Team 4: High School Coaching Salaries
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The following report by Team 4 investigator Paul Van Osdol first aired Nov. 10, 2005, on WTAE Channel 4 Action News at 5 p.m.
It's Friday night in Aliquippa. That means the place to be is the high school stadium known as the Pit. It's always packed.Mike Zmijanac, to referee: "I know what I'm watching. I've been doing this a while."Thirty-four years, in fact. That's how long Zmijanac has been coaching either basketball or football for the QuipsZmijanac, Aliquippa football coach: "One of my friends on the school board joked a few years ago -- the three most important people in Aliquippa are the mayor, the football coach and the basketball coach, and not necessarily in that order. The expectations are very high."That's one reason Zmijanac's salary as football coach is the second-highest in western Pennsylvania, even though Aliquippa graduated just 78 seniors last year.His coaching stipend last year was $10,500, which included a bonus for making the playoffs. North Hills coach Jack McCurry earned just over $11,000, but he runs a much larger program.Nick Kasanovich, Aliquippa School Board president: "Basically, he's worth every penny."Kasanovich says Zmijanac deserves his pay because of his long tenure and his success.Kasanovich: "I feel he's one of the best coaches in the WPIAL. He's one of the best coaches in the state."Given the importance of high school football in western Pennsylvania, $10,000 may not seem like much of a salary. But most coaches earn much more than that. Many of them are well-paid athletic directors or phys-ed teachers, and they often hold other positions.Zmijanic earns an extra $18,000 as a part-time athletic director. Others with full-time positions earn much more.Last year, Baldwin High coach Mike Silianoff earned $8,700 for football, $6,200 as a fitness coach, $2,900 as senior class sponsor and $56,000 as a teacher. Total: $74,000.At Hempfield High, coach Greg Meisner earns $6,200 as football coach, $14,000 as weight room coordinator and $67,000 as athletic director. Total: $87,000.Bethel Park's Jeff Metheny earns a $7,300 coaching stipend, plus $3,000 for weight training, $369 for intramurals and $82,000 as a phys-ed teacher. Total: $93,000.Penn Hills' Neil Gordon earned $7,400 coaching football, plus a $2,000 playoff bonus, $740 for running the weight room and $82,000 as athletic director. Total: $92,000.Van Osdol: "There are some people who say guys like yourself should not be paid what you're paid."Gordon: "I obviously beg to differ, not from a selfish standpoint, as much as I think sports are one of the best preparing factors a young man or woman can go through in preparation for life."Playoff bonuses like Gordon's and Zmijanac's are not unusual.Kasanovich: "It's only fair. Shouldn't everything be based on performance?"Most schools base their bonuses on the number of postseason games a team plays.Other coaches who got playoff bonuses last year include Upper St. Clair's Jim Render ($2,500), Rochester's Gene Matsook ($1,400) and Blackhawk's Joe Hamilton ($1,100).Van Osdol: "Does it add any incentive to you as a coach to know you might be making a few extra bucks by making the playoffs?"Gordon: "Not at all. That's an afterthought."Gordon and the other coaches we talked to are passionate about what they do on the field, and they say money is not the reason they do it.Gordon: "We're in it for the competition, love of the game and the ability to work with young kids."Zmijanac: "If we got compensated by the hour, I'm not sure I'd do this. You do it because it's something you want to do."A statewide survey by the Pennsylvania School Boards Association found football coaches have the highest average salary of any coach.
Do you want to know how much your local school district pays its coach? Click here for a list of all compensation listed for each coach at 100 public high schools in western Pennsylvania.
It's Friday night in Aliquippa. That means the place to be is the high school stadium known as the Pit. It's always packed.Mike Zmijanac, to referee: "I know what I'm watching. I've been doing this a while."Thirty-four years, in fact. That's how long Zmijanac has been coaching either basketball or football for the QuipsZmijanac, Aliquippa football coach: "One of my friends on the school board joked a few years ago -- the three most important people in Aliquippa are the mayor, the football coach and the basketball coach, and not necessarily in that order. The expectations are very high."That's one reason Zmijanac's salary as football coach is the second-highest in western Pennsylvania, even though Aliquippa graduated just 78 seniors last year.His coaching stipend last year was $10,500, which included a bonus for making the playoffs. North Hills coach Jack McCurry earned just over $11,000, but he runs a much larger program.Nick Kasanovich, Aliquippa School Board president: "Basically, he's worth every penny."Kasanovich says Zmijanac deserves his pay because of his long tenure and his success.Kasanovich: "I feel he's one of the best coaches in the WPIAL. He's one of the best coaches in the state."Given the importance of high school football in western Pennsylvania, $10,000 may not seem like much of a salary. But most coaches earn much more than that. Many of them are well-paid athletic directors or phys-ed teachers, and they often hold other positions.Zmijanic earns an extra $18,000 as a part-time athletic director. Others with full-time positions earn much more.Last year, Baldwin High coach Mike Silianoff earned $8,700 for football, $6,200 as a fitness coach, $2,900 as senior class sponsor and $56,000 as a teacher. Total: $74,000.At Hempfield High, coach Greg Meisner earns $6,200 as football coach, $14,000 as weight room coordinator and $67,000 as athletic director. Total: $87,000.Bethel Park's Jeff Metheny earns a $7,300 coaching stipend, plus $3,000 for weight training, $369 for intramurals and $82,000 as a phys-ed teacher. Total: $93,000.Penn Hills' Neil Gordon earned $7,400 coaching football, plus a $2,000 playoff bonus, $740 for running the weight room and $82,000 as athletic director. Total: $92,000.Van Osdol: "There are some people who say guys like yourself should not be paid what you're paid."Gordon: "I obviously beg to differ, not from a selfish standpoint, as much as I think sports are one of the best preparing factors a young man or woman can go through in preparation for life."Playoff bonuses like Gordon's and Zmijanac's are not unusual.Kasanovich: "It's only fair. Shouldn't everything be based on performance?"Most schools base their bonuses on the number of postseason games a team plays.Other coaches who got playoff bonuses last year include Upper St. Clair's Jim Render ($2,500), Rochester's Gene Matsook ($1,400) and Blackhawk's Joe Hamilton ($1,100).Van Osdol: "Does it add any incentive to you as a coach to know you might be making a few extra bucks by making the playoffs?"Gordon: "Not at all. That's an afterthought."Gordon and the other coaches we talked to are passionate about what they do on the field, and they say money is not the reason they do it.Gordon: "We're in it for the competition, love of the game and the ability to work with young kids."Zmijanac: "If we got compensated by the hour, I'm not sure I'd do this. You do it because it's something you want to do."A statewide survey by the Pennsylvania School Boards Association found football coaches have the highest average salary of any coach.
Do you want to know how much your local school district pays its coach? Click here for a list of all compensation listed for each coach at 100 public high schools in western Pennsylvania.
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