NU discloses salaries for Davison, other key football employees

Matt Davison will earn an annual salary of $175,000 as Nebraska’s new associate athletic director for football, according to information released Thursday by the university.

Davison, a former teammate of new Nebraska head football coach Scott Frost and who played a key role in convincing Frost to take the Nebraska job, assumes the position previously held by Billy Devaney.

Devaney, who worked under former head coach Mike Riley, earned $305,250 as a non-contract employee of the university.

Davison does not yet have a contract, said Keith Mann, an athletic department spokesman.

Davison, who worked in the medical sales business, also has been the color analyst for Nebraska football and basketball games on the Husker Sports Network.

While the university has not said whether Davison will continue in the broadcast booth, it is not unheard of for university employees to help on broadcasts.

Also Thursday, Nebraska released contract details for key football support positions, including head football strength and conditioning coach Zach Duval, and the final contracts for nine of Frost’s assistant coaches, who came from Central Florida.

Duvall, who held a similar position at Central Florida, will earn substantially more at Nebraska. His two-year contract calls for base pay of $375,000, up from $165,000 at Central Florida.

Mark Philipp, the head strength and conditioning coach under Riley earned

$225,000.

The base pay for other athletic department employees, according to contracts released Thursday to the Lincoln Journal-Star: Chief of operations Gerrod Lambrecht, $375,000; director of recruiting Sean Dillon, $150,000; associate director of recruiting Ryan Callaghan, $100,000; and director of player personnel Mike Cassano, $110,000.

Frost, the Nebraska native who has earned numerous coach of the year awards this month, has tentatively agreed to a $37 million, seven-year contract. His final contract terms, at $5 million a year, have not yet been released by the university.

The university also awarded Frost a $5 million pool to cover his ten-person coaching staff and Duvall’s position. All those assistants received two-year contracts through December 2019.

Of his first nine assistants, contracts for offensive coordinator and receivers’ coach Troy Walters and tight end coach Sean Beckton were the only two that had not been previously disclosed by the university.

Walters will earn a base salary of $700,000, making him the second-highest-paid assistant on Frost’s staff after defensive coordinator Erik Chinander, who earns a base salary of $800,000.

Beckton received a base salary of $400,000.

*Offensive line coach Greg Austin: $475,000

*Outside linebackers coach and special teams coordinator Jovan Dewitt: $475,000

*Defensive line coach Mike Dawson: $475,000

*Quarterbacks coach Mario Verduzco: $375,000

* Defensive backs coach Travis Fisher: $300,000

*Running backs coach Ryan Held: $300,000.

New NCAA rules allow schools to add a tenth assistant football coach on Jan. 6. It is widely expected that Barrett Ruud, the former Nebraska linebacker who joined Frost’s staff at Central Florida, will be named a linebacker coach.

Looking at the dollars revealed so far, Frost has allocated about $4.65 million of his $5 million staff pool. That leaves about $350,000 for a tenth assistant, although Frost’s tentative contract gives him some discretion on how to allocate that salary pool.

Steve Rosen covers business of sports topics for HuskerOnline.com. Questions, comments, column ideas? Send emails to sbrosen1030@gmail.com.