Urban Meyer is one of the nation's best football coaches, so it only makes sense to pay him like it.
According to documents obtained by USA Today's Steve Berkowitz, Urban Meyer received a $330,000 raise that took effect February 1st of 2014.
The raise bumped Urban's annual compensation to $4.5 million, making him one of the highest paid coaches in America. He is due to make $750,000 if he's Ohio State's head coach on January 31st, 2016, and $1.2 million if he's the head coach on January 31st, 2018.
Charlie Strong (Texas), Kevin Sumlin (Texas A&M), Bob Stoops (Oklahoma) and Nick Saban (Alabama) all reportedly make north of $5 million annually.
Meyer's raise reflected an 8% increase to his base salary; his pay for media, promotions and public relations; and his pay in connection with Ohio State's shoe, apparel and equipment deal with Nike, according to a letter to the coach from athletics director Gene Smith. The letter, dated March 25, said the increases were based on Smith's recommendations.
Because Meyer's compensation package exceeds $350,000, the raise had to be approved by several top officials, including the university president, according to a policy posted on the university's web site. Joseph Alutto was serving as Ohio State's interim president at the time of Meyer's raise; Michael Drake became the president June 30.
While Urban's tenure has yet to garner any trophies outside of a 2012 and 2013 Leaders division titles, his coaching prowess remains unquestioned. Also unquestioned is that even at $4.5 million annually, Urban Meyer is still a bargain.
