Jim Harbaugh, the coach of Michigan, is willing to accept a lower salary in exchange for compensating athletes and college football players.
“I’m using my voice to demand compensation for the players, and I’d accept less money in exchange for a share.” “I wish more coaches would speak up and say the same thing,” Harbaugh stated on Sunday.
Longtime supporter of player compensation, Harbaugh made his remarks at a press conference to preview his team’s Saturday Big Ten championship game in Indianapolis against Iowa. In the third quarter of the Wolverines’ 30-24 victory over Ohio State, offensive lineman Zak Zinter broke his leg. The coach said this experience made him realize the sacrifices made by athletes.
Who could be against the players getting paid for their labor, or at the very least the minimum wage? Who could contest that, given the existence of an injury or not? stated Harbaugh, whose base pay for this year is $7.63 million, with a potential bonus of $3 million.
While they can earn money from their name, image, and likeness, athletes are not compensated by their schools.
For colleges and coaches, collegiate athletics has never been more profitable. The Big Ten is currently in the first year of a $1 billion annual seven-year television contract, which is driving a sharp increase in coaches’ pay and in-game expenditures.
According to Harbaugh, the Ohio State-Michigan game was the week’s most important sporting event based on how
“The buildup and the hype and the talk about players’ legacies and everything that could possibly be rolled into one game, on the line, and then you see the amount of people that are benefiting financially from those players’ efforts out there,” Harbaugh stated. “I ask other coaches to get on board, to use their platform, their voice for the student-athletes – not just football players, all student-athletes – to be sharing in this ever increasing revenue.”
After serving a three-game sideline suspension for breaking the Big Ten’s sportsmanship policy in relation to the Michigan sign-stealing scandal, Harbaugh is no longer suspended. This week, when the Wolverines (12-0) attempt to win the Big Ten for the third time in a row, he will be back on the sidelines. Iowa (10-2) is an underdog by 22 1/2 points, per FanDuel Sportsbook.
