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MICHAEL PATRICK
NEWS SENTINEL
Tennessee defensive coordinator John Chavis, left, is receiving the title of associate head coach and a pay raise of $50,036 while UT coach Phillip Fulmer will receive a $260,500 raise.
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UT's rapid reward system
Raises, multi-year deals in football package
By MIKE GRIFFITH, knsgriff@aol.com
May 3, 2005
Raises have been approved and new job titles are a rubber stamp away for Tennessee's assistant football coaches in the wake of a 10-3 season.
Defensive coordinator John Chavis will have the title of associate head coach added in front of his name in addition to gaining a $50,036 raise to $250,756 a year, according to Bill Myers, UT's chief financial officer for the athletic department.
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"Those are the (contract) numbers,'' Myers said. "We're still working on (multi-year) contracts for the coordinators.''
UT coach Phillip Fulmer, who split up the raise money allotted him by athletic director Mike Hamilton, said he's confident all proposals will be approved.
Hamilton said UT's general council is involved in the structure of the new deals, and UT President Dr. John Petersen and the board of trustees have final approval.
"You view each year independently and look at scenarios,'' Hamilton said. "We exceeded expectations. We won the Eastern Division outright, and beat Florida, Georgia and Alabama, and we were the youngest team in the league.
"Then, you consider all the injuries we had on the offensive line, and all the injuries on defense to starters ... it was one of Phillip's better years.''
Should Chavis and offensive coordinator Randy Sanders be granted multi-year contracts as expected, it will be a first for UT football assistants.
"The American Football Coaches Association and assistant coaches committee have been pushing for that to happen,'' Fulmer said. "It's become a trend, and we need to follow suit to stay competitive and establish a comfort level.
"In our case, it's unique that we've had two coordinators that have played at the university. This is a feel-good type of thing. It was a big enough deal that we've addressed it, and I hope everyone feels better about it.''
Chavis, who has shunned higher-paying NFL assistant coaching offers to stay at UT, said he's not going to get wrapped up in the new salary structure.
"It's time to win, now,'' Chavis said. "You can worry about the money later.''
Sanders' $17,277 raise is his largest salary increase since he became the offensive coordinator prior to the Vols' 1998 national championship game in the Fiesta Bowl.
First-year running backs coach Trooper Taylor also made a substantial gain in salary, receiving a 22.7-percent raise and the title of assistant head coach for player development.
Secondary coach Larry Slade got the smallest raise on the staff, a twopercent increase to $137,183.00.
"I take my hat off to the job the guys did around me, they did a great job,'' Slade said. "I'll continue working as hard as I can; I'm not going to worry about it. There's no controversy. I appreciate that I have a job and my family enjoys Knoxville.''
Slade's secondary ranked 88th in the nation in pass defense. The Vols entered last season having lost five of their top six defensive backs from the year before and had three projected starters injured or suspended last season.
Fulmer said that in Taylor's case, his hand was forced to an extent.
"We got in a competitive situation with (Taylor) and we didn't want to lose him,'' said Fulmer, who convinced Taylor to turn down an assistant football coaching position at the University of Texas. "Trooper brought a lot of energy to our team and a lot of excitement, and he's an outstanding communicator between our players and myself.''
The assistant coaches, as a whole, received a 13.1-percent raise -- just a shade lower than the 14.5-percent raise Fulmer received after last season.
Fulmer's raise of $260,500 (up to a guaranteed $2.05 million annually) represents more than the combined raise total of $160,246 that the assistant coaches received.
Hamilton said the $1.39 million buyout negotiated with former men's basketball coach Buzz Peterson had no affect on the football raises.
"These (football assistants'
raises were negotiated shortly after the completion of football season,'' Hamilton said. "The buyouts from basketball had nothing to do with them.'' Extra Game: Hamilton said the Vols are looking to buy games with "mid-major Division I-A schools'' to complete the upcoming 12-game schedules approved last week by the NCAA.
"We're looking at filling (schedules of) 2006, '07, '09 and '10,'' Hamilton said. "2008 already has 12 games. We're looking to buy the mid-major games so we can have seven home games in Knoxville.''
The Vols already have home-and-home games set up in upcoming years with Notre Dame, UCLA, California and North Carolina State.
TENNESSEE FOOTBALL COACHES SALARIES
Name 2003 2004 2005
Phillip Fulmer $1,664,500 $1,789,500 $2,050,000
John Chavis $193,000 $200,720 $250,756
Randy Sanders $140,900 $145,536 $162,813
Dan Brooks $130,250 $135,460 $142,233
Steve Caldwell $128,000 $132,120 $138,726
Jimmy Ray Stephens $126,000 $130,040 $138,542
Larry Slade $130,250 $134,460 $137,183
Greg Adkins $100,000 $113,000 $135,650
Trooper Taylor $126,000* $110,000 $135,000
Pat Washington $109,200 $113,568 $134,247
* 2003 salary is that of Woody McCorvey
