sjordan6
Member
- Messages
- 708
- Reaction score
- 0
Winning has a price tag
By NICK HUT - nhut@nwherald.com
It was not that long ago when some critics would refer to the Bears as “a mom-and-pop” organization.
That was a nice way of calling them cheap and overmatched.
Then the Bears restructured the front office, hiring Jerry Angelo as their first all-powerful general manager in nearly two decades.
Then, thanks largely to an influx of cash from the refurbished Soldier Field, they began spending competitively on free agents. Left tackle John Tait, defensive end Adewale Ogunleye and wide receiver Muhsin Muhammad each got a contract that maxes out at more than $30 million.
Nobody will confuse the Bears with the Washington Commanders and free-spending owner Daniel Snyder, although that might not be a bad thing. But the days of viewing the McCaskey family as miserly or tightfisted are in the past.
Or are they?
In one key area of the organization – the coaching staff – the Bears still appear to lag behind other teams in their willingness to spend money.
Lovie Smith, the reigning Coach of the Year, is the NFL’s lowest-paid coach. His staff also ranks at the very bottom of the league’s payscale.
That issue will loom large during the coming off-season, when the Bears must reconsider their philosophy of paying coaches or risk significant staff turnover.
“It’s something we’re aware of,” Angelo said. “It’s something we’ll revisit at the appropriate time.”
Smith’s annual salary is $1.385 million – or more than $1 million less than what the Commanders pay each of their top two assistants, offensive coordinator Al Saunders and defensive coordinator Gregg Williams.
The Commanders are an extreme example, to be sure, but their three leading coaches – Joe Gibbs, Saunders and Williams – earn a combined $9.6 million.
Other items of note with respect to Bears coaching salaries:
– The 19-man coaching staff earns less than $5 million a season combined. Five head coaches earn that much themselves, led by Seattle’s Mike Holmgren, who also is the executive vice president of football operations, at $7.6 million. That figure is 5 1/2 times Smith’s salary.
– Brad Childress and Rod Marinelli, the first-year coaches in Minnesota and Detroit, each make $600,000 more than Smith.
“It’s interesting when you consider that the coach of the year is the lowest-paid coach,” Mike Ditka said. “Especially when they’re doing so well again this year. You see all these rookie coaches getting hired for the first time, and they’re making bigger money [than Smith].
“To his credit, he has a contract and that’s all he cares about. He’s certainly making a lot more money than I did [as Bears coach].”
President Ted Phillips and Angelo have indicated, without stating flatly, that winning the franchise’s first playoff game since January 1995 is paramount. The implication is that if Smith does that this season, he will be compensated generously.
Phillips has been emphatic in stating that the Bears’ desire to wait on contract negotiations with Smith does not stem from financial motives.
“I feel good,” he told reporters during the off-season. “I want to feel better.”
Smith, predictably to those who know him, has not raised the slightest fuss about his situation. His agent, Frank Bauer, while expressing surprise at the Bears’ lack of interest in doing a deal last winter, is not up in arms about the team’s stance.
“It surprised me,” he said. “I would have thought they’d have been anxious to do something. But we also thought it would pay off in that if the Bears had the year we expected them to have and the kind of year they’re having, it would drive [Smith’s price] up that much more.”
Just as the Bears accepted the need to become major players in the free-agent market during the last few seasons, they also will have to start paying their coaches more or risk off-season turmoil.
Smith’s extension will be the first priority. Then there are defensive coordinator Ron Rivera and special teams coordinator Dave Toub, who become coaching free agents after this season.
Rivera will be a top head coaching candidate after nearly getting hired by the St. Louis Rams last winter, so it will be difficult to retain him regardless of salary considerations.
“I’ve said I’d be interested in eventually getting the chance [to be a head coach],” Rivera said. “That would be hard to turn down if the right situation presented itself, but I’m not thinking about that; we’ve got a lot to do this season.”
If Rivera leaves, he would have a chance to bring Toub and a number of other Bears assistants with him because several will be without contracts after this season. Running backs coach Tim Spencer and wide receivers coach Darryl Drake are two other examples.
Offensive coordinator Ron Turner, who has another year remaining on his contract, also could be considered for head coaching jobs if the Bears’ offense performs more like it did last Monday night at St. Louis than during most of November.
Taking all of that into account, the Bears might have to switch philosophies and pay above market value to keep the core of their staff together.
“There’s plenty to be said for continuity,” New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick said. “It’s harder to have that in your roster these days because of the salary cap, but you can have it to a degree with your staff.”
Some commentators have said that if the Bears do not spend somewhat lavishly to keep Smith and his assistants, it will reflect a belief that their talent base is good enough that any coaching staff could succeed with it.
Such thinking, whether legitimate or not, would be viewed as arrogant in some circles.
“That’s not the case at all,” Angelo said during the summer. “I want Lovie and his staff to be around for a long time. It’s clear they’ve done a great job.
“It’s my experience that these things just about always end up taking care of themselves.”
HIGH AND LOW
The Bears rank last of the 32nd teams in coaching staff salary, while the Washington Commanders rank first. Here is a comparison of the top three coaches on each staff.
Head coach 2006 salary
Lovie Smith $1.4 million
Joe Gibbs $5 million
Offensive coordinator 2006 salary
Ron Turner $825,000
Al Saunders $2 million
Defensive coordinator 2006 salary
Ron Rivera $775,000
Gregg Williams $2.6 million
By NICK HUT - nhut@nwherald.com
It was not that long ago when some critics would refer to the Bears as “a mom-and-pop” organization.
That was a nice way of calling them cheap and overmatched.
Then the Bears restructured the front office, hiring Jerry Angelo as their first all-powerful general manager in nearly two decades.
Then, thanks largely to an influx of cash from the refurbished Soldier Field, they began spending competitively on free agents. Left tackle John Tait, defensive end Adewale Ogunleye and wide receiver Muhsin Muhammad each got a contract that maxes out at more than $30 million.
Nobody will confuse the Bears with the Washington Commanders and free-spending owner Daniel Snyder, although that might not be a bad thing. But the days of viewing the McCaskey family as miserly or tightfisted are in the past.
Or are they?
In one key area of the organization – the coaching staff – the Bears still appear to lag behind other teams in their willingness to spend money.
Lovie Smith, the reigning Coach of the Year, is the NFL’s lowest-paid coach. His staff also ranks at the very bottom of the league’s payscale.
That issue will loom large during the coming off-season, when the Bears must reconsider their philosophy of paying coaches or risk significant staff turnover.
“It’s something we’re aware of,” Angelo said. “It’s something we’ll revisit at the appropriate time.”
Smith’s annual salary is $1.385 million – or more than $1 million less than what the Commanders pay each of their top two assistants, offensive coordinator Al Saunders and defensive coordinator Gregg Williams.
The Commanders are an extreme example, to be sure, but their three leading coaches – Joe Gibbs, Saunders and Williams – earn a combined $9.6 million.
Other items of note with respect to Bears coaching salaries:
– The 19-man coaching staff earns less than $5 million a season combined. Five head coaches earn that much themselves, led by Seattle’s Mike Holmgren, who also is the executive vice president of football operations, at $7.6 million. That figure is 5 1/2 times Smith’s salary.
– Brad Childress and Rod Marinelli, the first-year coaches in Minnesota and Detroit, each make $600,000 more than Smith.
“It’s interesting when you consider that the coach of the year is the lowest-paid coach,” Mike Ditka said. “Especially when they’re doing so well again this year. You see all these rookie coaches getting hired for the first time, and they’re making bigger money [than Smith].
“To his credit, he has a contract and that’s all he cares about. He’s certainly making a lot more money than I did [as Bears coach].”
President Ted Phillips and Angelo have indicated, without stating flatly, that winning the franchise’s first playoff game since January 1995 is paramount. The implication is that if Smith does that this season, he will be compensated generously.
Phillips has been emphatic in stating that the Bears’ desire to wait on contract negotiations with Smith does not stem from financial motives.
“I feel good,” he told reporters during the off-season. “I want to feel better.”
Smith, predictably to those who know him, has not raised the slightest fuss about his situation. His agent, Frank Bauer, while expressing surprise at the Bears’ lack of interest in doing a deal last winter, is not up in arms about the team’s stance.
“It surprised me,” he said. “I would have thought they’d have been anxious to do something. But we also thought it would pay off in that if the Bears had the year we expected them to have and the kind of year they’re having, it would drive [Smith’s price] up that much more.”
Just as the Bears accepted the need to become major players in the free-agent market during the last few seasons, they also will have to start paying their coaches more or risk off-season turmoil.
Smith’s extension will be the first priority. Then there are defensive coordinator Ron Rivera and special teams coordinator Dave Toub, who become coaching free agents after this season.
Rivera will be a top head coaching candidate after nearly getting hired by the St. Louis Rams last winter, so it will be difficult to retain him regardless of salary considerations.
“I’ve said I’d be interested in eventually getting the chance [to be a head coach],” Rivera said. “That would be hard to turn down if the right situation presented itself, but I’m not thinking about that; we’ve got a lot to do this season.”
If Rivera leaves, he would have a chance to bring Toub and a number of other Bears assistants with him because several will be without contracts after this season. Running backs coach Tim Spencer and wide receivers coach Darryl Drake are two other examples.
Offensive coordinator Ron Turner, who has another year remaining on his contract, also could be considered for head coaching jobs if the Bears’ offense performs more like it did last Monday night at St. Louis than during most of November.
Taking all of that into account, the Bears might have to switch philosophies and pay above market value to keep the core of their staff together.
“There’s plenty to be said for continuity,” New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick said. “It’s harder to have that in your roster these days because of the salary cap, but you can have it to a degree with your staff.”
Some commentators have said that if the Bears do not spend somewhat lavishly to keep Smith and his assistants, it will reflect a belief that their talent base is good enough that any coaching staff could succeed with it.
Such thinking, whether legitimate or not, would be viewed as arrogant in some circles.
“That’s not the case at all,” Angelo said during the summer. “I want Lovie and his staff to be around for a long time. It’s clear they’ve done a great job.
“It’s my experience that these things just about always end up taking care of themselves.”
HIGH AND LOW
The Bears rank last of the 32nd teams in coaching staff salary, while the Washington Commanders rank first. Here is a comparison of the top three coaches on each staff.
Head coach 2006 salary
Lovie Smith $1.4 million
Joe Gibbs $5 million
Offensive coordinator 2006 salary
Ron Turner $825,000
Al Saunders $2 million
Defensive coordinator 2006 salary
Ron Rivera $775,000
Gregg Williams $2.6 million
