Regents approve ticket price increase, salary increases for football coaches

The University of Oklahoma Board of Regents voted unanimously to raise season ticket prices from $145 to $225, an $80 increase that includes a $30 surcharge for improvements at the stadium. A $5 surcharge also would be added to tickets annually under the plan.

Student tickets are exempt from the surcharge, OU athletic director Joe Castiglione said.

The price increase for season tickets includes $35 to cover the cost for a seventh home game tentatively being added to the Sooners' 2001-02 schedule, Castiglione said. Also included in the price hike is a $15 increase in the base price of the season tickets.

"People who use the stadium realize the need to improve it,"

Castiglione said, defending the increase.

The regents also approved $304,000 in pay raises for Sooner football coaches, with co-defensive coordinator Mike Stoops and receivers' coach Steve Spurrier Jr. getting some of the largest.

Stoops, the brother of head coach Bob Stoops, received a $61,000 pay hike, which increases his annual wages from $130,000 to $191,000. Spurrier got $31,000 more, bumping his salary from $70,000 to $101,000.

Co-defensive coordinator Brent Venables' pay was raised from $120,000 to $141,000, and offensive coordinator Mark Mangino was increased from $115,000 to $141,000.

Other raises include an increase from $97,850 to $122,850 for Jerry Schmidt; an increase from $70,000 to $96,000 for Cale Gundy; a jump from $100,000 to $121,000 for Chuck Long, and an increase from $90,000 to $121,000 for Bobby Jack Wright.