Saturday, Oct. 17, 2009

Huskies, Cougs face college football's top-paid coaches

By Eric Degerman, sportstricities.com

A few folks in the Tri-Cities might know this, but Herald Publisher Rufus M. Friday — our head coach — played tight end for North Carolina State.

He proudly wears his championship ring from the 1979 season when he and his teammates won the Atlantic Coast Conference title. The Wolfpack haven't won it since, and this marks the 30th anniversary of their achievement.

So it makes sense that he's probably the biggest college football fan in our building, and he travels to Raleigh at least once each fall to watch his alma mater. You'll bring a smile to his face if you greet him by saying, "Go Pack" and ask him about N.C. State QB Russell Wilson.

Earlier this week, Coach Friday sent me this link to the Orlando (Fla.) Sentinel's listing for the salaries of head coaches in college football.

At No. 1 is USC's Pete Carroll at $4.4 million per year. The runnerup is Notre Dame's Charlie Weis, just $200,000 behind.

It's ironic that Washington and Washington State will have matched wits with each of them this season. The Huskies' first-year coach, Steve Sarkisian (No. 26 at $1.85 million), nearly went 2-0 against them.

The Cougars and Paul Wulff (No. 85, $600,000) meet Weis and the Irish on Halloween in San Antonio. Last month, Wazzu fell on the road to USC by a respectable final of 27-6.

Right now, Idaho's Robb Akey — WSU's former defensive coordinator — looks like a heckuva bargain. He's tied for 111th with $250,000 and has the Vandals thinking of bowl eligibility in his second year on the job.