According to an article by the Daily Bruin, California state legislators have announced a proposed amendment that would restrict the salaries of non-faculty members at schools under the University of California's umbrella.
The proposal would cap non-faculty salaries at $200,000 per year as well as a number of other terms in it not related to coaches, and will require a vote of two-thirds in the Assembly and state senate as well as a majority vote on public ballot.
Of course, non-faculty members include football coaches, and on its face, this could have a direct impact on the California state schools that play football and their coaches including Chip Kelly at UCLA, Justin Wilcox at Cal, and Dan Hawkins at UC Davis.
Chip Kelly signed a four-year, $24 million contract and UCLA (which is being offset from what the 49ers still owe him following his dismissal), and Justin Wilcox at Cal signed a five-year deal worth $9.58 million.
So what kind of impact could this have on the coaching profession? The Daily Bruin's article is a bit vague on the language being used and it's actual intent, but when it comes to coaches, common sense leads one to think that boosters and universities would just get creative to pay their coaches what they feel they're worth. We may see the "base salary" of coaches capped at $200,000, but there's no limit on the creativity athletic directors and boosters could ultimately use to make up the difference.
A far less likely (but infinitely more fun) possibility is to imagine Kelly or Wilcox teaching a single Football 101 class so they could be considered "faculty."
Head here to read more on the proposal, including the other terms included in it, and stay tuned to The Scoop for the latest.