Bjork gives salary details for new Ole Miss assistants
OXFORD | Ole Miss still has one more on-field coach to hire, but the salary details for all other new assistants are known at this point.
The Rebels have hired four coaches, including two new coordinators, since the end of the season. Wesley McGriff (defensive coordinator), Phil Longo (offensive coordinator), Bradley Dale Peveto (linebackers/run game coordinator) and Tray Scott (defensive line) are in Oxford and have started their new positions.
Those new coaches spent 2016 at Auburn, Sam Houston State, LSU and North Carolina, respectively.
Ole Miss athletics director Ross Bjork said Monday he doesn't believe the NCAA's investigation into the program had a negative impact on the searches, and the university followed the same vetting process as with any new hire.
The investigation doesn't change the standard of checking for past history of NCAA compliance.
"You do the exact same for a volleyball assistant coach or a football coach," Bjork said. "You call the NCAA, the conference and the institution of employment for the perspective coach. We check on NCAA history and how they deal with compliance and self report. We talk to the person."
Longo has a two-year contract worth $600,000 the first year and $700,000 the second year, and McGriff, who coached defensive backs at Ole Miss in 2012, is on a three-year deal worth $1 million the first season and increasing by $100,000 in each of the two following years. Ole Miss had previously released those details.
Peveto, who will also assist with special teams, has a two-year contract worth $425,000 annually, and Scott, who was a graduate assistant at Ole Miss in 2012, has a one-year contract at $375,000, Bjork told RebelGrove.com on Monday.
Ole Miss hired Matt Lubick, who spent the past season as Oregon's offensive coordinator, as its wide receivers coach, but Lubick left after less than a week for the Baylor co-offensive coordinator job.
Three of the known candidates for the wide receivers position are Arkansas State assistant Trooper Taylor, Jacob Peeler, who was a part of Sonny Dykes' California staff and West Georgia head coach Will Hall.
Ole Miss offensive line coach Matt Luke and defensive backs coach Jason Jones are also on two-year contracts for 2017 and 2018. Luke and Jones each has a co-coordinator title for his respective side of the football.
Ole Miss' assistant pay total for 2016 was $4,261,700, which ranked No. 14 in the nation. Bjork said the 2017 assistant salary pool would increase by approximately $400,000.