Editorials

The knee-jerk perception isn't kind to Oxford. We live in a state that under funds important items, that ranks in the bottom percentile of most U.S. social and educational categories, and yet Oxford High School's football coach is being paid $105,000 a year. No prep football coach in Alabama makes more.

Are Oxford High's priorities out of whack? Is Oxford High placing too much emphasis on athletics?

Those questions are being asked, and they're all based on perceptions and first impressions. The 'net is littered with message-board comments from across the Southeast — this story long ago crossed state lines — that question the ethics of paying former Spain Park High coach John Grass more than 100K a year.

The truth is that Oxford High is not at fault. The Yellow Jackets' football team competes in the highest classification in Alabama, and the going rate for a top-notch head coach in Class 6A approaches six figures. That's especially true for schools that have legitimate aspirations of state championships. Count Oxford as one of those.

Oxford High didn't set the unwritten standard for coaches' salaries. It's merely adhering to it.

The Oxford system, along with the city government, also seems committed to spending cash on both academics and athletics; you can't say that about every school in Calhoun County. That school expansion and facility projects are under way for Oxford's already sprawling hillside campus is just one example of what seems to be the system's commitment to improve things not played on Friday nights.

Nevertheless, Oxford High has entered a venue from which it cannot escape. The 39-year-old Grass now wears a statewide crown, and with that comes a statewide fixation. He may not bring Rush Propst-style attention to Oxford, but he will be identified as much by his taxpayer-paid salary as by his on-field success. Of that, neither Grass nor Oxford can avoid.

Which is why Jeff Goodwin, the Oxford school superintendent, has had to publicly defend Grass' salary. However, it may not have rang well in the ears of other Oxford teachers when the Associated Press quoted Goodwin as saying Grass would be "a member of the high school faculty" who can be an "integral part of the academic process." How many Oxford High teachers have salaries approaching $100,000? Again, Grass' salary unavoidably sets him apart.

Statistics can be cruel, and are. Oxford's median household income is $40,397, and its per-capita income is just $18,923, the 2000 U.S. Census says. Clearly, Oxford isn't Hoover, home to the state's previous highest-paid coach. Throw those stats in with the average public school teacher salary in Alabama — $40,347 annually — and you can see why Oxford has had to stand up for its new coach's salary.

Oxford High, home to the state's highest-paid prep football coach, is now in rarefied air. It's getting statewide attention, something those who love Oxford athletics desperately want. But with attention comes intense scrutiny and examination. And it's likely to heat up before it cools to a livable temperature.