Is Jim Harbaugh worth twice as much as Colts' Jim Caldwell?

January 7, 2011
Back to TopCommentsE-mailPrint

Former Indianapolis Colts quarterback and current Stanford coach Jim Harbaugh is a hot commodity in the National Football League.

Even though he hasn’t coached a single game at the pro level, at least two teams (Miami and San Francisco) are willing to pay Harbaugh $7 million annually. That would put him near the top of the heap in terms of pay among NFL coaches.

New England Patriots Coach Bill Belichick is the highest paid coach at $7.5 million annually. Few would doubt his worth. But there are a few less worthy coaches on the top 10 list.

Washington’s Mike Shanahan is second, making $7 million annually. Pete Carroll, who was fired in New England and replaced by Belichick has been reborn in the pro ranks in Seattle and is making $6.7 million annually. Arizona’s Ken Whisenhunt, Tennessee’s Jeff Fisher and Pittsburgh’s Mike Tomlin rank No. 4, No. 5 and No. 6 on the list, with each making $5.75 million.

Philadelphia’s Andy Reid makes $5.5 million, New York Giants’ Tom Coughlin makes $5.25 million, and Jacksonville’s Jack Del Rio makes $5 million. Rounding out the top 10 is Chicago’s Lovie Smith who makes $4.8 million.

Missing from the list is Indianapolis Colts Coach Jim Caldwell, who makes about $3.5 million annually.

So is Jim Harbaugh, with no NFL head coaching experience, worth twice as much as Caldwell? Well, he’s done a great job at Stanford, but that’s still a tough call.

It could be easier to argue that Caldwell deserves at least as much credit as the coaches of two teams (Tennessee and Jacksonville) who have finished behind the Colts each of the last two years.

But maybe as New York Jets Coach Rex Ryan says about the Indianapolis Colts, “it’s all Peyton Manning.”
 

ADVERTISEMENT
  • Whisenhunt
    Cardinals FanJanuary 7, 2011 1:04 PM
    Ken Whisenhunt coaches AZ not St. Louis. Also, I am not hating on Coach Caldwell but I do not recall any teams trying to interview him when there were coaching vacancies during Dungy's tenure. I am not saying he is not a great coach but that is the reason why he has a lower salary.
    Reply to CommentFlag Comment
  • Market dictates, no surprise
    IU HoosiersJanuary 7, 2011 2:03 PM
    This is how the normal job market works. A lot of newly hired college recruits make more money than current employees. It is how top talent is recruited and retained. It may seem unfair but it is what the market bears. Eventually the lower paid, more deserving coaches will use these offers as leverage for bigger contracts themselves.
    Reply to CommentFlag Comment
  • Caldwell
    LukeJanuary 7, 2011 3:54 PM
    Caldwell was interviewed by a couple of different teams and is why the Colts made him head coach in waiting.
    Reply to CommentFlag Comment
  • It makes perfect sense
    IndyToddJanuary 8, 2011 12:37 AM
    The question you have to ask yourself is what would the market have been for Jim Caldwell if the Colts had not hired him to replace Dungy? I don't disagree that there were teams interested in him and maybe he would have landed a job somewhere eventually. However, he was definitely not the hot candidate Harbaugh was so the market would not have offered him anywhere near the money Harbaugh can get now. Caldwell had not track record of being able to build a winning team as a head coach and would have been looked at as a bigger risk than Harbaugh by many. Plus, Harbaugh is certainly a bigger name than Jim Caldwell was or probably even is now. And, like it or not, that is worth some money in the market.

    Now, the million dollar question (no pun intended) is whether it really matters much who the coach is with Peyton Manning running the show? Obviously you need someone decent but I'm not sure that there aren't plenty of other head coaches that would have the same level of success with Manning.

    Caldwell isn't even done with his second year as a head coach yet. It's possible that Irsay might reward Caldwell with a better deal in the offseson if the Colts have a nice playoff run.

    You've got to ask yourself how much of a bidding war there would be right now for Jim Caldwell if he was open to moving. I'm guessing it wouldn't be nearly on the level of what Harbaugh is seeing. For better or worse, Caldwell will never prove himself completely until you see what he can do over the long term without Manning.
    Reply to CommentFlag Comment
    • Puppet
      srJanuary 8, 2011 9:33 AM
      The smart money says Caldwell is no more than a puppet of Irsey and Manning. A high school coach could be on the side lines and win.I like Jim bt I tellyou this the man shows no personality ad a true winner i.e.-super bowl winner are all pretty much teams who mirror their head coach who shows passion and excitement unlike Caldwell.
      Reply to CommentFlag Comment
    • Yep
      CoopJanuary 9, 2011 12:02 AM
      I'm sure Harbaugh wouldn't call a bonehead timeout with the season on the line that would allow the opponent to advance the ball 20 more yards down the field.
      Reply to CommentFlag Comment
    • Caldwell is flat-out stupid
      Scott PJanuary 9, 2011 1:26 AM
      And what makes it worse is that JIM CALDWELL DOESN'T EVEN LEARN FROM HIS MISTAKES! When asked in the postgame Q&A about the timeout, he said he "wanted to name them snap the ball as many times as possible". He still doesn't realize that the timeout allowed them to talk it over & take a shot downfield. If Caldwell does NOTHING, the Jets hurry to run another play (probably a run or a short throw) & then use their final timeout. But it's a 45-50 yard FG, not an easy 32 yarder!

      You could tell by Peyton's reaction on the sideline that he disagreed with the timeout. I will always trust Manning's football intelligence over Caldwell-- the guy who went 26-63 in his only other head coaching stint.
      Reply to CommentFlag Comment
    • Jim Caldwell
      JoyceJanuary 9, 2011 2:43 PM
      And what does Jim Caldwell do for 3.5m?" Too bad he can't go on and get Harbaugh at whatever price--so someone--to replace him. He would never have had that job had it not been for Dungy--he wasn't a great coach either. He is a great person not a great coach. PEYTON MANNING IS QUARTERBACK AND COACH--he is too great of a person to ever say that. When Peyton leaves, they will have to hire a coach.
      Reply to CommentFlag Comment
    • RINGING TRUE
      JOENovember 1, 2011 11:54 PM
      just ran across this old post , I would say at this point Harbaugh is 4 times the coach Caldwell is
      Reply to CommentFlag Comment

    Post a comment to this blog

    COMMENTS POLICY
    We reserve the right to remove any post that we feel is obscene, profane, vulgar, racist, sexually explicit, abusive, or hateful.
     
    You are legally responsible for what you post and your anonymity is not guaranteed.
     
    Posts that insult, defame, threaten, harass or abuse other readers or people mentioned in IBJ editorial content are also subject to removal. Please respect the privacy of individuals and refrain from posting personal information.
     
    No solicitations, spamming or advertisements are allowed. Readers may post links to other informational websites that are relevant to the topic at hand, but please do not link to objectionable material.
     
    We may remove messages that are unrelated to the topic, encourage illegal activity, use all capital letters or are unreadable.
     

    Messages that are flagged by readers as objectionable will be reviewed and may or may not be removed. Please do not flag a post simply because you disagree with it.

    ADVANCED SEARCH
    Sponsored by
    ADVERTISEMENT

    1. So the Mayor adds another non value added layer to having a vehicle towed? Whereby the City Government RECIEVES AN ILLEGAL KICKBACK FROM A LGOISTICS COMPANY THAT SUBS THE WORK TO LOCAL TOW COMPANIES? What is the service the City performs for receiving the "tribute"? This is RICO!!!!! What a corrupt and unnecessary layer. What a dirtbag Mayor and his cronies.

    2. Owner occupied housing. Clear enough?

    3. So people think I am paranoid. It's from experience in dealing with puds requested by developers who make major donations themselves to representatives, have nice fund raisers for those running for office and hide through pac's. then there are the public relation firms. You will note some pr comments below. You there Clyde Lee? My opinion. Commercial along 421, great. Multifamily housing, terrible idea that will change the town. Senior condos or zero lot line homes west, great. I suggest keeping all entries to commercial areas at 421. All entries to owner occupied on sycamore. Will keep the traffic on sycamore down some. Two other things. You can't trust what will be there in 10 years. Steve builds quality stuff, but areas change over time. Look at the changes at the wall mart center at 86th and 421 over the last 10 years. Look at the apartments and neighborhoods behind St Vincent's. Raintree properties WILL decrease in value if commercial and multifamily goes in near. It has already been happening around the bridges area. The houses that have been sold recently are way below market. Several deals not closed due to the Illinois construction and the whole unsurety of the bridges. It's pretty simple, Zionsville will approve the whole thing because the city council has been groomed over a LONG period of time for this. I might even suggest some are in their position as a result of this.

    4. Esta, do you have a dog in this fight? You seem to really want to knock anyone against this project. No, I didn't move to Indiana for the architecture. I moved here for that red barn in the field. The horses and fields of corn. A place that is NOT overdeveloped. There are plenty of nearby places in Indianapolis that could be REDEVELOPED instead.

    5. RKW - OK, we get it, you're paranoid. The question is, are you paranoid enough? Greg - Yes, Pittman(s) is (are) at it again. They are developers, they build things. It's what they do. So when you go to work tomorrow, Greg, you're at it again too. Cliff - Really? You moved to Indiana for its progressive architecture? That's like moving to England for the cuisine. Zionsvillain - The house you moved to was once a field or woods. I'm willing to bet folks were upset when that ground was plowed under and a house was built. But I guess now that you are in, everything should stop? "My house was OK, but the next one is sprawl." SE Guy - Please don't paint us with such a wide brush. Most reasonable Zionsville residents welcome planned, measured development.

    ADVERTISEMENT