• Hi Guest,

    We've updated the site to combine all the forums that were part of the Big Sky Fans Network into one location. This will make it easier to navigate and participate in all the discussions for each school without having to have multiple accounts, etc. We are still working out some tweaks but please let us know if you notice anything.

    With the migration, in some circumstances, your username could have been merged with one of your other usernames from the other forums. If this is the case, you can request to change your username in your account details page of your profile.
  • Hi Guest, want to participate in the discussions, keep track of read/unread posts and more? Create your free account and increase the benefits of your eGriz.com experience today!
  • Guest, do want an ad free experience on BigSkyFans.com among other benefits? Upgrade your account today!

    Simply click your profile name > account upgrades > BigSky Club > choose between the year long subscription (two free months) or month to month

    Thanks for the continued support. Cheers!

Biased Journalism by Jay Heater

Few questions--does anyone know? If you can't post PM me.

Do assistant coaches contracts need to go to the State Board for approval?

Would amendments need to do the same?

If Zamberlin made an unethical arrangement, could it void or have any implications on his buyout?

Here is the contract:

http://www.boardofed.idaho.gov/meetings/board/current_year/2_17_10/bahr_hr.pdf
 
First let's talk about the football camp money. That is not John's money to promise to anyone. The assistant's run the camps and the money made is split between them. I believe Century Highs coach was involved a year ago and maybe last year as well. How it is split I don't know, but none of it was John's. So if Clark worked the camps he would have been compensated. No guarantee of the amount because it is dependent on camp attendance and overhead. As for the QB club; I'm not sure, but is'nt that a Zamberlin creation where a booster can donate just to football rather than into the general fund. Again, Booster money is not John's to hand out so any promise from that source would be dependent upon the Booster club being willing to hand that money over. Makes me wonder if they knew they were handing out money for pay to an assistant. As to Clark being experienced or good enough for the money he supposedly was to be paid. Does 42 sacks mean anything, we got that good paying 1100.00 a month to a limited earnings coach. Clark you signed a contract for 23,000. The only thing we have saying you were promised more is yours and John's word. You don't have a contract or anything in writing that says any of what you say is true. I'm having trouble believing the University is willing to have their name dumped in the mud just to avoid paying you 5800 dollars.
 
Not sure if this would relate to this whole mess or not, but it's from Zamberlins' contract... It has to do with the football camp (isn't that where Clark claims the money was going to come from?). It's on the bottom of page 6 and the top of page 7... Maybe the administration told Zamberlin something along the lines of "it's your money to direct however you want..." ???

b. Payment. In exchange for Coach’s participation in any Youth
Camp, the University additionally must:

i. pay Coach any net revenues resulting from that
camp, payable no later than thirty days after the camp
ends; or

ii. upon the Coach’s instruction, direct those net
revenues as an enhancement to the football program
budget at the University.

c. Interruption. Upon any suspension, reassignment or
Agreement termination, University:

i. is not under any obligation to permit Coach to hold a
Youth Camp after that termination, suspension, or
reassignment takes effect; and

ii. is released from all obligations relating to that camp.
 
Interesting! All I ever saw any head coach do at one of the camps is walk around and visit. It was my understanding the camps were to raise money to supplement the assistants salaries.
 
I have been told that all camp revenue after expenses is divided up among assistants. Zamberlin has the ability to allocate the profit any way that he chooses. The QB club is not used to pay coaching salaries either.
Zamberlin could have allocated profit from the camps to go to the football programs budget.

Coaches were paid $4,000 each for camps in the summer of 2009, but were paid $2,000 each this past summer.
 
I'm with Cub. If the administration had committed to pay Clark$30k, then there is no reason his contract would not reflect that. I suspect Z committed to Clark that he would pay him an additional $7k using camp funds and/or quarterback club funds and then failed to follow through.

That being said, the University should take the high road, pay Clark, and move on. I recall the newspaper saying Clark got $2k at some point, leaving a balance of $5k.
 
Short term it makes sense to pay Clark off. To you and me it seems like good business.

However, if they do this, they run the risk of having to honor all (legitimate or fabricated) verbal agreements—legitimate or not. Plus, they end up looking guilty by settling.

Call the bluff and make Clark file suit—the damage is already done. Make others think twice.
 
I think the damage has already been done to ISU's image. If the suit is legitimate then pay him there. Paying him now only makes it look worse. Make him prove ISU's negligence. I believe a "No negotiating with terrorists" type policy will prevent all verbal agreements from being used to slam ISU in the future.
 
I don't think Clark fits the terrorist bill. I think he got screwed by Z and is the one left hanging the bag. I don't know if ISU can publicly state that Z failed to keep his promise to pay Clark the remaining $5k, but I would guess there is a way to massage the PR message so its clear that the administration did not commit to pay the additional $7k but has agreed to pay the $5k (or maybe a compromise amount) as a business decision and recognizing the former coaching staff made a verbal commitment to do so.

It's not worth the cost to fight this one on principle. I would rather ISU save its money (and face) for another day.
 
I see what you are saying Fletch, sounds like a plan.

This whole conversation spurred me to take do some digging on coaching salaries. Here is an EXCEL spreadsheet for the SBOE regarding the compensation of coaches at the school in Idaho. Open in EXCEL and take a peak--hit YES when the file opens. Notice this is 2009 FINAL and 2010 ESTIMATE.

What this illustrates to me is that that the coaching positions, FTE, source of funding and estimated salary must be reported. Also, notice the football camp and clinics payments.

Obviously, some salaries look very small, but you need to take into consideration the hire date and things of that nature. You can figure the true salary by calculating the difference on the FTE column and making it come up to 1.00.

Not that JAY HEATER would notice--but a couple of things stick out to me:

Look how much Idaho State spent on the defensive side of the ball. The defensive side of the ball in 2010 had the paying equivalent of two defensive coordinators, same thing in 2010. Does anyone wonder why the offensive side of the ball struggled so much?

How did Zamberlin ever come to the conclusion that he would have the money available to pay Clark as he promised?

Anyhow--check it out:

http://www.boardofed.idaho.gov/finance_admin/fin.../athletic_comp_fy10.xls


If you are having trouble with the above link, copy and paste the link below in your browser and then scroll down to Athletic Compensation Report and click on the link there.


http://www.google.com/search?q=marcel+yates+salary&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a
 
That is a very interesting document, very illuminating.

In a sentence, ISU appears understaffed and underpaid. There are soooo many things to comment on but I will post just one: all of the BSU assitants make more than Zamberlin. This is totally absurd! It makes you question the cost structure of FCS football and the legitimacy of FBS-FCS matchups.
 
biobengal said:
That is a very interesting document, very illuminating.

In a sentence, ISU appears understaffed and underpaid. There are soooo many things to comment on but I will post just one: all of the BSU assitants make more than Zamberlin. This is totally absurd! It makes you question the cost structure of FCS football and the legitimacy of FBS-FCS matchups.
Click to expand...

I have been told that ISU actually pays pretty good considering some of the schools in the BSC.

Something it tells me if a position coach is on staff and in the same position for more than 2-3 years, they probably aren't that good of a coach. Outside of coordinators that can be pretty loyal to a HC at this level, the staff should be losing 2-3 position coaches every few years. You just can't make any money being a position coach.

Lewis kicked ass because of the assistant he hired. He failed because he was too loyal to the ones that weren't very good and he could not replace the good coaches that he lost fast enough. That will be a key with Kramer in my opinion--how well can he manage a revolving door, a revolving door that we as fans should hope to see.
 
I would like to know the salaries of the other schools in the BSC that pay less than ISU. Would you work 7 days a week, 15-20 hours a day from Aug 1-Thanksgiving, then go recruiting in Dec-Jan for 22,000 a year? In the off-season its a "regular job" -9-5- Feb-July.
 
GemStateFootball said:
I would like to know the salaries of the other schools in the BSC that pay less than ISU. Would you work 7 days a week, 15-20 hours a day from Aug 1-Thanksgiving, then go recruiting in Dec-Jan for 22,000 a year? In the off-season its a "regular job" -9-5- Feb-July.
Click to expand...

If I were a young coach trying to move up in the college coaching ranks, I suppose that I would. I don't think anyone is under the illusion that the pay at this level is great. The hours are bad, the pressure is there and it would be nice if all the coaches, Zamberlin and his staff made more.

With that said, ISU has an operating budget in the top 1/3 of the Big Sky Conference and the coaching pay is competitive with most teams in the BSC. Eastern Washington, NAU, Norther Colorado, Weber State and Sac State. Montana pays quite a bit more than ISU--but that should be expected. I've done the research on this in the past and while ISU is not the best--it certainly isn't the worst.

Quick glance:

Current Salaries at Northern Colorado
Scott Downing, $95,000
0ffensive coordinator Greg Peterson (first season), $53,000
Defensive coordinator Cody Deti (fifth season), $52,300
Running backs coach Keith Grable (10th season), $35,322
Secondary coach Kendrick Shaver (fourth season), $33,000
0ffensive line coach Brad Bedell (first season), $33,000
Defensive line coach Sean Dunaway (fifth season), $20,243
Wide receivers coach Jordan Fenner (fourth season), $20,243
Linebackers coach Kyle Krantz (second season), $14,400
Tight ends coach David Walker (third season), $14,400
0ffensive quality control Zak Bigelow (first season), $7,200
 
Some more from Weber State:

Kamaal Saleem Ahmad RB's
Assistant Football Coach - Athletics Athletics Admin - $21,824

Jason Beck QB's
Assistant Football Coach - Athletics Athletics Admin - $36,866

Jacob L Cookus Co DC/ST
Assistant Football Coach Athletics Admin - $42,021

Don M Eck OL/OC (probably not full year)
Assistant Football Coach/athletics Athletics Admin - $12,852

Mathew Blake Hammer Assist HC/OC/WR
Assistant Head Football Coach - Athletics Athletics Admin - $41,299

Ronald D Mcbride
Head Football Coach Athletics Admin - $133,983

Tom Stackaruk Assist HC/TE/Video
Assistant Football Coach Athletics Admin - $42,951
 
Sacramento State:

OL Coach Klayton Adams

Klayton T Adams
SPECIAL CONSULTANT
$2,750.00
COACHING ASSISTANT - 12 MONTH
$16,964.82

Total Compensation: $19,714.82


I am working on more...
 
How about new Big Sky Conference mate Southern Utah?

Stephen D Clark O-Coord
Assistant Football Coach Athletics - $36,775

Justin P Ena D-Coord
Assistant Football Coach Athletics - $35,758

Ryan R Hunt DL
Assistant Football Coach Athletics - $31,150

Claude E Lamb HC
Head Football Coach Athletics - $94,832

Walter Paul Peterson QB Coach
Assistant Football Coach Athletics - $33,958

Demario O Warren DB's
Assistant Football Coach Athletics - $26,916
 
I feel that this is a pretty good indication that the ISU coaching staff has a pretty fair compensation package when compared with most schools in the BSC. Some pay a bit more, some pay a bit less.

I believe Montana pays quite a bit more, but considering the history, that is to be expected. I have heard that Montana State is a bit above Idaho State, but I expect that too. Also, Portland State pays a tad more--but the cost of living is quite a bit higher--same thing for Sac State.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Back
Top