I don't know if anyone posted this. Doesn't matter. It will get more exposure when I post it, since I have more followers. I thought someone said that we were finished with the Cheezick payments. According to the al.com, we are not. We still owe a bunch to several coaches.
AUBURN, Alabama -- The top target in Auburn's search for a defensive coordinator is one of the most wanted men in college football.
Will Muschamp is being pursued by Auburn, Texas A&M and other potential suitors, and the salary it might take to get him could make him the highest-paid defensive coordinator in college football, even though Florida owes him more than $6 million in buyout.
Auburn likely won't flinch if landing Muschamp requires a salary higher than the ones Alabama's Kirby Smart and LSU's John Chavis are getting.
The highest-paid coordinator in college football this season is Smart, who makes $1.35 million per year, and the second-most is Chavis, who is getting $1.3 million.
Back in 2011, Auburn's athletics department proved it's willing to pay more than anybody else for the right coordinator. Under Gene Chizik, the Tigers made made Gus Malzahn the nation's highest-paid coordinator at $1.3 million per year, making the Tigers' staff the highest-paid group in the country, according to USA Today.
And the trend didn't stop when Malzahn hired his first staff at Auburn. The Tigers' initial salary pool ranked fifth in the nation, a number that may rise after Auburn assistants received raises that added $900,000 to the pool following last season's trip to the national title game.
Auburn's ability to pay its assistants top-dollar hasn't changed despite the $865,994 deficit the athletics department reported for the 2013 fiscal year, along with the buyouts still owed to four coaches.
Auburn is still paying former head coach Gene Chizik $209,457.84 per month, according to open financial records, through the 2015-2016 fiscal year, owes former basketball coach Tony Barbee $1.875 million in monthly installments that end in June of 2017, assistant coach Ryan Miller $15,833 per month through May of 2015 and now former defensive coordinator Ellis Johnson $850,000 per year through June of 2017, a figure that will go down if he gets another job.
Auburn owes all four coaches a total of roughly $7.1 million through June 2017, although the yearly total obviously drops as coaches come off the books at different times.
Those numbers likely won't deter Auburn from its pursuit of Muschamp.
Despite those buyouts, Auburn's athletic revenue is expected to rise after selling out all seven home football games and selling out basketball season tickets for the first time since the 1999-2000 season, plus the unknown windfall expected from SEC Network revenues.
Add it all up, and Auburn isn't likely to be priced out of the Muschamp sweepstakes.
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