Contracts reveal KU football assistants’ pay

By Matt Tait     Feb 1, 2012

According to information obtained by the Journal-World through the Freedom of Information Act, the total salary for Kansas University football coach Charlie Weis’ assistant coaches almost matches the total of the head coach himself.

Led by a $500,000 annual salary for defensive coordinator Dave Campo, the total value of the contracts for Weis’ nine assistants and one strength and conditioning director reaches $2.2 million. Weis will be paid $2.5 million per year.

“These salaries really follow the national trend,” said KU athletic director Sheahon Zenger of the two-year contracts given to Weis’ staff.

Campo, who comes to Kansas having served as both the head coach and the defensive coordinator of the Dallas Cowboys, is by far Weis’ highest paid assistant. Despite the high price tag — the highest paid assistant salary on former coach Turner Gill’s staff was $350,000 to offensive coordinator Chuck Long — Campo falls well within the national range, considering coordinators across the country make anywhere from $200,000 to more than $1 million per year.

The salaries, though put together largely by Weis, ultimately were approved by Zenger, who said he believed the coaches in place and the salaries they command represent good fits for Weis and KU.

“I was really impressed by the way coach Weis put his staff together,” Zenger said. “The forethought and research that went into how he assembled the pieces of the puzzle was intriguing, and I’m extremely pleased with the outcome.”

After Campo, the next highest paid coach on Weis’ staff is wide receivers coach and recruiting coordinator, Rob Ianello, who was with Weis at Notre Dame and also served as the head coach of Akron. Ianello is scheduled to make $300,000 annually.

Turner Gill holdovers Reggie Mitchell (running backs) and Buddy Wyatt (defensive line) fall next at $250,000 each, followed by former KU assistant Clint Bowen (special teams) at $200,000, DeMontie Cross (linebackers) at $175,000, Notre Dame alums Tim Grunhard (offensive line) and Ron Powlus (quarterbacks) at $150,000 apiece, strength coach Scott Holsopple at $125,000, and Jeff Blasko, KU’s tight ends coach who was with Weis at Florida, who will make $100,000.

In addition to the annual salaries, each coach receives a car paid for by Kansas Athletics, Inc., and is offered a membership to Lawrence Country Club. The assistants also are entitled to up to six tickets for all home and away games, up to 15 tickets for any postseason football games and two tickets apiece to all home men’s and women’s basketball games.

The Journal-World also obtained the salaries for Adam Sitter, KU’s director of high school relations, and Scott Vestal, KU’s assistant director of football operations. Sitter and Vestal both will make $75,000 annually.

Each will receive a car but not the country club membership.

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Written By Matt Tait

A native of Colorado, Matt moved to Lawrence in 1988 and has been in town ever since. He graduated from Lawrence High in 1996 and the University of Kansas in 2000 with a degree in Journalism. After covering KU sports for the University Daily Kansan and Rivals.com, Matt joined the World Company (and later Ogden Publications) in 2001 and has held several positions with the paper and KUsports.com in the past 20+ years. He became the Journal-World Sports Editor in 2018. Throughout his career, Matt has won several local and national awards from both the Associated Press Sports Editors and the Kansas Press Association. In 2021, he was named the Kansas Sportswriter of the Year by the National Sports Media Association. Matt lives in Lawrence with his wife, Allison, and two daughters, Kate and Molly. When he's not covering KU sports, he likes to spend his time playing basketball and golf, listening to and writing music and traveling the world with friends and family.