Georgia Tech coach Brent Key stayed well within his budget in making the first two hires to his coaching staff. Offensive coordinator Buster Faulkner and offensive-line coach Geep Wade were given two-year deals worth $750,000 and $350,000, respectively. The contract information was obtained by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution through an open-records request.
Upon his hire, Key was granted a salary pool for the staff – coaches and support staff such as strength coaches and analysts – of $7.5 million, an increase of more than 30% from last year’s pool ($5.7 million). Faulkner’s $750,000 salary is $75,000 less than what former offensive coordinator Chip Long made last season. Wade’s $350,000 salary is a little more than half of the $650,000 that the previous offensive-line coach – Key – was contracted to earn last season.
The USA Today database of assistant coaching salaries – which does not include coaches whose contract information was exempt from open-records requests, primarily coaches at private colleges – includes 17 assistant coaches in the ACC who made more than $750,000 in the 2022 season.
Likewise, the database included 57 assistant coaches in the ACC last season who made more than the $350,000 that Wade is scheduled to receive for his work in the 2023 season.
Wade’s salary at Appalachian State last year was $145,000, according to the database. Faulkner earned a reported $250,000 last year as an offensive analyst at Georgia.
Contract information for other assistant coaches had not been received through open-records requests as of Friday.
