Head Football Coach Is Highest-Paid Public Employee In Illinois

Champaign IL

27 January, 2020

12:19 PM

Description

From The Center Square: CHAMPAIGN, IL — Lovie Smith, head football coach at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, earned $5 million in 2018, making Smith the highest-paid public employee in Illinois that year, according to a ranking by the website GOBankingRates. On the ranking of the highest-paid public employees in each state, Smith's salary came in ninth, according to the analysis. Data from USA Today's 2018 NCAA salary reports, as well as OpenTheBooks.com, were used by the website to create the ranking of top public employee salaries. Some of the employees in the ranking have left their positions since last year, however, according to GOBankingRates. Twenty-nine of the people on the list — or 58 percent — held the position of the head football coach at a major university, the study said. Most of them were earning annual pay of $1 million or more, according to the analysis. --- Highest-Paid Public Employees by State in 2018 Source: GOBankingRates.com The focus of the work of The Center Square Illinois is state- and local-level government and economic reporting that approaches stories with a taxpayer sensibility. For more stories from The Center Square, visit TheCenterSquare.com.