Coaching Stipends / Salary / Contracts

A

Austin.J.Powers

Active member
We all know that coaches don't coach for the money! At least not in the youth/high school levels. However, I feel like it is becoming a regular difficulty to find Coaches almost as it is with Bus Drivers in a lot of school districts.

What is the average Varsity Head Coach Stipend for baseball compared to say Football or Basketball for your district?

Are "we" paying enough for these coaches to positively impact and help raise our kids? ... Are we paying Bus Drivers enough to take on the responsibility of safely transporting our kids?!

A friend of mine shared that he signed his contract on Step 4 Assistant Varsity Baseball at around $2900. This is in a DVII district.
 
 
It all depends on where you are. One of my friends coached at a small school in the Miami/Shelby County area, and their head coach made less than your friend's assistant coach pay. Coaches in the MVL or GWOC are probably pushing $7,000-$8,000 depending on what step they are on.

In reference to your bus driving comment, there are some schools that have the coaches drive to their games. Some of those schools will pay the coach drive time, while other schools won't pay them to drive at all.
 
PrairieDog said:
It all depends on where you are. One of my friends coached at a small school in the Miami/Shelby County area, and their head coach made less than your friend's assistant coach pay. Coaches in the MVL or GWOC are probably pushing $7,000-$8,000 depending on what step they are on.

In reference to your bus driving comment, there are some schools that have the coaches drive to their games. Some of those schools will pay the coach drive time, while other schools won't pay them to drive at all.
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I would say that's in the ballpark for most places.
 
PrairieDog said:
It all depends on where you are. One of my friends coached at a small school in the Miami/Shelby County area, and their head coach made less than your friend's assistant coach pay. Coaches in the MVL or GWOC are probably pushing $7,000-$8,000 depending on what step they are on.

In reference to your bus driving comment, there are some schools that have the coaches drive to their games. Some of those schools will pay the coach drive time, while other schools won't pay them to drive at all.
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The drive time is incumbent on the union contract in most cases.
 
Thankless job for roughly $5,000 is why you do not find coaches anymore. And baseball has become one of the worst sports from a coaches vs. parents aspect. All too often parents can pay $3,000-$5,000+ for Lil' Johnny to play for some BS "ultra elite select travel" summer team so the parent believes he is really really special so when he does not start at SS for the HS the parents are up in arms. There might be a handful of schools in Ohio that pay $10,000 for a HC but that is few and far between.

I have a good friend who is a D1 coach at a successful program and the navigating parent egos is F-ing insane to the point I have no idea how he does it.
 
Head Baseball Coach in my district tops out at a tick over $5k (top tier). See attached district salary schedule.

In order of head coaches in my district by sport (top tier)

1 Football
2 Basketball (Boys and Girls)
4 Wrestling
5 Comp Cheer
6 Baseball / Softball
8 Volleyball (Boys and Girls) / Soccer (Boys and Girls) / Lacrosse (Boys and Girls) / Track (Boys and Girls)
17 Cross Country (Boys and Girls)
19 Golf (Boys and Girls) / Swimming (Boys and Girls) / Tennis (Boys and Girls)

Comp Cheer is actually BIG business down here in the South. Northern parents pay X amount on baseball. Southern parents will see your travel baseball and raise you year round comp cheer training. Although to be fair MOST of these cheer parents are transplants from Jersey and the NY tri-state area.

My district allows teachers and coaches to obtain their CDL Class B w/ passenger endorsement to drive buses. I have my CDL and use it to drive my team but also drive for other teams at my school (nice little side hustle at $20 / hour). Just drove out football team Friday night for their first round playoff game. Made a nice $190.00 for my efforts.
Austin.J.Powers said:
We all know that coaches don't coach for the money! At least not in the youth/high school levels. However, I feel like it is becoming a regular difficulty to find Coaches almost as it is with Bus Drivers in a lot of school districts.

What is the average Varsity Head Coach Stipend for baseball compared to say Football or Basketball for your district?

Are "we" paying enough for these coaches to positively impact and help raise our kids? ... Are we paying Bus Drivers enough to take on the responsibility of safely transporting our kids?!

A friend of mine shared that he signed his contract on Step 4 Assistant Varsity Baseball at around $2900. This is in a DVII district.
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Attachments

PrairieDog said:
It all depends on where you are. One of my friends coached at a small school in the Miami/Shelby County area, and their head coach made less than your friend's assistant coach pay. Coaches in the MVL or GWOC are probably pushing $7,000-$8,000 depending on what step they are on.

In reference to your bus driving comment, there are some schools that have the coaches drive to their games. Some of those schools will pay the coach drive time, while other schools won't pay them to drive at all.
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I always wondered if Ohio allowed coaches to drive. I ask only because of are there any Union issues involved with this since teachers / coaches are salary and bus drivers are hourly to my knowledge.
 
irish_buffalo said:
Thankless job for roughly $5,000 is why you do not find coaches anymore. And baseball has become one of the worst sports from a coaches vs. parents aspect. All too often parents can pay $3,000-$5,000+ for Lil' Johnny to play for some BS "ultra elite select travel" summer team so the parent believes he is really really special so when he does not start at SS for the HS the parents are up in arms. There might be a handful of schools in Ohio that pay $10,000 for a HC but that is few and far between.

I have a good friend who is a D1 coach at a successful program and the navigating parent egos is F-ing insane to the point I have no idea how he does it.
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If said baseball coach is only around from President's Day to the 2nd week in May. I don't want to hear it. If said Baseball coach is involved in a summer league, watches his boys play or God forbid, coaches a summer team, then I am sympathetic with his plight. The Ohio baseball season is 8 weeks long, 10 to 12 weeks if you add tri-outs and preseason training. Too many high school coaches are just not involved enough and are not staying up with the new trends, drills and philosophies ... and don't care too. Some parents definitely overdo it, some parents are just incredibly frustrated with the lack of effort.
 
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scbuckeye99 said:
I always wondered if Ohio allowed coaches to drive. I ask only because of are there any Union issues involved with this since teachers / coaches are salary and bus drivers are hourly to my knowledge.
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Yes depends on it. Some drivers are drivers and work elsewhere so it’s part of their FT hours of even over time.

I drove a few times due to need but I also had a CDL from a side job so they didn’t pay for me to take it
 
My dad is a teacher and does stats for the Football and Baseball. He also will occasionally drive the bus for them. Since stats is an unpaid position, its kind of a way to get paid to do them.
 
BASESWIMPARENT said:
If said baseball coach is only around from President's Day to the 2nd week in May. I don't want to hear it. If said Baseball coach is involved in a summer league, watches his boys play or God forbid, coaches a summer team, then I am sympathetic with his plight. The Ohio baseball season is 8 weeks long, 10 to 12 weeks if you add tri-outs and preseason training. Too many high school coaches are just not involved enough and are not staying up with the new trends, drills and philosophies ... and don't care too. Some parents definitely overdo it, some parents are just incredibly frustrated with the lack of effort.
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If you think a baseball HC at the high school level is only involved for 10-12 weeks then you have been misinformed. Most baseball programs have things going on throughout the year.
 
Club_Gyp said:
If you think a baseball HC at the high school level is only involved for 10-12 weeks then you have been misinformed. Most baseball programs have things going on throughout the year.
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not most and not my experience. open gyms with the coaches in the stands don't cut it. Practices in the fall, organizing hitting leagues, throwing with the pitching coach. You know things that Moeller, Mason and Badin do. That is development.
 
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Club_Gyp said:
If you think a baseball HC at the high school level is only involved for 10-12 weeks then you have been misinformed. Most baseball programs have things going on throughout the year.
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boy oh boy fella

i could rattle of a dozen coaches in 2 minutes that are paycheck collectors and do the 10-12 week plan
 
A friend of mine was the head coach at a private high school for a couple years, and his contract was for $2,000. With the hours and everything you are expected to do, it is really hard to keep a coach at that rate.

It's crazy to think about how much time some baseball coaches put in to their programs regardless of what they are making. They have to take care of their own field (you don't see football coaches mowing and painting the football field), hold fall workouts, set up winter lifting, find gym time for open gyms, coach in the spring, hold youth camps, and some still organize summer teams (Acme up north). You have to truly love what you do to work almost year-round at a job that pays pennies an hour.
 
BASESWIMPARENT said:
not most and not my experience. open gyms with the coaches in the stands don't cut it. Practices in the fall, organizing hitting leagues, throwing with the pitching coach. You now things that Moeller, Mason and Badin do. That is development.
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I know quite a few programs in Northwest Ohio that do these things.
 
Club_Gyp said:
A dozen? That's wild.
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i know my sons hs hasnt done an offseason for as long as i can remember. same with other schools in the area or conference.

i think people tend to forget about the underfunded schools and staffs (the little guys). heck; or the old man who hasnt changed his ways in 20 years that is near his retirement and wants the most bang for his buck when he retires from teaching
 
PrairieDog said:
A friend of mine was the head coach at a private high school for a couple years, and his contract was for $2,000. With the hours and everything you are expected to do, it is really hard to keep a coach at that rate.

It's crazy to think about how much time some baseball coaches put in to their programs regardless of what they are making. They have to take care of their own field (you don't see football coaches mowing and painting the football field), hold fall workouts, set up winter lifting, find gym time for open gyms, coach in the spring, hold youth camps, and some still organize summer teams (Acme up north). You have to truly love what you do to work almost year-round at a job that pays pennies an hour.
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Not arguing about the money. It is silly low. Probably because the season is so short and school districts or small private schools don't see the need. I know a guy who was the pitching coach at Fenwick. Loved the baseball, hated the money. Runs his own program now and makes really good money. Clearly some publics like Mason are able to afford a good program developer/coach and Moeller, Badin see the recruiting value. My point is that most high school programs are not development programs, so a kid (and his parent) have to find alternatives. Hence the frustration with high school coaches
 
I know in the South many coaches have a CDL in order to drive the teams around. They get paid extra obviously and with the shortage of bus drivers it is almost a necessity.
 
Then there is the curious case of pay some high school football coaches in South Carolina where "salary" can approach or exceed $100K, with booster organizations providing or supplementing the financing. Same for Georgia and Texas.

9 investigates high school football coaches paid huge salaries


I know Ohio is unionized and salaries and stipends are spelled out in contracts, but is there any prohibition against booster groups helping with stipends in Ohio? I don't necessarily approve of it. I like the traditional teacher-coach model, but will Ohio high school football and scholarship opportunities continue to decline if coaching is not addressed?
 
Omega said:
Then there is the curious case of pay some high school football coaches in South Carolina where "salary" can approach or exceed $100K, with booster organizations providing or supplementing the financing. Same for Georgia and Texas.

9 investigates high school football coaches paid huge salaries


I know Ohio is unionized and salaries and stipends are spelled out in contracts, but is there any prohibition against booster groups helping with stipends in Ohio? I don't necessarily approve of it. I like the traditional teacher-coach model, but will Ohio high school football and scholarship opportunities continue to decline if coaching is not addressed?
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There is not, and often you will see assistants paid out of fundraising/booster money. But I dont know of any situation where a head coach is given significant other dollars from the boosters as a salary. Even with the above example of assistants, it is usually board-approved dollars so I doubt it gets past that level of scrutiny. But I am willing to hear examples in Ohio.
 
In Ohio public schools, it is an ethics law violation to accept compensation from anyone other than the school board. It is also an ethics law violation to accept pay for off season training from anyone in the district where you are employed. Not saying it does not happen, but it does violate Ohio ethics law. These laws are designed to prevent conflict of interest. If little Johnny is paying $50 a week to the coach for hitting lessons, coach may be tempted to play him more than he deserves to keep the money train rolling.
 
parenttarget said:
In Ohio public schools, it is an ethics law violation to accept compensation from anyone other than the school board. It is also an ethics law violation to accept pay for off season training from anyone in the district where you are employed. Not saying it does not happen, but it does violate Ohio ethics law. These laws are designed to prevent conflict of interest. If little Johnny is paying $50 a week to the coach for hitting lessons, coach may be tempted to play him more than he deserves to keep the money train rolling.
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Unless said funds are given to the district to then pay a coach, which could include out of season responsibilities. As long as the board approves compensation and contracts, it is not a violation.
 
parenttarget said:
In Ohio public schools, it is an ethics law violation to accept compensation from anyone other than the school board. It is also an ethics law violation to accept pay for off season training from anyone in the district where you are employed. Not saying it does not happen, but it does violate Ohio ethics law. These laws are designed to prevent conflict of interest. If little Johnny is paying $50 a week to the coach for hitting lessons, coach may be tempted to play him more than he deserves to keep the money train rolling.
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what bout the ones that all play summer ball for program or team with hs coach invvolved

that is a can of worms bub
 
Umpire 16 is correct. Booster clubs can give money to schools who can then pay the coach. Coaches cannot accept payment directly from boosters.
Most summer ball coaches are not paid. Players are paying the organization not the coach. If the coach is paid and coaching his own players, I don’t know if that is illegal. You would have to get an opinion from the state attorney general on that.
 
parenttarget said:
Umpire 16 is correct. Booster clubs can give money to schools who can then pay the coach. Coaches cannot accept payment directly from boosters.
Most summer ball coaches are not paid. Players are paying the organization not the coach. If the coach is paid and coaching his own players, I don’t know if that is illegal. You would have to get an opinion from the state attorney general on that.
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wuuuuuut do u meannnn most summer ball coaches arent paid

lolz.... im talking real travel ball not dad coach ball
 
irish_buffalo said:
Thankless job for roughly $5,000 is why you do not find coaches anymore. And baseball has become one of the worst sports from a coaches vs. parents aspect. All too often parents can pay $3,000-$5,000+ for Lil' Johnny to play for some BS "ultra elite select travel" summer team so the parent believes he is really really special so when he does not start at SS for the HS the parents are up in arms. There might be a handful of schools in Ohio that pay $10,000 for a HC but that is few and far between.

I have a good friend who is a D1 coach at a successful program and the navigating parent egos is F-ing insane to the point I have no idea how he does it.
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That is the biggest problem. A lot of these coaches would coach for free if coaching baseball was the part of the job that they had to do. Especially the ones that are teachers. They love coaching that much. But the parents can be insufferable. Typical HS varsity baseball rosters are 18 to 24 kids. But D3 and higher usually have more than that that want to make the team. And a roster of that many kids means some kids will not see the field much, if at all. Most HS coaches that I know have about 15 core players. 8 position starters (some of them pitch as well), a few kids that play an IF and OF spot that rotate in (these are usually underclassmen that are being developed) and about 3 or 4 pitchers. The rest of the kids rarely get in. But because they are starters on their crappy summer ball teams, their parents think they are superstars. So they become program pests. Waiting for the coach after games, emailing him, texting him, even emailing the schools AD and superintendents! You also have starters parents that don't like where they are in the line up or what position they play in the field (because Johnny plays SS on his summer team - why is he playing 2B here????). I feel bad for some of the coaches that I know.
 
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