When new Georgia Tech defensive coordinator Ted Roof sells recruits on the value of a degree from the Institute, he won’t need to look far for an example.

The Tech athletic department gave Roof, a member of the class of 1987, a three-year, $1.65 million contract, which makes him one of the highest-paid assistant coaches in the ACC. Roof was hired in January from Penn State to replace Al Groh, dismissed in the middle of the 2012 season. A copy of Roof’s contract was obtained through an open records request.

Among reported contracts for coaches at the league’s eight public schools, Roof’s $550,000 annual salary is second among defensive coordinators in terms of average salary. Clemson’s Brent Venables is the league’s highest-paid defensive coordinator with a four-year contract worth $800,000 annually. Clemson offensive coordinator Chad Morris is believed to be the highest paid assistant in the country at $1.3 million per year on a six-year contract.

Much will be expected from Roof, whose defense at Penn State ranked second in the Big Ten in scoring defense last year and who helped Auburn win a national championship in 2010. The Yellow Jackets will return eight starters on defense.

Roof will make 71 percent more than Groh, who worked on a three-year contract worth $965,000 (about $322,000 annually). At Auburn, where Roof coached 2009-2011, Roof earned $500,000 annually under his last contract. His contract information at Penn State, where he coached in 2012, was not available.

Roof’s deal also includes an annual $50,000 retention bonus and incentives for going to a bowl game and finishing in the top five in the ACC in various defensive statistics. Groh’s deal only included a bowl bonus.

Roof’s standard-raising contract, which will challenge an athletic department budget scheduled to run a net loss of $1.7 million this fiscal year, is part of the cost of doing business. While Roof’s contract is second in the league, Florida State’s Jeremy Pruitt ($542,000 annually) and Virginia’s Jon Tenuta ($500,000) are not far behind. At Georgia, defensive coordinator Todd Grantham is earning $825,000 annually.