Quote Originally Posted by Lantern View Post
Genuine question: do you think senior coach salaries are related to experience or to supply and demand? A coach in demand will command a higher salary, a coach on the scrapheap (or a first-time punt) will command a lower salary, regardless of experience, surely. I would imagine that performance bonuses and renegotiations/extensions after good performance knocks a coach's salary up, not simply experience.

I would also argue that no coach is being paid below his market value -- a good coach being severely underpaid would be poached sooner rather than later.
A coach who's had previous experience who wasn't an abject failure will command more than an untried coach regardless of who turns out to be better. It's the same in every industry, an untried manager in a bank who gets a promotion into the role will command a lower salary than an experienced manager brought in from somewhere else. if the untried coach proves to be a success then their next contract is on significantly improved terms (eg Clarkson at Hawthorn), does that mean they're suddenly a better coach? No, it means they're being paid in accordance with their experience.

Supply and demand comes into it because there's only a finite pool of experienced candidates to draw upon and not everyone is prepared to give a rookie a chance.