the top of our league, but we’re in a very competitive conference as far as salaries go.”

Here is a list of the remaining ETSU head coaches and their salaries:

Tony Skole, Men's Baseball $77,250

Yaser Zaatini, Tennis $61,800

Scott Calabrese, Men's Soccer $61,800

Stefanie Shelton, Women's Golf $60,598

Lindsey Devine, Women's Volleyball $52,839

Adam Sayers, Women's Soccer $51,500

Brad Irwin, Women's Softball $47,380

Three assistant coaches with the basketball programs are among the highest paid coaches too. Men's Assistant Basketball Coach Scott Wagers makes $72,683, Women's Assistant Coach Deshawne Blocker makes $61,800, and Men's Assistant Coach Mike Boyd makes $60,323.

Mullins says several factors come into play when it comes to coaches’ salaries.

“A lot of it has to do with experience and the success of a program and then comparable salaries throughout our league, throughout peer conferences, and we look at national averages for mid-major institutions,” Mullins said. “In order to attract experienced staff, quality staff, we have to try to provide competitive salaries."