The culture around LSU revolves around athletics, and by the amount of money used in bringing in top coaches from around the nation, it shows.
LSU pays its coaches handsomely, with football coach Les Miles bringing in $3.2 million more than men’s basketball coach Johnny Jones, who makes $1.1 million.
Miles was paid $430,000 per win last year and sported the highest winning percentage of any coach at LSU last year.
Coaches such as Jones and women’s tennis coach Julia Sell have added value to the program in other ways than wins, as both Jones and Sell have brought in top 15-ranked recruiting classes for next season.
Women’s basketball coach Nikki Caldwell has the highest base salary of head coaches from the University at $310,000. Miles, Jones and baseball coach Paul Mainieri’s salaries are boosted by contribution through the Tiger Athletic Foundation and TV deals. Miles only makes $300,000 in base salary.
Swimming and diving coaches James Shaffer and David Geyer have the lowest base salary from the university at $84,000 and $80,000, respectively. Geyer and Shaffer had the second highest winning percentage at LSU, behind Miles.
Of the listed salaries in The Daily Reveille’s database, only one of the assistant football coaches — tight end coach Steve Ensminger — makes less than $300,000.
While five coaches sport winning percentages higher than 70 percent, softball coach Chuck Winstead was the most cost effective, making $1,273 per win in the 2012-13 season.
Of the sports with head-to-head comparisons — baseball and softball, men’s and women’s tennis, men’s and women’s golf and men’s and women’s basketball — there is a tie in terms of cost effectiveness in wins.
Caldwell won the battle of the basketball coaches, as she required just over $26,000 less per win than Jones. Men’s tennis coach Jeff Brown beat out Sell by a little under $6,000, but Sell made up for the win disparity by bringing in the highest recruiting class in the history of LSU women’s tennis.
The biggest disparity was between baseball and softball. Torina made only $2,380 per win, while Mainieri made $15,965. The Tiger baseball team had the highest average attendance of any school in the NCAA, and is one of the only baseball programs in the nation which annually turns a profit.
