Back to those questions!!
Q: ianSC said:
Any updates on SC taking over the Coliseum lease? There are so many improvements that need to be made, I’m wondering when they can get started and what can be finished before next season.
A: It was supposed to be wrapped up by February. The Los Angeles City Council asked the Coliseum Commission to hold off on doing anything at its early December meeting where USC hoped for the first step toward taking control. I know university officials are eager to get started. As I said before, USC is going to spend $26 million just to replace all 92,000 seats.
Q: TrojanPete said:
Scott,
USA Today ran an article listing the pay of college football head coaches and assistant coaches. Lane Kiffin and the USC assistants weren’t included as USC is a private school and it does not disclose coach’s pay. In what range would you put Kiffin’s annual salary and the combined pay of the USC football assistants? Thanks.
A: Lane Kiffin made around $2 million his first season and about 2.2 this season. Ed Orgeron makes about $1 million. Monte Kiffin makes between $1.2-1.5. John Baxter’s in the $650,000 range. The rest make between $250,000-$500,000.
The LA Times reported on Dec 22, 2011 that on Wednesday Dec 21 – “Coliseum Commission President David Israel has instructed lawyers to resolve all deal points with the university and to prepare a lease that can be voted on early next year. The school would then upgrade the stadium… USC wants near total operational control of the taxpayer-owned facility in return for guaranteeing that the Trojan football team would remain at the stadium for generations. The school is expected to pour tens of millions of dollars into upgrading the 88-year-old facility southwest of downtown Los Angeles…. ‘We’re excited to move forward,’ Kristina Raspe, USC’s associate senior vice president for real estate, said after the meeting. Coliseum Commission President David Israel said in a statement that the commission and USC ‘have made great progress towards assuring the Coliseum will remain a vital and vibrant asset’… Israel said commissioners instructed their lawyers ‘to work with USC officials to achieve a full resolution on all deal points, and prepare a modified lease’ to be voted on early next year. The proposed terms of the deal are secret, although Israel said they will be made public one week before a public vote.”