JMU's Assistant Coaches Salary Pool More Than $1 Million

HARRISONBURG — James Madison and new football coach Curt Cignetti will spend $1,073,000 on assistant coaches this year, according to contracts obtained by the Daily News-Record.

That salary pool is the sum of all salaries for 10 on-field assistant coaches, strength coach Brian Phillips and director of football operations James Ferguson.

Of the 12 staffers only two — offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Shane Montgomery and defensive coordinator and defensive ends coach Corey Hetherman — signed multi-year deals.

Hetherman, who joined the Dukes after four seasons at Maine including the last three in the same capacity, is on a two-year contract and is JMU’s highest-paid assistant. He’ll make $150,000 annually, which is almost as much as former Maine coach Joe Harasymiak netted last year when his base salary was $153,000 as the lowest paid head coach in the Colonial Athletic Association, per the Bangor Daily News.

Montgomery, like Hetherman, is on a two-year contract and that’ll pay him $140,000 per year.

At Maine, Hetherman helped the Black Bears reach the FCS national semifinals this past season as they led the country in rushing defense and were tied for second in total sacks. Montgomery was the head coach at Miami (Ohio) from 2005 through 2008, spent last season at Charlotte and the eight before that at Youngstown State.

In recent years, the only former assistants under ex-coach Mike Houston on multi-year deals were his defensive coordinator Bob Trott and offensive coordinator Donnie Kirkpatrick. And similarly to Hetherman and Montgomery, Trott and Kirkpatrick were Houston’s highest-paid assistants as Trott made $165,000 and Kirkpatrick made $155,000 last year.

All others — offensive line and assistant head coach Damian Wroblewski, special teams coordinator and tight ends coach Grant Cain, running backs coach Matt Merritt, recruiting coordinator and wide receivers coach Mike Shanahan, defensive tackles coach Andrew Jackson, linebackers coach Bryant Haines, safeties coach Ryan Smith, cornerbacks coach Matt Birkett, Phillips and Ferguson — are on one-year contracts that’ll expire on Jan. 31, 2020.

Wroblewski and Phillips both have six-figure salaries. Wroblewski is set to earn $120,000, which is $20,000 more than JMU’s last offensive line coach, Steve Shankweiler, made last year. Phillips will make $112,000.

The rest of the staff's salaries vary: Cain ($84,000), Merritt ($65,000), Shanahan ($62,000), Jackson ($65,000), Haines ($90,000), Smith ($65,000), Birkett ($70,000) and Ferguson ($50,000).

All the assistants have the same incentives in their contracts.

For each of the first three rounds (first, second, quarterfinals) of the FCS playoffs that JMU gets to, the assistants will earn one-quarter month’s salary. Reaching the national semifinal and national championship game gives assistants a bonus of one-half month’s salary and winning the national title nets the assistants another bonus of one-half month’s salary.

Cignetti signed a six-year, $425,000 per year deal in December.