The Georgia Bulldogs begin preseason football practice Tuesday afternoon, and they will do so with the highest-paid coaching staff in program history.
All nine assistants will be making at least $275,000 annually, with second-year defensive coordinator Jeremy Pruitt leading the way at $1.3 million. New offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer is next at $960,200, with defensive line coach Tracy Rocker ($500,000), receivers coach Bryan McClendon ($400,000) and new offensive line coach Rob Sale ($400,000) rounding out the top five.
Tight ends coach John Lilly, who had play-calling duties in last December's 37-14 rout of Louisville in the Belk Bowl, received a $100,000 raise to $350,000, while outside linebackers coach Kevin Sherrer received a $130,000 raise to $350,000. Inside linebackers coach Mike Ekeler received a $25,000 raise to $275,000, which matches the salary of new running backs coach Thomas Brown.
The complete list of Georgia's updated salaries was first reported by the Athens Banner-Herald.
Georgia's assistant coaches are making about $4.81 million combined this season after making roughly $3.31 million last year. Pruitt was the highest-paid Bulldogs assistant last year at $851,600, followed by former offensive coordinator Mike Bobo at $575,000 and Rocker at $351,600.
Bulldogs players are scheduled to report today before embarking on the 15th August camp for Georgia head coach Mark Richt. It was also a profitable offseason for Richt, who had his annual salary bumped in January from $3.2 million to $4 million.
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524.