ATHENS — Veteran offensive coordinator Todd Monken remains the Bulldogs’ highest-paid assistant, while UGA’s newest hire and youngest on-field coach will start at just under a half-million dollars per year, per the most current coaching salary information.
The University of Georgia shared the salaries of the Bulldogs’ assistant coaches after DawgNation FOIA request, revealing Coach Kirby Smart’s current salary structure.
The current UGA salaries come across as modest when one considers that 34 FBS assistant coaches last season made more than $1 million, and 16 of them were in the 14-member SEC.
Georgia, however, has just one at the moment, Monken, who comes in at $1.25 million after his most recent salary was recorded at $1.1 million.
Further, the Bulldogs’ current assistant coaches’ salary pool -- $7.475 million -- represents a $455,000 decrease at this moment that would rank third in the SEC based on last season’s salary numbers.
Smart has made a handful of hires and promotions since the Bulldogs’ 33-18 CFP Championship Game win over Alabama on Jan. 10.
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The hiring of 29-year-old assistant Chidera Uzo-Diribe to coach outside linebackers, on Feb, 3, is the most recent. Uzo-Diribe will make $450,000, which is equal to the last recorded salary for tight ends coach Todd Hartley.
Hartley’s salary was not among the updated salaries released on Wednesday, which could indicate he’s in for a raise after coaching up FWAA Player of the Year and Alll-American tight end Brock Bowers.
Georgia is paying new receivers coach Bryan McClendon $700,000 -- an increase of $150,000 over what former receivers coach Cortez Hankton made last season.
Hankton left Georgia for LSU and will make a reported $900,000 as the Tigers’ receivers’ coach.
McClendon, meanwhile, was making $515,000 at Oregon last season, per USA Today coaching salary data.
Will Muschamp and Glenn Schumann were bumped up to $800,000 each in their new roles as co-defensive coordinators.
Muschamp came on board after the 2020 season as a defensive analyst making $300,000 before sliding into an on-field role last fall.
Muschamp, however, had also just received a $12.9 million buyout after being fired from his post as South Carolina’s head coach.
Jahmile Addae, who coached the secondary at Georgia last season before leaving to coach at Miami (Fla.), was making $500,000 with the Bulldogs.
Schumann was making $600,000 coaching linebackers and sharing coordinator duties with departed defensive coordinator Dan Lanning.
The 33-percent increase could indicate that Schumann will take over as the primary defensive play-caller call for the Bulldogs next season.
Scott Cochran, who took a leave of absence at the start of fall drills, is still listed as making $575,000 as the special teams coach.
Smart has not announced what role Cochran will serve with the staff, as he returned from his leave of absence as an off-field coach.
Smart, himself, is due a hefty raise.
The seventh-year Georgia head coach has super-agent Jimmy Sexton negotiating what’s believed to be a 10-year deal worth more than $100 million.
Former UGA defensive coordinator Mel Tucker set the market when he signed a 10-year, $95 million contract after the season.
USC coach Lincoln Riley is believed to be making approximately $10 million per year, an increase from his salary at Oklahoma that paid him around $7.6 annually.
None of the current Georgia assistant coaches have yet to receive the sort of massive pay increase some might have expected after the Bulldogs won their first national championship in 41 years.
Monken would seem to be the coach in line for a significant increase, as there were reports he turned away interest from LSU after Brian Kelly was hired at the end of last season.
There remains speculation that Monken, who served as offensive coordinator for Tampa Bay and Cleveland prior to Smart hiring him after the 2019 season, might still be in consideration for one of the NFL openings.
Georgia has shown it will be competitive when necessary, more than doubling the salary of former defensive coordinator Dan Lanning the past two offseasons.
Lanning parlayed previous head coaching and coordinator opportunities into giant raises after the 2019 and 2020 campaigns, going from $750,000 to $1.25 million, and then to $1.7 million before last season.
The average assistant coaching pay in the SEC in 2021 was $604,859, per the USA Today.
Georgia football current coaching salaries
(as of Feb,16, 2022, per UGA)
OC Todd Monken $1.25 million
OL Matt Luke $900,000
Co-DC Will Muschamp $800,000
Co-DC Glenn Schumann $800,000
RBs Dell McGee $800,000
DL Tray Scott $750,000
WRs Bryan McClendon $700,000
ST Scott Cochran $575,000
TE Todd Hartley ? ($450,000 in 2021)
OLB Chidera Uzo-Diribe $450,000
SEC teams’ assistant coach salary pool 2021
(per USA Today salary database)
Georgia: $7.93 million
Alabama: $7.81 million
Texas A&M: $7.61 million
LSU: $6.97 million
Auburn: $6.44 million
Florida: $5.96 million
Tennessee: $5.73 million
Kentucky: $5.45 million
Arkansas: $5.13 million
Ole Miss: $5.03 million
Missouri: $4.89 million
South Carolina: $4.88 million
Mississippi State: $4.83 million
Vanderbilt: Not available
Source: USA TODAY Sports database
