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A recent ESPN.com report noted that the University of Alabama had 146 non-coaches working in their athletic department, and that Alabama increased salaries and benefits paid to support staff by nearly $4.4 million between 2009-11. That got us thinking about how much athletic department support staffs make at other institutions – here’s what we found.
Looking specifically at data from the 2011-12 academic year from 54 D1-A BCS conference schools, we analyzed how much certain NCAA assistant and associate directors made in salary. The areas we examined were the directors of Business, Compliance, Development, External Relations, Internal, and Student Services. Across all schools, here are the averages:
Average 2011-12 Salary
| Internal | $1 ,052 |
| External Relations | $1 ,157 |
| Business | $1 ,074 |
| Development | $1 ,422 |
| Student Services | $1 ,759 |
| Compliance | $1 ,681 |
Breaking the numbers down, there is a large disparity between what the highest-paid assistant directors make and what the lowest-paid make, as well as a large overall spread when it comes to salaries by division:
And how do the conferences stack up in their averages?
| 2011-12 | Business | Compliance | Development | External Relations | Internal | Student Services | Total |
| Big 12 | $1 ,232 | $1 ,841 | $1 ,013 | $1 ,350 | $1 ,561 | $1 ,368 | $1, ,835 |
| ACC | $1 ,245 | $1 ,530 | $1 ,922 | $1 ,132 | $1 ,446 | $ ,434 | $1, ,819 |
| SEC | $1 ,992 | $1 ,243 | $1 ,182 | $1 ,617 | $1 ,924 | $1 ,065 | $1, ,874 |
| Big 10 | $1 ,382 | $1 ,749 | $1 ,362 | $1 ,429 | $1 ,248 | $1 ,592 | $1, ,443 |
| Big East | $1 ,783 | $ ,433 | $1 ,612 | $1 ,586 | $1 ,479 | $1 ,242 | $1, ,473 |
| Pac 12 | $1 ,949 | $ ,304 | $1 ,144 | $1 ,468 | $1 ,176 | $1 ,891 | $1, ,076 |
Overall, the Big 12 spends higher than average in most categories and the most overall. The ACC spends the most by far for their assistant directors of Development, but below average for Business and Student Services. The SEC and Big 10 spend the most on their Compliance directors, while the Big East leads the way with their Internal director’s salaries. The Pac 12 is at the bottom of most categories and spends the least overall.
