Shatel: Reaction to raises? Roaring silence

So did you hear that inescapable sound echoing across the great state of Nebraska earlier this week?

Silence.

Exactly.

Welcome to the big time, Nebraska. Welcome to the club. Welcome to the 21st century of college football. On Monday, University of Nebraska athletic director Tom Osborne gave the football staff raises that made Bo Pelini the first $2 million coach at NU, put defensive coordinator Carl Pelini at $375,000 per year and the entire coaching staff at $4.335 million — or third among Big 12 football staffs, for those keeping score at home.

On Tuesday, the state of Nebraska shrugged and went about its business.

Are we just growing numb to the culture of big-time football? As the silly money continues to pile higher and higher, does it even register anymore?

Ten years ago, the thought of a Nebraska football coach getting 2.1 million smackaroos a year would have been as believable as, well, a Nebraska coach running the West Coast Offense. Five years ago? You might buy it, but it would make a lot of folks squirm in this hard-working, humble land.

At the very least you would have had the loud and self-righteous voice of academia saying the tail was wagging the dog. And then we'd get ready for spring practice.

This week, no protesters offered a peep. And if they did, they were drowned out by the silence of acceptance.

Now, more than ever, big-time college football is about spending the most money. And Nebraskans are getting good at the game.

Bo Pelini was hired two years ago at $1.1 million a year. It seemed like a bargain in the high-rent Big 12. After back-to-back successful years, Pelini has had back-to-back raises. That's $1 million in two years. It moved Pelini from near the bottom of the Big 12 to fifth place. If Pelini wins a national championship next year, Katie bar the bank vault.

Why not just pay Pelini the $2.1 million to start with? Osborne tried to show restraint, make Pelini earn the bucks. That's the Nebraska way. Heck, if Osborne had started him at $2 million, Bo might be at $3 million now. Which would put him into third place in the league.

Got a problem? Blame the athletic directors (KU's Lew Perkins gave Turner Gill $2 million before he had coached a game). And blame the presidents, who approve the money. Speaking of the presidents, they might need a playoff to pay for all these salaries.

Nebraskans don't have a problem. That's actually not a surprise. Nebraskans are practical sorts. They also like winning in college football. The way to do that is to pay the coach you like and want to keep. That includes coordinators. Apparently Tennessee talked with Carl Pelini a few weeks ago. Voilà, 80 percent raise.

Pelini's $375,000 might look like a steal one day. There's already a million-dollar coordinator, UCLA offensive guru Norm Chow, and Texas defensive coordinator Will Muschamp is at $900,000 — a mere $4.2 million behind Longhorns coach Mack Brown.

Where does it all end? It doesn't. Unless the presidents put in a coaching salary cap, which they won't, because presidents like winning and the money that comes with it.

A prediction: there will be a Nebraska coach making $3 million, and possibly $4 million, in our lifetime. The thing is, Pelini has tweaked Husker fans' senses. He's put them back in the game, in the top 10, in the chase. That's an addiction. Nebraskans will do whatever it takes to feed that addiction.

Earlier this week Osborne warned that NU can't be a leader in the salary chase, that raises will be minimal and budget cuts are coming. But Pelini isn't the only coach who has a raise coming; women's basketball coach Connie Yori, whose team ranks No. 3, makes $380,000 in a league where the top coaches make $1 million. You can bet Yori will deserve that raise this summer.

It's too late to turn back. College football's salary wars will eventually force NU to cut sports, spend smarter in other areas and push the outer limits of fund-raising. But how much money is out there? Answer: as much as Nebraska football needs.

Remember when nobody knew how much the football coaches made and nobody cared? So do I. Barely. On Wednesday, former NU offensive line coach Milt Tenopir — whose players won six Outland Trophies — said he made $110,000 a year when he left Nebraska in 2002. He said his old buddy, defensive coordinator Charlie McBride, made about $140,000 when he retired after the 1999 season.

Of course, Osborne always supplemented his assistants' salaries by giving them equal shares of money from shoe contracts, camps and TV shows.

“They've gone overboard with the head coaches' salaries in football,'' Tenopir said. “I don't think Tom ever made more than $250,000. I don't begrudge the assistants getting more money; those guys really deserve it. I was just born too soon.''

Contact the writer:

444-1025, tom.shatel@owh.com

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