Dalton football coach salary likely to stay same

DALTON — Dalton High School’s next football coach can expect a coaching supplement in the range of the $17,000 that former coach Adam Winegarden received, and the school will stay with a statewide trend that separates the duties of football coach and athletic director.

Winegarden, who according to sources was pressured to resign by a handful of boosters angered when it became a matter of public record that he applied for a job at Perry High School, receives $17,221 in sports-related compensation at Dalton, including $15,786 for coaching football. He also gets $957 for instructing strength training and $478 as a gym manager.

Coupled with his $53,365 state salary as a special education teacher, Winegarden’s total compensation is $78,689 for the current school year. He announced he would no longer be the Catamounts’ football coach on Feb. 8, but his resignation as a teacher is not effective until June 4.

The supplemental package is the highest for any football coach at any public high school in Whitfield and Murray counties. Teaching salaries obtained from the three school systems vary according to a person’s experience and advanced degrees earned over the years.

Dalton is hoping to have its next coach in place by April 23, giving him plenty of time to prepare for spring practice that begins on May 17. Principal Debbie Freeman and athletic director Ronnie McClurg have said they will establish a search committee, but names of the other committee members have not been announced. McClurg, the school’s football coach and athletic director from 2001-2007 before resigning from his coaching position, has not stated publicly what the qualifications for the new coach would be.

Contacted Saturday to discuss the search, McClurg answered several questions but became angry when asked whether there was any flexibility in the coaching supplement the school might have when it comes down to negotiations with the prospective new coach and abruptly ended the telephone interview.

McClurg, who works on a 49 percent contract, is given a $6,741 supplement for serving as athletic director for a total salary of $37,827, again according to the figures provided by Dalton Public Schools. McClurg works half a day and his salary is derived by taking 49 percent of what he would make if on a full-time contract, adding to that figure his athletic director’s supplement. His current salary is in addition to retirement benefits.

Murray County football coach John Zeigler’s coaching supplement is $12,000, giving him a total salary of $73,873, according to figures provided by Danny Dunn, human resource director of the Murray County Board of Education.

At North Murray, football coach Larry Cornelius’ coaching supplement is $13,200, with $7,200 for football, $5,000 for wrestling and $1,000 for strength and conditioning. His total salary is $43,748 at the first-year school. Cornelius said after last week’s state traditional tournament that he will resign as the Mountaineers’ wrestling coach.

Mike Falleur, the longest tenured of area head football coaches, has filled the coach/athletic director roles at Northwest Whitfield since his hiring in 2002, and getting both jobs was a key factor in him coming to Tunnel Hill, he said.

Falleur’s salary is $89,305, according to fiscal year 2009 information published at open.georgia.com. According to a breakdown provided by Eric Beavers, community and media relations specialist for Whitfield County Schools, Falleur earns $7,500 for football and $3,200 as the Bruins’ athletic director.

David Crane, who just completed his second year as coach at Southeast, earns $73,784, including a $7,500 supplement for football.

Falleur, who has been a coach/athletic director for 14 years at Burke County, Elbert County and Northwest, is part of a diminishing breed, said Jeff Beggs, first vice president of the Georgia Athletic Directors Association.

“I think the trend over the last 10 to 15 years has been to separate the two jobs,” said Beggs, who holds both titles at St. Francis, a first-year private school in Alpharetta that will begin playing varsity sports in 2012. “I have stats to back this up. Three or four years ago, I did a mini-study and it showed 25 percent of head football coaches were also athletic directors, and most of those were at smaller schools.”

Beggs said there are exceptions, like Falleur at Class 4A Northwest and Jeff Herron at Class 5A Camden County, coaches who handle both jobs.

“But Camden County is a one-school system,” said Beggs, who has been an athletic director for 18 years with additional stops at Rockdale County and Winder-Barrow. “I can tell you, the people who have both jobs also have long work days, and I’m talking 12- to 14-hour days on a routine basis. While football is king, the AD has to pay the same type attention time-wise to tennis, golf, soccer and track athletes that he gives to football.”

Falleur acknowledges it’s becoming more difficult to give the time necessary to oversee ever-growing athletic programs.

“It’s definitely very time-consuming,” he said. “Luckily, I have Margaret Stockburger (girls basketball coach) as my assistant AD and a secretary (Katie Sanders) helping me out. Margaret takes a lot of things off me during football season and Katie Sanders helps out tremendously with the paperwork.

“The jobs are doable but you have to have an understanding wife that knows you’re going to be gone a lot.”

Falleur said he recognizes the trend toward separating the duties; at one time in his eight-year stint at Northwest, he had thoughts of getting out of one of his jobs.

“If I had to let one go, it would be AD,” he said. “I love football.”

In addition to Dalton since McClurg’s resignation as football coach, Murray County, North Murray and Southeast have separated the jobs of football coach and athletic director.

As part of his $69,211 salary, Scott Ramsey earns $3,200 as Southeast’s AD. He also is paid $3,500 for strength training and another $1,700 for serving as an assistant girls basketball coach at Valley Point Middle School.

Mitch Holcomb, a longtime teacher and coach at Murray County, receives a $12,359 supplement for his athletic director’s duties in his total salary of $97,804.

Josh Lowe, who was football coach and assistant athletic director at Murray County before accepting teaching and athletic director jobs at North Murray, earns a salary of $72,159 that includes $11,848 for his work as the AD.

Beggs, who will become the GADA president next year, said he understands why so many schools are electing to split the top two positions of any athletic program.

“An AD has to be an expert in athletics and that includes everything from how to cut the grass to eligibility, to transfer and GHSA issues, how to handle game events, dealing with security and fans who get out of line, and everything in between,” he said. “If you’re not prepared for that, it’s a very difficult situation. People doing both of those jobs find it hard to do justice to either one. I can tell you from experience, it’s an adventure every day.”

Early in his interview, McClurg said he enjoyed handling the demands of both jobs when he held them.

“I didn’t think about the time,” said McClurg, who added that the stream of applications for Dalton’s football coaching vacancy has been steady since it was posted on the school’s Web site on Feb. 12. “I do whatever it takes to get the job done. Many nights I’m at games until 10 o’clock, but that’s part of the job. I will say the paperwork is very difficult and you have to stay on top of that.”

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