What is the average salary for high school head coaches?

The local high school won it's first state 4A championship in YEARS. Another school in state offered our head coach their job at a salary that would allow the coaches wife to stay at home. He accepted. Now it's been announced he would stay here. I am assuming the local school ponied up and came close to matching the Orangeburg Prep offer. This got me thinking, what do high school head coaches make. I am sure the bigger the school the bigger the money and a little success raises it even more

 

Easy answer: wherever the teacher (coach) falls in the state salary schedule. You can look it up on the state DPI website.

Complicated answer: depends on how much suppliment the local system offers, which is totally dependent on the local tax base. An assistant in Buncombe (or Mecklenburg, Guilford, etc...)county would take a pay cut to become a head coach in McDowell, Mitchell, etc... because the local head coaching suppliments offered in small counties are simply not as much as the suppliments offered to assistants in Buncombe, Guilford, etc... county because the tax bases of bigger counties are significantly larger, thus the more the suppliment. Sometimes, when it comes to coaching, larger counties have some negotiation room with coaching suppliments, which means that your local system upped or matched the offer that the other system offered.

Another variable is booster clubs. They tend to throw $$ around in these situations as well in order to give higher suppliments and keep their coaches, that is if there is an active booster club at the school that is willing to do that.

Also, some systems offer head coaches fewer teaching assignments, say 2 planning periods and 2 classes, if you are on the block schedule. I don't agree with that, simply because, and I will make some enemies here, you should hire a teacher first and coach second. There are several that will disagree with that, but that is how I feel about it, and with good reason (which will remain with me). The more you get into hiring a coach instead of a teacher, you risk alienating a lot of the faculty who think, and rightfully so, that the job of a school is to educate, not to play sports.

My .02. Actually, they are my facts.

 

I think that playing sports does educate. You will learn as much that will help you in life by playing sports as you will in English Class.

 

I was told by someone, when i worked in Gaffney, SC, that there head football coach made more money than the principal.

 

He did a better job............................just kiddin'

 

PP- NC & SC coaches have a complete set of rules governing coaches pay.

Plus, depending on the sport affects the stipends, too. Charlotte has lost a lot of good football coaches to SC because of the monies offered to them.

But there has been a twist recently. Some SC coaches have taken their retirement and moved to Charlotte to coach for 5 years. After their 5 years they receive double retirement

 

And vice versa with NC folks to SC/Tennessee/Georgia. However, a change in the law says you have to work longer than 5 years now to get retirement in NC. I think (not positive here) it is 10 years now.

And SC fan, I agree with your comment. You can teach through sports.

 

A good high school coach can't be compensated enough for the difference he makes in a young mans life. The character building aspects of the challenge playing high school football last a life time. A good coach gets boys to believe in a cause larger then themselves and see by example what hard work, accountability, and believing in your fellow man can do.

It takes alot to voluntarily take the field on a friday night when you look across it and see an Independence, Watagua, ACR, West Charlotte, Hoggard etc... good coaches shape those boys into young men that want the opportunity to face the uphill challange. Life is full of uphill challanges.

The hours these coaches put in is incredible. Coaching would have to be the lowest paying job around if you averaged it out hourly. Most good coaches are there for reasons that go far beyond monetary compensation.

I would think this could be said for most any high school sport, football is just the one I have personal knowledge of.

 

Agree with your comments.

However, a good teacher puts in just as many hours for significantly less supplimental compensation than coaches get.

 

well said bigal