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Re: Northern Michigan University Wildcats 2016-17 Season Thread: Gotta Get Up And Try
Brian Renfrew left in 2003 for eight years as an assistant at Michigan State.
Dave Shyiak left in 2005 for eight years as head coach at Alaska Anchorage.
John Olver gave up coaching the ECHL Idaho Steelheads to come to NMU; quit coaching after 2007.
Rob Facca left UNO to join NMU in 2007; left NMU in 2010 for four years as an assistant at Western Michigan.
Joe Shawhan left LSSU to join NMU in 2010; left NMU in 2014 as the current assistant at Michigan Tech.
Rob Lehtinen retired from pro hockey in 2010, joined NMU's staff in 2014.
What does this all mean? I don't know, but I do know that this needs to be included in the discussion regarding Walt and the direction of the hockey program too.
Why is NMU hemmoraging assistant coaches?
That answer can be found in the Department of Education's Equity in Athletics reporting (ope.ed.gov/athletics). As of the 2014-15 reporting year, NMU has 21 assistant coaches for their male sports. (Basketball, Football, Golf, Ice Hockey, Skiing) Of those 21 coaches only ONE sport has a full time assistant coach hired by NMU: Ice Hockey. Hockey counted five assistant coaches in their count for the US DoE: Of those five coaches, four others are assigned to the program on a part time basis. Of those five assistant coaches for the hockey program (John Kyle, Rob Lehtinen, Phil Fox, Dr. John Lehtinen, and Keenan Kelly (Student Assistant), only TWO are full time hires by NMU. John Kyle and Rob Lehtinen. (And I remind you, that only ONE of those two coaches are on the hockey budget, the other is part time and makes full time by teaching classes). The other three coaches are labeled as Part-Time Institution Employees or Volunteers.
Now to the gist of my post. Also reported by the Department of Education is the average salary of the assistant coaches.
Average Annual Institutional Salary per Assistant Coach: $25,946 / Average of 14 coaches Institutional Salaries
Average Annual Institutional Salary per Full Time Employee: $38,850 / Average of 9.35 Full Time University Employees
So we have ONE full time devoted to hockey assistant coach getting $18.50/hr. One part time hockey coach getting $12.50/hr.
For comparison around the league:
BGSU - 2 FT Assistant Coaches Assigned to Team & FT University Employees, 0 PT/Volunteers; $97,750/20, $108,611/18
FSU - 3 FT Assistant Coaches Assigned to Team & FT University Employees, 0 PT/Volunteers; $34,547/12, $43,638/9.5
UAH - 2 FT Assistant Coaches Assigned to Team & FT University Employees, 1 PT/Volunteers; $32,589/7, $37,397/6.10
LSSU - 2 FT Assistant Coaches Assigned to Team & FT University Employees, 0 PT/Volunteers; $53,167/5, $75,953/3.5
MTU - 2 FT Assistant Coaches Assigned to Team & FT University Employees, 0 PT/Volunteers; $30,088/13, $55,481/7.05
BSU - 1 FT Assistant Coaches Assigned to Team & 2 FT University Employees, 2 PT/Volunteers (1 is FT Uni Employee); $28,785/14, $67,165/6
MSU-M - 2 FT Assistant Coaches Assigned to Team & FT University Employees, 0 PT/Volunteers; $30,396/19, $65,723/11.10
UAA - 2 Assistant Coaches Assigned to Team & FT University Employees, 2 PT/Volunteers; $29,552/12, $56,379/6.29
UAF - 2 Assistant Coaches Assigned to Team & FT University Employees, 2 PT/Volunteers; $23,871/7, $42,627/3.92
So, taking all this data from the DoE, let's rank the WCHA by the average pay for Full Time University Employee Assistant Coaches.
School - FT Hockey Only Asst Coaches - FT Uni Employee Asst Coaches - Avg Pay Per FT Uni Employee - (WCHA Standing 14-15) - (Overall Win %)
(Standings before correction for UAF's sanctions)
BGSU - 2 - 2 - $108,611 (3) (.654)
LSSU - 2 - 2 - $75,953 (9) (.237)
BSU - 1 - 2 - $67,165 (5) (.487)
MSU-M - 2 - 2 - $65,723 (1) (.762)
UAA - 2 - 2 - $56,379 (10) (.294)
MTU - 2 - 2 - $55,481 (2) (.732)
FSU - 3 - 3 - $43,638 (6) (.475)
UAF - 2 - 2 - $42,627 (4) (.588)
NMU - 1 - 2 - $38,850 (7) (.447)
UAH - 2 - 2 - $37,397 (8) (.263)
Is money indicative of success? Not fully. LSSU had a terrible season in 14-15, NMU overperformed per their spending.
But let's not kid ourselves. It's hard to run a hockey program when our assistant coaches could get paid better in Marquette if they worked as a night auditor at the Comfort Suites.
2016-17 (4-14-2) Rob Lehtinen, John Kyle
2015-16 (15-16-7) Rob Lehtinen, John Kyle
2014-15 (14-18-6) Rob Lehtinen, John Kyle
2013-14 (13-14-1) John Kyle, Joe Shawhan
2012-13 (9-15-4) John Kyle, Joe Shawhan
2011-12 (17-14-6) John Kyle, Joe Shawhan
2010-11 (15-19-5) John Kyle, Joe Shawhan
2009-10 (20-13-8) Rob Facca, John Kyle
2008-09 (19-17-5) Rob Facca, John Kyle
2007-08 (20-20-4) Rob Facca, John Kyle
2006-07 (15-24-2) John Olver, John Kyle
2005-06 (22-16-2) John Olver, John Kyle
2004-05 (22-11-7) John Kyle, Dave Shyiak
2003-04 (21-16-4) John Kyle, Dave Shyiak
2002-03 (22-17-2) Brian Renfrew, Dave Shyiak
Brian Renfrew left in 2003 for eight years as an assistant at Michigan State.
Dave Shyiak left in 2005 for eight years as head coach at Alaska Anchorage.
John Olver gave up coaching the ECHL Idaho Steelheads to come to NMU; quit coaching after 2007.
Rob Facca left UNO to join NMU in 2007; left NMU in 2010 for four years as an assistant at Western Michigan.
Joe Shawhan left LSSU to join NMU in 2010; left NMU in 2014 as the current assistant at Michigan Tech.
Rob Lehtinen retired from pro hockey in 2010, joined NMU's staff in 2014.
What does this all mean? I don't know, but I do know that this needs to be included in the discussion regarding Walt and the direction of the hockey program too.
Why is NMU hemmoraging assistant coaches?
That answer can be found in the Department of Education's Equity in Athletics reporting (ope.ed.gov/athletics). As of the 2014-15 reporting year, NMU has 21 assistant coaches for their male sports. (Basketball, Football, Golf, Ice Hockey, Skiing) Of those 21 coaches only ONE sport has a full time assistant coach hired by NMU: Ice Hockey. Hockey counted five assistant coaches in their count for the US DoE: Of those five coaches, four others are assigned to the program on a part time basis. Of those five assistant coaches for the hockey program (John Kyle, Rob Lehtinen, Phil Fox, Dr. John Lehtinen, and Keenan Kelly (Student Assistant), only TWO are full time hires by NMU. John Kyle and Rob Lehtinen. (And I remind you, that only ONE of those two coaches are on the hockey budget, the other is part time and makes full time by teaching classes). The other three coaches are labeled as Part-Time Institution Employees or Volunteers.
Now to the gist of my post. Also reported by the Department of Education is the average salary of the assistant coaches.
Average Annual Institutional Salary per Assistant Coach: $25,946 / Average of 14 coaches Institutional Salaries
Average Annual Institutional Salary per Full Time Employee: $38,850 / Average of 9.35 Full Time University Employees
So we have ONE full time devoted to hockey assistant coach getting $18.50/hr. One part time hockey coach getting $12.50/hr.
For comparison around the league:
BGSU - 2 FT Assistant Coaches Assigned to Team & FT University Employees, 0 PT/Volunteers; $97,750/20, $108,611/18
FSU - 3 FT Assistant Coaches Assigned to Team & FT University Employees, 0 PT/Volunteers; $34,547/12, $43,638/9.5
UAH - 2 FT Assistant Coaches Assigned to Team & FT University Employees, 1 PT/Volunteers; $32,589/7, $37,397/6.10
LSSU - 2 FT Assistant Coaches Assigned to Team & FT University Employees, 0 PT/Volunteers; $53,167/5, $75,953/3.5
MTU - 2 FT Assistant Coaches Assigned to Team & FT University Employees, 0 PT/Volunteers; $30,088/13, $55,481/7.05
BSU - 1 FT Assistant Coaches Assigned to Team & 2 FT University Employees, 2 PT/Volunteers (1 is FT Uni Employee); $28,785/14, $67,165/6
MSU-M - 2 FT Assistant Coaches Assigned to Team & FT University Employees, 0 PT/Volunteers; $30,396/19, $65,723/11.10
UAA - 2 Assistant Coaches Assigned to Team & FT University Employees, 2 PT/Volunteers; $29,552/12, $56,379/6.29
UAF - 2 Assistant Coaches Assigned to Team & FT University Employees, 2 PT/Volunteers; $23,871/7, $42,627/3.92
So, taking all this data from the DoE, let's rank the WCHA by the average pay for Full Time University Employee Assistant Coaches.
School - FT Hockey Only Asst Coaches - FT Uni Employee Asst Coaches - Avg Pay Per FT Uni Employee - (WCHA Standing 14-15) - (Overall Win %)
(Standings before correction for UAF's sanctions)
BGSU - 2 - 2 - $108,611 (3) (.654)
LSSU - 2 - 2 - $75,953 (9) (.237)
BSU - 1 - 2 - $67,165 (5) (.487)
MSU-M - 2 - 2 - $65,723 (1) (.762)
UAA - 2 - 2 - $56,379 (10) (.294)
MTU - 2 - 2 - $55,481 (2) (.732)
FSU - 3 - 3 - $43,638 (6) (.475)
UAF - 2 - 2 - $42,627 (4) (.588)
NMU - 1 - 2 - $38,850 (7) (.447)
UAH - 2 - 2 - $37,397 (8) (.263)
Is money indicative of success? Not fully. LSSU had a terrible season in 14-15, NMU overperformed per their spending.
But let's not kid ourselves. It's hard to run a hockey program when our assistant coaches could get paid better in Marquette if they worked as a night auditor at the Comfort Suites.
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