So how much is winning worth?

During fiscal year 2006, the University of Tennessee pays the coaching staffs a lot of money -- presumably lumped into the $ 20,878,904 it spent on "operations." Of that amount, head football coach Phil Fulmer, Lady Vols basketball coach Pat Summitt and BasketVols head coach Bruce Pearl take home the following:

• PDF Files: Coach Fulmer’s Contract and Coach Pearl’s Contract

Depending on your criteria (i.e. whether you include optional bonuses, one-time bonuses, etc.) Fulmer’s salary ranks 4th among SEC football coaches (behind 1. Saban, 2. Meyer and 3. Tubberville), and 10th nationally. Pat Summitt, on the other hand is the highest paid women’s basketball coach in the country, and in fact the 13th highest paid basketball coach in college basketball men or women’s. Bruce Pearl currently ranks around 14th in terms of salary among basketball coaches across the country who appeared in the NCAA tournament.

In fairness, many would say -- without any disrespect to Pearl’s successes as skipper of the BasketVols -- that (unless you are Arkansas head football coach Bobby Petrino) Pearl is a relative newcomer to the ranks of major Division I college coaches. Until three years ago, Pearl was coach at "directional" Wisconsin-Milwaukee (I wonder if Laverne or Shirley went to school there?).

Here’s a little comparison of how other schools around the country value their head basketball coaches:

* Kelvin Sampson was recently fired by Indiana for cheating with reckless abandon. Now, in return for his agreeing not to coach the team (and not sue the university) he will be paid $750,000. (Nice deal...)

Thus, at present, Tennessee does a pretty good job of valuing Bruce Pearl relative to other schools around the country. Still, in the modern era, coaches are judged by the "what have you done for me lately?" standard. You need only look at any season since 1999 for Phillip Fulmer to see that this is true. Since about 3 days after Tennessee won the 1998-99 football national championship, there have always been a faction of fans that have been screaming for Fulmer to go because he doesn’t win enough. Thus, in the interest of equality, it only seems fair that coaches -- at least to some extent -- should be allowed to judge their employers by the same benchmark. To Pearl’s credit, I’m not aware of any efforts on his part to garner an increase in pay. Be that as it may, it is hard to say that he hasn’t done pretty much everything possible to earn a raise.

So, in purely monetary terms, how much is Bruce Almighty worth?

I hate to go down this road, but the question must be asked -- should Pearl be paid more than Pat Summitt? The reason this is such a ... delicate ... subject is that it necessarily pits the Lady Vols against the BasketVols. For years, the Lady Vols have held an absolute monopoly on basketball success in the Volunteer City, but that has changed. By no means do I mean to suggest that the recent successes of Bruce and the Barbarians somehow render obsolete the legendary record of the Lady Vols. UT, however, finds itself in an unusual predicament. I have understood that the official policy at Tennessee is that Summitt should always make more than the men’s basketball coach (and if it isn’t a "policy" it is a functional reality). Perhaps with the exception of Rutgers, where C. Vivian Stringer is paid the same amount as the head football coach, I am not aware of any other school where that is the case.

I understand that this "rule" is intended to make up for all of the years that Tennessee undervalued Summitt by paying her next to nothing as she built a dynasty which will never be matched. When she started as coach of the Lady Vols she made a whopping $8,900 a year, hardly a sign of value. I also, as a practical matter, could care less whether Summitt makes more, so long as that doesn't prevent Tennessee from doing whatever it takes to keep Pearl in orange. I have no problem with Summitt getting a raise to stay ahead of Pearl, I just hope the "dual" nature of such raises doesn't create an issue.

All of that said, Tennessee currently pays Bruce Pearl about $91,666 a month. That is more than most people make in a year. I’m not here to debate whether coaches should be paid such huge amounts of money -- that is a different topic for a different day. Still, given all of the successes that Pearl has had with the BasketVols, it is only reasonable that he should deserve some sort of recognition for his good work. Thus the question is: what will it take to keep Pearl on the sidelines at Tennessee? I -- quite obviously -- have no answers for this. Hopefully, however, Mike Hamilton has a good grip on what it will take.

I my opinion, Tennessee needs to do what ever it takes to keep Pearl, and after this season, I imagine the cost of doing that will go up. Hopefully, Tennessee will show up at the table with whatever it takes, and will make sure Pearl realizes just how valuable he is -- to his team, to the BasketVols, to the university, and to the fans.

-- Go Figure ...

* Lawvol appears as guest on Rocky Top Talk due to Joel’s complete lack of judgment in choosing people to stand in for him while he is out of town. In addition to spending his time collecting photoshopped (a/k/a "farked") photos, embarrassing his family, and contemplating his navel, Lawvol also runs Gate 21.net