The LSU Board of Supervisors voted to approve changes in the contracts of several coaches and an adjustment in football season-ticket prices Friday.
On the football staff, defensive coordinator John Chavis will receive a $225,000 raise to $700,000 a year, an increase of 47.4 percent, and new hires running backs coach and recruiting coordinator Frank Wilson and wide receivers coach and passing game coordinator Billy Gonzales will make $325,000 and $285,000 a year, respectively.
On the baseball staff, head coach Paul Mainieri will receive a raise of $100,000 to $625,000, an increase of 19 percent. Associate head coach David Grewe will receive a $10,000 raise to $150,000 annually and assistant coach Javi Sanchez will now make $90,000, an increase of $15,000 from his original contract.
Women’s basketball coach Van Chancellor will also receive a three-year contract extension through June 2015. Joe Alleva, vice chancellor and director of athletics, said these salary increases are necessary even in the challenging economic times, to maintain first-rate coaches.
‘I hate the way the trend is going. But we win when we have the best people, and that means we have to pay competitive salaries,’ Alleva said. ‘Coach Mainieri is in the top echelon of baseball coaches – the top five. With coach Chavis, it keeps going up. One of our sister schools in the [Southeastern Conference] just offered a defensive coordinator $900,000. And he’s not one of the highest by any means.’
In the week before LSU played Penn State in the Capital One Bowl, Chavis was offered a job at Georgia he turned down. Alleva said that offer was a spark in proposing a raise.
‘It’s a competitive business out there, so that was the impetus for it,’ Alleva said. ‘There’s no doubt. Our salaries are very competitive.’
Coaches’ raises require the approval of the coach, Alleva and Chancellor Michael Martin, Alleva said. He said another factor in the decisions was the concept of ‘replacement cost.’
‘If we didn’t extend the contract of John Chavis and he left ‘hellip; we would have paid almost the same amount to get a high-quality person anyway,’ Alleva said. ‘The same thing is true with Paul Mainieri. I’m not saying Paul was thinking about leaving, but what is the replacement cost for him?’
Martin said he fully supports the Athletic Department’s decision on the contract amendments.
‘I fully endorse, even in these very difficult times and facing the challenges we have across the institution, the changes lent by Joe and his staff,’ Martin said. ‘We want to ensure we remain one of the handful of institutions that does not require that we tax academic programs and tax students to ensure we’re competitive.’
The Board also elected to approve some changes in prices for football season ticket holders. Alleva said student ticket prices will not be affected. The price for games against non-BCS-conference opponents will decrease from $45 to $40, and
Alleva announced the policy of a SEC ‘premium game’ during the regular season. In 2010, that game will be LSU’s home game against Alabama on Nov. 6, and the price for season- ticket holders will be $70.
‘The overall change in price for season-ticket holders will be $10,’ Alleva said. ‘And the policy of a ‘premium game’ would be consistent with nearly every school in the country.’ ‘
Contact Rachel Whittaker at [email protected]