Iowa football coaches' salaries for 2023 season: Phil Parker's pay bumps to $1.4 million

For the past two years, defense and special teams have been at the center of securing a collective 18-9 record for the Iowa football program despite a historically anemic offense. The earmarked assistant-coach salaries for the 2023 season reflect that current program identity. The dollar figures for what head coach Kirk Ferentz pays his 10 full-time assistants and strength coach were obtained Thursday via an open-records request by the USA TODAY Sports Network. Defensive coordinator Phil Parker remains the only million-dollar assistant coach in state history. He will earn $1.4 million plus bonuses for the upcoming season, an increase of $100,000 over his base pay last year. Special-teams coordinator LeVar Woods got one of the healthiest salary bumps on staff, a 12% boost that brings his annual pay to $700,000. More: Phil Parker shares his secrets to building an elite defense Meanwhile, Iowa offensive coordinator Brian Ferentz – the head coach’s oldest son – had his $50,000 pay cut reflected in the public-records request. Ferentz’s contract was amended this offseason by outgoing athletics director Gary Barta, his direct supervisor, after Iowa compiled the worst yards-per-game output of any Power Five school since Wake Forest in 2014 and the Hawkeye program's lowest since 1978. Brian Ferentz’s offense must average at least 25 points in 2023 and Iowa must win seven games for him to earn a raise and a two-year contract extension; otherwise, his contract is unlikely to be renewed. Here is the summary of the 11 new salaries for Iowa football in 2023, sorted by dollar amount, before performance bonuses: Phil Parker, defensive coordinator/defensive backs, $1.4 million (up from $1.3 million, a 7.7% increase) Brian Ferentz, offensive coordinator/quarterbacks, $850,000 (down from $900,000, a 5.6% decrease) Seth Wallace, assistant defensive coordinator/linebackers, $755,000 (up from $700,000, a 7.9% increase) Raimond Braithwaite, strength and conditioning, $725,000 (up from $675,000, a 7.4% increase) LeVar Woods, special teams coordinator, $700,000 (up from $625,000, a 12% increase) George Barnett, offensive line, $645,000 (up from $600,000, a 7.5% increase) Kelvin Bell, defensive line, $620,000 (up from $575,000, a 7.8% increase) Kelton Copeland, wide receivers, $495,000 (up from $460,000, a 7.6% increase) Jay Niemann, assistant defensive line/recruiting, $495,000 (up from $460,000, a 7.6% increase) Ladell Betts, running backs/recruiting, $410,000 (up from $380,000, a 7.9% increase) Abdul Hodge, tight ends, $325,000 (up from $275,000, a 15.4% increase) Another notable observation in this salary pool is that Wallace is the third-highest-paid member of the staff. Wallace is a 10th-year assistant and Parker’s right-hand man for a defense that ranked No. 1 nationally in yards-per-play against in 2022 and No. 2 in yardage and scoring defense. Woods, who is revered for the production of all of his special-teams units and brings back an all-American punter in Tory Taylor, has seen his salary go up from $440,000 just two years ago. And Braithwaite, who took over as strength coach from longtime Ferentz loyalist Chris Doyle after the June 2020 racial-bias saga, has quickly risen the pay ranks. He was at $425,000 in 2021, marking a $300,000 annual boost in that two-year period. Hawkeyes columnist Chad Leistikow has covered sports for 28 years with The Des Moines Register, USA TODAY and Iowa City Press-Citizen. Follow @ChadLeistikow on Twitter.