Tobin Anderson Proves Winning In March Is Great For Bank Accounts, Takes Rick Pitino's Old Job
Tobin Anderson is leveling up after beating Purdue in the NCAA Tournament.
Anderson led Fairleigh Dickinson to arguably the greatest upset in the history of the NCAA Tournament when the 16-seed Knights beat one-seed Purdue in the opening round.
Like most coaches winning at small schools in March, Anderson parlayed the incredible victory into a bigger job.
Iona announced Tobin Anderson as the new head coach of the Gaels after Rick Pitino left for St. John's. Given the fact it's a private university, contract details might never become public.
Tobin Anderson is winning!
Just as a reminder, Tobin Anderson was coaching DII basketball just a year ago. Being a coach in college sports isn't lucrative if you're not at a high level, and it's definitely not lucrative once you drop out of the DI level.
A large portion of DII basketball coaches are hovering around the $100,000 salary mark or lower. That number dips as low as $70,000 for major DIII state schools. If you want to make money, you better be coaching at DI.
Tobin Anderson takes Iona job. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)
Tobin Anderon took the Fairleigh Dickinson Knights job, a very low level D1 job, and in his first year, he went to the NCAA Tournament and beat Purdue.
How do you get rewarded? You get a significant upgrade. Iona is far from a big job, but it's becoming a bigger name thanks to Rick Pitino's success there.
The MAAC is also a better conference than the NEC. In the span of just a couple years, Tobin Anderson went from coaching at DII St. Thomas Aquinas to Iona and could have as much as 4x'd or more his salary along the way.
Tobin Anderson leaves Fairleigh Dickinson for Iona. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)
If you're a winning coach in March, you get paid. If you're a winning coach at a small school and pull off a huge upset, you get a new job. That's where Mike Anderson now finds himself. Hopefully, he doesn't spend all his new cash in one place.