So if I may ask, where is your source for all these top 10 coaches salaries? I agree that Kelly is probably on the outside of the top 10 but his $970k is pretty good. I think the average salary in the SEC was $700k, the ACC was close to $825 but that was top heavy with MM and Jeff. The Big12 is like $700K with Sherry Coale being a complete outlier at $1.1 mil. I think you are being mislead due to the Texas AD overpaying GG a top $1.25 mil back in 2007, which I think was top 3 at the time. While Graves has nice history with Gonzaga and has had a good run at Oregon with Sabrina, he hasn't quite etched his way into the top 10, though he should be almost there and I think he will get compensated appropriately as WCBB is a focus sport for Oregon. While Softball was elite and a national contender, it raise zero revenue. I find it absurd that Oklahoma pays Patty Gasso $1 million plus per year. Similarly, Texas over paid for Mike White.
So besides White and your implying that Graves is underpaid yet you offer no proof, who else is Oregon being cheap with? Like I have said many times in the past two days, I like opinions based on facts and data. Show me how Grave salary is egregious when the data I have shows it is well above average.
You state that you like opinions based on facts and data, but you throw out an unsupported opinion that Texas overpaid for Mike White? He built the Oregon softball program from nothing into PAC 12 champions (fighting bluebloods like Arizona and UCLA along the way), and while they didn't win a national championship, they were contenders the last several seasons in OKC. In his first season at Texas, he had his team one win away from advancing to the WCWS (Top 8). In year 2, Texas won at UCLA (their only loss), and Softball America ranked Texas #1 to conclude the shortened 2020 season. Conversely, Oregon fell from Top 4 in 2018 to not even making the tourney in 2019. Texas paying White $450k has been well worth the investment; stadium is selling out; and, renovations already underway.
I already stated that Oregon's football head coach is #56 on the national pay scale; that is the biggest revenue sport of them all. That is cheap.
After winning a Rose Bowl and Pac-12 title, Oregon appears on the verge of locking up their head coach for the long term with a new deal.
collegefootballtalk.nbcsports.com
Most likely, an SEC or B1G team will hire Mario Cristobal away in a year or two if Oregon doesn't double his salary by then.
I've been looking for a link that accurately lists women's basketball head coaches salaries; didn't fine one. But, from what I've read over the years, the following programs are paying their head coaches more than $1 million annually: UConn, Baylor, South Carolina, Louisville, Notre Dame, Stanford, Miss. State, Maryland, and Oklahoma. Schools like Ohio State, Kentucky and Syracuse probably are paying slightly below $1 million a year.