How NC State’s assistant coaches salaries compare to the rest of the ACC
NC State defensive coordinator Tony Gibson is the highest paid assistant on staff, and is the most compensated defensive coordinator in the ACC, according to USA Today’s assistant coaches salaries database.
Gibson is paid $1.3 million this season, and trails Clemson offensive coordinator Garrett Riley ($2.05 million) as the highest paid assistant in the ACC. Gibson’s pay is an increase from last year, when he was paid just over $1 million for his services.
The third-year defensive coordinator has earned his increase as the Wolfpack continue to boast one of the best defenses in the country. NC State ranks inside the top 25 nationally in 10 categories, and it is first in the ACC with 14 interceptions while it is third in the league in rushing defense (100.3 yards) and sacks (30).
Gibson is also one of 57 nominees for the Broyles Award, which goes to the top assistant in college football. He said he did not even know he was on the list until he received a text message from his agent, which was soon followed by a message from an NC State graduate assistant.
Though he is on the storied list, Gibson played it off as a team award, not an individual one.
“That’s a whole defensive award,” Gibson said. “Without the players that we have here, my name wouldn’t even be mentioned. Without the staff that we have here, it wouldn’t be mentioned. I’m honored and humbled to be on that list with so many great coaches. It’s a full staff effort, it’s not just me. I wish they would just put the NC State defensive staff on it instead of my name.”
While Gibson is the highest-paid assistant on staff, NC State has allocated $5.84 million for its total assistant coaching pool this year, while it is paying head coach Dave Doeren $5.02 million in 2023. NC State’s assistant coaching pool is the fourth-highest of the eight ACC schools that USA Today had data for — Boston College, Duke, Miami, Pittsburgh, Syracuse and Wake Forest did not report those complete figures.
Clemson outspends the conference with $7.75 million for its assistants, while North Carolina allocates $6.618 million and Florida State pays $6.595 million to its assistant coaches.
NC State outpaces Virginia Tech ($5.14 million), Georgia Tech ($4.76 million), Louisville ($4.4 million) and Virginia ($4.38 million) in its assistant coaches pool.
NC State offensive coordinator Robert Anae is paid $899,000, up from the $650,000 he made at Virginia during the 2021 season. He spent last year at Syracuse, but as a private institution, it did not release Anae’s contract to USA Today.
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Special teams coordinator Todd Goebbel is paid $548,473, while offensive line coach Garrett Tujague receives $520,000 to round out NC State’s coaches that make more than half a million.
Tuajgue made $400,000 last season at Virginia and is making the most he has made since he started coaching in the ACC with the Cavaliers in 2016.
Defensive line coach Charley Wiles makes $490,023, assistant head coach and wide receivers coach Joker Phillips is paid $482,966, while safeties coach Joe DeForest makes $430,459.
Quarterbacks coach Kurt Roper receives $430,359, cornerbacks coach Brian Mitchell makes $417,205 and nickels coach Freddie Aughtry-Lindsay rounds out the Wolfpack’s on-field coaches at $330,644.
NC State strength coach Dantonio Burnette is the 22nd-highest paid strength coach in the country at $477,664, according to the available data.
All of NC State’s non-coordinator assistant coaches received a pay increase between $26,176 (Wiles) and $43,595 (Goebbel) from last season’s pay to bring it to their current total, according to USA Today.
