Q: Who was the first college football coach to make $1 million? At what point were football coaches valued at $1 million-plus salaries?
—Bob Markert, Roswell
A: Former Florida State coach Bobby Bowden is credited as the first college football coach to earn $1 million a year with a deal in November 1995, according to published reports.
Steve Spurrier, then the coach at Florida, and former Notre Dame coach Lou Holtz also had contracts that approached $1 million at that time.
By 2001, 22 football coaches made at least $1 million a year, according to a USA Today article from August of that year. Spurrier topped the list at $2.1 million, followed by then-Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops at $2 million, according to the article.
Q: Why are the Dallas Cowboys called “America’s Team?” Who made that decision?
—Kathy McDonough, Peachtree Corners
A: The nickname came from NFL Films' Dallas Cowboys highlight video for the 1978 season.
“I saw all these (Cowboys) fans in away stadiums,” NFL Films producer Bob Ryan said in a later NFL Films video. “Hey, they’re the most popular team in the country. How can I use that? Why don’t we call them ‘America’s Team?’ ”
The narrator says in the intro to that season’s highlight film: “They appear on television so often, that their faces are as familiar to the public as presidents and movie stars. They are the Dallas Cowboys. ‘America’s Team.’ “
Fast Copy News Service wrote this column. Do you have a question? We’ll try to get the answer. Call 404-222-2002 or email q&a@ajc.com (include name, phone and city).
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