U.S. senator: Jim Harbaugh’s pay illustrates ‘civil rights crisis’ in college football
I wonder how some of these people get elected. He’s a little late to the game. To me, he appears to be one of those that wants to be seen walking into the game instead of actually watching the game.
His thinking is convoluted (IMO) for the most part, even though he had 1, maybe 2 good points.
(I agree that $55M on a facility is absurd, but, the big schools need to keep pace to entice the talent.)
Maybe he/politicians should give 80% their fundraising cash back to serve the people instead of using it to get re-elected.
I wonder why he didn’t go after a company in his state, ESPN, for helping to cause many of these financial disparities.
He “inadvertently” forgot to say:
Most states have enacted, or are in the process of enacting laws, allowing “student”/athletes to benefit off the field.
The “student”/athletes do receive the room/board and the opportunity to earn an education.
The “student”/athletes do not have to accept any scholarship, if they so choose.
My guess is that Coach Harbaugh/U of M would like to have lower costs/salaries, but the real problem is that the TV companies and sponsors (Nike, Coke, Under Armour, etc...) are the ones driving the high prices. The senator should start here, just like the sponsors put the pressure on the Washington team of the NFL.
August 3rd, 2020 at 10:03 AM ^
A little late to the game you say...
August 3rd, 2020 at 10:52 AM ^
Maybe late, but I do not recall any other senator/article using Coach Harbaugh as an example.
August 3rd, 2020 at 11:01 AM ^
Nah, he's not too late. There is plenty of time and opportunity for the "esteemed" Senator to personally find a way to hire student athletes, pay salaries of $50,000/year, and also pay their tuition, room, and board at the colleges of their choice. If he doesn't, he too is guilty of civil rights violations.
August 3rd, 2020 at 11:19 AM ^
The senator is actually not new to this issue. He’s been an advocate of paying college athletes before this
As a member of the minority, he has limited ability to get legislation passed
also, from the originally linked Mlive article:
Murphy is one of several U.S. senators involved in the current name, image and likeness bill for student-athletes being discussed in Congress.
Both he and Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., sent the NCAA a letter in May pushing for additional athlete compensation beyond the proposed NIL rules, with an emphasis on player health and safety.
We are led to believe by the likes of Murphy to see college education as invaluable tool except when it comes to college football than it is not valuable. No mention of room, board, training, network, or meals which players get.
Player at P5 schools should get paid, but to portray them as apple pickers when they get so much more than the average college student is gross and dishonest.
August 3rd, 2020 at 10:03 AM ^
Alright, add Sen. Murphy to the no-post list!
August 3rd, 2020 at 10:06 AM ^
A politician complaining about someone else's salary is hilarious to me. Why doesnt he take a giant paycut himself then
August 3rd, 2020 at 10:36 AM ^
Because he makes a small amount compared to Harbaugh? (He pulls around 175k, which is ... not an unreasonable number for a senior civil servant, imo? I don't want senators to make nothing, civil service needs to be affordable for people other than the uber-rich to do it.)
August 3rd, 2020 at 10:45 AM ^
I don't know this for fact, but i feel confident that most senators have a net worth of 2 mil +
August 3rd, 2020 at 11:12 AM ^
Chris Murphy ranked 93rd in the senate in terms of net worth. They actually cite him as having a negative net worth. He went to a public high school and got his law degree at U-Conn.
https://www.opensecrets.org/personal-finances/net-worth/Christopher-S-Murphy?cid=N00027566&year=2018
He’s spent his entire career as an elected representative, first at the state level and then at the national level. He is on the committee for health, education, labor and pensions so it is not shocking that he’d focus on covid and college education. He has also been focused on ethics reform.
The average net worth was just shy of $2 million in 2018, Chris Murphy is well below that average.
August 3rd, 2020 at 11:39 AM ^
The study’s authors say that some elected officials show a negative net worth because financial disclosure reports don’t require elected officials to report certain assets.
https://www.ctpost.com/news/article/Blumenthal-among-the-richest-in-Congress-Murphy-12714622.php
I was definitely surprised the median was slightly lower than 2 mil. Not as high as i expected.
So, he never had a real job?
August 3rd, 2020 at 11:28 AM ^
You think $175K is a respectable salary for a politician? Hell doctors and lawyers, people who ya know actually work daily, don't make that much. Politicians should make no more than $75K annually. Then well see who is in it for the people.
August 3rd, 2020 at 11:34 AM ^
Because making laws and policies that regulate the health, safety, and welfare of 340 million people is just so trivial that it is only worth what a first year engineering grad makes, right? It would make more sense to pay Collins 5 million and Harbaugh 75k. Then we'd see which college coaches are really in it to develop student/athletes.
Harbaugh is far more valuable than Collins just as a General is far more valuable than a soldier.
How about these salaries?
Of the other four G5 leagues, North Texas’ Seth Littrell of Conference USA ($1.9 million), Toledo’s Jason Candle of the MAC ($1.2 million), Wyoming’s Craig Bohl of the Mountain West ($2.1 million) and Louisiana’s Billy Napier of the Sun Belt ($875,000) are the highest-paid for their respective conferences.
August 3rd, 2020 at 11:34 AM ^
$75K is not a great salary if you're bouncing back btwn your constituency and DC. To the earlier poster's point, it will make it so that the congress is even more so consistent of millionaires and elites on both sides who are out of touch with the average American.
While I don't know many lawyers, I know a TON of doctors (I'm Indian lol) and literally all of them make at least double $175K, that too in the Metro Detroit area.
But don't forget about the perq's. The kickbacks, the trips to Epstein's Island. . .
August 3rd, 2020 at 11:34 AM ^
As a lawyer, $175k is quite literally below the starting salary for people with no experience in BigLaw in Chicago, NYC, etc. Similarly, doctors out of residency (outside family medicine) to my understanding, gross that without a sweat.
This is actively stupid, dude. They've gotta maintain two residences, for one thing (DC and home). They're travelling all the time. Etc, etc, etc. Shit's expensive.
Again: if you set the salary to zero, what happens is only super-rich people take those jobs because nobody else can afford to take them. What happens is the few people who get those jobs anyways feel like they have to sell out so they can have a nest-egg for their kids. Low salaries on the hill are a huge part of why lobbying is so successful: being a career staffer is HARD on low salary in the DC area, so people leave to work for lobbying shops.
I don't get why this country shits on civil service. It's so frustrating and sad to me!
August 3rd, 2020 at 12:25 PM ^
Well put, highlow. It's sad to see people reflexively complain about politicians and their benefits/pay. To be honest, I think $174K is pretty generous but also it comes with a lot of work and responsibility. And if you want talented, capable people to run for office, there should be a fair exchange ( I would love to run for the House and take the average income of my district as my salary, but that's my kooky idea).
The low pay of staffers on the Hill is disgraceful, especially considering how many recent graduates are entering the workforce with staggering amounts of debt and how expensive it is to live in DC. I don't know how they do it. If we really want to combat the power of lobbying in this country we should start by giving fair pay to staffers on Capitol Hill to make the allure of K Street less appealing. It's an easy place to start.
Govt Pensions need not be forgotten.
Omg 175k is peanuts to all us Michigan big wigs...
Sorry but MOST lawyers are not making 6 figures...hell most are struggling to make 50-60k and they have crappy credit. Taking the 1% from large firms who hire ivy league grads (similar to finance track) and casting a broad swath that makes it out like all lawyers are doing that well is just not accurate.
County prosecutors pull down 45-100k depending on experience and years.
Doesn't the county prosecutor line fit with the point that government service is undercompensated, though?
August 4th, 2020 at 10:14 AM ^
County prosecutors and most/all government employees typically receive gold plated health care benefits that are worth a substantial amount.
Based on government pay bands I've seen, a government worker is usually paid more than their private sector equivalent and has access to executive level fringe benefits. In the past what you said was true but it doesn't seem like that anymore. You can look at USAjobs.gov to see the pay rates for many positions and, comparing to the private sector equivalent, they seemed (to me) to be higher....and quite a bit more secure.
In the private sector the marketplace determines pay...
-How easy is it to replace a person doing a given job
-How much does a person add to the company's bottom line profits
-How much does the person protect the company and/or prevent problems
August 3rd, 2020 at 12:43 PM ^
their salary is almost irrelevant. they make their coin on the side. it's politics.
August 3rd, 2020 at 12:53 PM ^
This is exactly the problem lmao -- we shouldn't laugh off corruption, dude!
If they were given sufficient salaries, they wouldn't do that stuff!
The corruption would still be there even if they had better salaries. Nothing like steering government contracts to family members and friends and buying stock off impending policy decisions.
There's, I think, two questions here.
I think definitely there are some innately corrupt people. They should be arrested and removed from office like criminals -- because they are all criminals!
But a lot of small-c corruption -- lobbyists taking people out to dinner, the revolving door, etc -- would not happen if one could support a family on a Hill salary.
August 3rd, 2020 at 12:55 PM ^
Doctors and lawyers living in Washington DC absolutely DO make that much.
If the salary were only $75,000, then all the Congress people would be multi-millionaires looking for something to play with. The cost of living in DC is one of the highest in the nation. For example, I used to live in suburban Maryland. I sold my house for about a million dollars two years ago. If you picked up that house, plunked it in a nice area in Washtenaw County, I’d have been lucky to get a third of a million.
Murphy is one of the hardest working Congress people. He used Harbaugh because of the link to MLive and perhaps because Harbaugh is one of the few head coaches known to people who don’t follow college football religiously. I suspect if he had used Saban or Day, there wouldn’t be much negativity in this thread (or the thread wouldn’t have started in the first place).
I used to work in public accounting, doing tax and write up work for medical partnerships. Sure, a doctor on their own or working for a hospital might make less than $175k. But a doctor with any business sense can easily earn $300-350k just by starting their own practice. And these numbers are for GPs. I have no idea what surgeons or other specialists make, but I'm sure its A LOT.
Also, a dentist can easily make $450,000/yr because that's what the shitty dentist who was my client made the last year I worked with him.
Nearly every congressperson leaves office considerably wealthier than when they started.
One thing to keep in mind is they get to keep their election warchest/funds when they exit. Whatever they managed to accrue is now theirs for whatever they wish. Pretty good deal, huh?
They can keep the funds but only for a very limited set of activities, not for whatever they wish. (But it’s a nice made up talking point).
https://ballotpedia.org/What_can_politicians_do_with_unused_campaign_funds
Don’t most people leave their jobs considerably wealthier than when they started? The phenomenon of someone having more net worth at 35 than 25, at 45 than 35 etc is not isolated to politicians.
Thanks DC. Yeah, "politicians leaving office wealthier" is also sort of a bogus talking point, thanks for breaking it down. People like to cite that but don't ever actually stop to think about what it means. They're implying that there is some kind of vague, secret, enrichment scheme they're all engaged in. Don't get me wrong - there ARE a lot of politicians who use their public service for personal gain - for 8 years I worked for an ethics group studying corruption - this shit definitely goes on. But, I hate when people automatically regurgitate that talking point and assume that any politician who leaves office wealthier than they arrived was therefore involved in said nebulous, nefarious scheme.
August 3rd, 2020 at 10:40 AM ^
Or, why doesn’t he introduce a law that clarifies Title IX, specifically with regards to what compensation can look like from a university to an athlete?
It’s sad that a US Senator doesn’t realize they’re the ones that can pave the way on that front if they so choose but they’d rather take the easy way out and yell at colleges that are more or less handcuffed on that issue.
Yes, I realize endorsement deals have nothing to do with that point but also that doesn’t seem to be what Senator Murphy is getting at either.
Politicians are all useless and should close their mouths till they actually solve problems. They can’t get legislation through for simple items.
August 3rd, 2020 at 10:12 AM ^
Who cares what this guy says? He must be having an election coming up or something.
August 3rd, 2020 at 10:13 AM ^
My same sentiment.
August 3rd, 2020 at 10:45 AM ^
He has an election in 2024. Perhaps if you spent more time researching instead of spouting off, you'd be better informed.
August 3rd, 2020 at 10:47 AM ^
Facts are pesky little things
August 3rd, 2020 at 10:52 AM ^
To be fair, if you're around political twitter, Murphy (along with Schatz on the left, Cruz and Rubio on the right) is one of the more vocal senators. He may not be up for re-election but it's fair to say he's angling for leadership down the road or name recognition at the very least.
August 3rd, 2020 at 11:13 AM ^
I am around political twitter, which is why I know Murphy has been working on this issue for some time now, so to say he's doing this just for a leadership position or name recognition isn't really fair.
I think his tweet was poorly thought out because it puts the spotlight on the coach who, though highly paid, seems to actually be on the side of the players and is the one who took the biggest(?) pay cut of all the coaches who did over COVID impacts on AD budgets.
August 3rd, 2020 at 11:16 AM ^
yeah, I genuinely think he just picked Harbaugh because Michigan is a target school for many CT kids, and is home to a pretty sizable population of UMich alums. Like you said, Harbaugh isn't even the best example, it was just a convenient one that would resonate with his constituents.
Maybe. Or maybe because the other schools with highly paid coaches (including those making more than Harbaugh) really don't care what Murphy has to say.
Faculty at M, however, might get riled up over this. Politicians know their audience, if nothing else.
August 3rd, 2020 at 12:18 PM ^
He also talked about Clemson's practice facility and Larry Scott's inflated salary. It's typical of us to make it all about us. It's not. Murphy is good people and he's right.
August 3rd, 2020 at 11:22 AM ^
Perhaps if you spent more time researching instead of spouting off, you'd be better informed.
Welcome to the internet! Feel free to email the mods for your welcome care-package. Be careful though, the contents will shock you!
August 3rd, 2020 at 11:37 AM ^
No thanks, any time I veer into politics I have to deal with shitheads like you so I’m good.
August 3rd, 2020 at 11:46 AM ^
Proud ignorance isn't exactly an admirable quality, dude.
August 3rd, 2020 at 12:20 PM ^
Tell that to about 40% of America...