Alright, folks, gather ’round, let me tell you about the time I got curious about how much the assistant coaches for the Iowa women’s basketball team were making. It all started when I was watching a game, and it hit me – these folks work hard, but what are they raking in?
So, I started digging. First thing I did was hit up Google. Typed in “Iowa women’s basketball assistant coach salary” and boom, a bunch of stuff popped up. Found out the average salary for an assistant basketball coach in Iowa is around $56,250 as of December 01, 2024. But you know how it is, that’s just an average. Some make more, some make less. One website, I think it was *, said the range is usually between $45,598 and $77,906. Most of them are pulling in somewhere between $35,901 and $97,623. That’s a pretty wide range, if you ask me.
Then I thought, let’s see what the head honchos are making. Found out about Kim Mulkey over at LSU. She’s making some serious bank – $3,264,000 a year! They signed her to a 10-year contract for $32 million. That’s some serious dough.
But back to Iowa. I found some interesting stuff about Kirk Ferentz, the football coach. He’s got a deal that keeps him around until 2029, making $7 million a year. That’s broken down into a $500,000 base, $5.5 million in supplemental compensation, and a $1 million longevity bonus. That’s not too shabby.
Then I got to thinking, what about the folks on the lower end? I stumbled across some info about assistant coaches like Kristi Toliver, who used to work with the Washington Wizards and Dallas Mavericks. Turns out, she was making a five-figure salary, around $10. That got me thinking about the disparity in pay in this field. Then, I found another site saying the average annual salary for a College Assistant Basketball Coach in Iowa is $60,535 as of January 01, 2025, with a typical range from $49,070 to $83,840.
Then, I went down a rabbit hole about Jan Jensen, who was an assistant coach at the University of Iowa. I looked at some public records from the University of Iowa, and in 2022, her salary was 273 percent higher than the average for assistant coaches. That’s quite a bit more! I mean, good for her, but it really shows how much salaries can vary.
I found a website talking about average salaries for assistant coaches in general. They said the average was $72,982 and the median was $60. That gave me a little more context, but it’s still all over the place.
What I learned
- Average Salary: Around $56,250 for assistant basketball coaches in Iowa, but it varies a lot.
- Big Money: Head coaches like Kim Mulkey are making millions.
- Iowa Football: Kirk Ferentz is pulling in $7 million a year.
- Lower End: Some assistant coaches are making very little, like around $10.
- Jan Jensen: Her salary in 2022 was way above average.
- General Average: Across the board, assistant coaches average about $72,982, with a median of $60.
So, that’s the story of my little investigation. It was a real eye-opener, seeing how much these salaries can differ. Makes you think about all the hard work these folks put in, and how they’re compensated for it. It’s a wild world out there in the coaching business, that’s for sure.
