Three Ohio State assistants see their salaries break the $500k mark

By Ben KerchevalMay 13, 2013, 7:00 AM EDT

Florida offensive coordinator Brent Pease was one of three Gator assistants to receive raises earlier this month. Now, assistants at Urban Meyer‘s new job, Ohio State, will be getting bumps in pay as well.

The Columbus Dispatch reports that three Buckeyes assistants — defensive coordinator Luke Fickell, co-defensive coordinator/assistant head coach Everett Withers and offensive coordinator Tom Herman — will see their salary break the $500,000 mark in 2013. Specifically, Fickell will receive $600,000, Withers will get $580,000 and Herman $550,000. The latter two are seeing an increase by $130,000 with Fickell actually receiving a pay reduction of $150,000 from the $750,000 he received in 2012. However, that was considered as additional compensation for his service as the Buckeyes’ interim coach and is still significantly larger than his 2010 salary of $275,000.

Ohio State’s six other assistants will receive more modest raises, with the largest one going to special teams coordinator and cornerbacks coach Kerry Coombs (up $25,000 to $300,000). Meyer himself will see a bump in base salary to around $4.16 million from $4 million.

Still, Ohio State assistants are nowhere near among the highest-paid in college football. Alabama’s Kirby Smart and Clemson’s Chad Morris are two coordinators in the million-dollar salary range. And all assistants are either on one or two-year deals.

“We want to be top of the pyramid, no doubt,” Ohio State athletic director Gene Smith said. “I don’t know exactly what the number is, top 10 nationally, but we’re about winning conference championships consistently and chasing national championships. And we want to be able to recruit the best and the brightest to do that. With that in mind, we have to be able to compensate those people at that level.”

Utah State player upgraded to fair condition after collapse

Associated PressMar 25, 2023, 1:50 AM EDT

Stephen Lew/Getty Images

Utah State redshirt freshman wide receiver Josh Davis is in fair condition on Friday, one day after collapsing at spring football practice following sudden cardiac arrest, the university announced.

Davis, initially was listed in critical condition, was breathing on his own. He is in the intensive-care unit at McKay-Dee Hospital in Ogden, Utah.

Davis’ parents arrived in Utah on Thursday evening.

The 6-foot-1, 185-pound Davis, who is from Carlsbad, California, collapsed at Merlin Olsen Field and was immediately treated by the training staff, the university said. He was taken to Logan Regional Hospital.

The university said Davis was stabilized in the Logan hospital before being moved to Ogden.

Alabama suspends freshman defensive back after drug arrest

Associated PressMar 20, 2023, 10:32 PM EDT

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TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Alabama freshman defensive back Tony Mitchell has been suspended from the team following his arrest on a drug charge.

Crimson Tide coach Nick Saban said Monday after the first practice of spring that Mitchell was suspended from the team “and all team activities until we gather more information about the situation and what his legal circumstance is.”

The Holmes County Sheriff’s Office arrested Mitchell and another man, Christophere Lewis, last week on a charge of possession of marijuana with the intent to sell or deliver, according to a post on the department’s Facebook page. Lewis also was charged with carrying a concealed gun without a permit.

“Everybody’s got an opportunity to make choices and decisions,” Saban said. “There’s no such thing as being in the wrong place at the wrong time. You’ve gotta be responsible for who you’re with, who you’re around and what you do, who you associate yourself with and the situations that you put yourself in. It is what it is, but there is cause and effect when you make choices and decisions that put you in bad situations.”

Mitchell, who is from Alabaster, Alabama, was a five-star prospect rated the 34th-best player and No. 3 safety in the 247Composite rankings.

Mitchell was driving the vehicle during a traffic stop. After deputies smelled marijuana, Mitchell picked up a baggie of marijuana from the passenger floorboard, according to the department’s Facebook post.

Sheriff’s deputies found “an additional significant amount of marijuana, a set of scales, a loaded handgun between the passenger seat and center console, and a large amount of cash,” according to the department’s Facebook post.