Balancing Budgets: How Does Your Athletic Department Compare

Budget Size Matters

While it’s a simple to expect smaller-enrollment schools to have smaller budgets, the size of the school budget does generate some interesting numbers. Budgets were separated by small (less than $150,000), medium ($151,000-300,000) and large (more than $300,000), which moves a lot of mid-size enrollment schools into the smaller-budget group and breaks out those athletic directors who have a giant budget to manage.

The number that jumps off the page when comparing small-, medium- and large-budget schools is that a whopping 80% of athletic directors at schools with a budget of $300,000 or more also coach.

A possible explanation for the phenomenon of so many large-budget athletic directors also coaching is that these administrators came up through the coaching ranks and never wanted to leave. They understand the plight of coaches, know how to defend coaches and are more connected to the athletic department by serving in both roles.

Interestingly, large-budget athletic directors are the least likely to also teach at the school. Only 30% serve as teachers. That number increases to 37.5% for the medium-size-budget athletic directors and jumps to 60.7% for athletic directors with small budgets. These numbers show that athletic directors who have a limited budget are forced to wear many hats and do not have the luxury of “only” running their department.

School Funding

Many athletic directors commented that they now seriously have to consider cutting some sports or programs to make budgets balance. Most expressed dismay about eliminating programs but one athletic director offered a different take on the matter. “Do not offer what you cannot do well and fund responsibly over the long haul. Schools need to cut back on the number of sports they offer to be fiscally responsible. If we continue down this path of trying to be all things to all people and offer every sport possible, then we undermine the fiscal security of the entire athletic department.”

Another offshoot of limited funding comes from districts limiting or not adding new teachers. Generally, it’s new teachers who are getting into coaching. If districts aren’t adding new teachers, then athletic directors need to look outside the school walls for coaches. One athletic director said, “this requires us to move practice times to the late afternoon and evening (to accommodate work schedules of non-teachers), thus sports are no longer serving as an after-school activity.”

More Duties/Less Time

Ask an athletic director what his or her job responsibilities are and you may be in for a long, one-sided conversation. It’s scheduling, budgets, hiring, firing, coordinating travel, attending games, working with administrators, dealing with parents … and all of that is on a slow day. One of the highest-ranking areas where athletic directors are “most concerned” comes down to simply finding more hours in the day to handle all their tasks.

Most athletic directors have more than one job. Slightly more than three-fifths (60.1%) of athletic directors also said they are coaches with 53.8% reporting they are teachers and 24.1% acting as the vice principal as well.

One athletic director who captured what many were saying reported that, “I teach nearly a full schedule (five classes a day) besides being the athletic director. I have no assistant or secretary. I have no game managers and now have to take on the equipment-manager job as that position was eliminated.”

Another respondent added that the pay for athletic directors has not kept pace with increased responsibilities. Some of those new responsibilities (concussion management was used as an example) require a sophisticated, advanced knowledge only received via continuing education.