Dave Wommack, the University of Mississippi football team’s new associate head football coach, has a three-year contract worth $550,000 per season, which matches the richest deal given to an assistant coach in program history.
Wommack’s contract was released Wednesday after a public records request made by The Associated Press. The veteran coach is the highest paid among the Ole Miss assistants, and he’ll be charged with rebuilding a Rebels’ defense that has ranked among the worst in the Southeastern Conference the past two seasons.
Previous Ole Miss defensive coordinator Tyrone Nix also made $550,000 in 2011.
Wommack has more than 30 years of experience, including stops at Georgia Tech, Arkansas, Southern Miss, and UNLV. First-year Ole Miss coach Hugh Freeze considers himself an offensive-minded coach and has said he’ll lean heavily on Wommack’s experience to build the defense.
The two had the same arrangement last season at Arkansas State, and the Red Wolves won the Sun Belt Conference championship.
After a recent spring practice, Freeze said he was impressed at how much the Ole Miss defense had improved.
“I do believe that in this league a great defense gives you more opportunities to score,” Freeze said in the school’s practice report. “I know you have to play great defense, and I’m pleased with where they are today. They disguise things very well. They’re coming from a lot of different places, and our (offensive) line was struggling to pick it up.”
Other contracts released on Wednesday: Co-offensive coordinator Dan Werner will make $250,000 per season, co-offensive coordinator Matt Luke will make $285,000 and co-defensive coordinator Wesley McGriff will make $285,000. Luke’s contract is for three seasons. Werner and McGriff have two-year deals.
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