23 days to Cougar football: How much is Mike Leach worth?

Mike Leach received a $500,000 per year raise recently, taking his annual salary to $2.75 million. Leach was already paid well -- especially by WSU standards -- and the raise puts him in the upper half of Pac-12 coaches. Leach's approval rating among WSU fans is very high, I'd venture it would come in north or 90 percent if you took a poll. The percentage, however, appears to be a bit lower from fans who think the raise was necessary.

That leads to today's discussion. If you had the final say, what do you think Mike Leach is worth?

He was making $2.25 million per season, putting him in the middle of the Pac-12 last season. He dropped a little further with Chris Petersen's hefty salary and a few other raises around the conference. Now, at $2.75 million Leach is the third-highest paid of the public school coaches and likely fifth-highest overall behind Steve Sarkisian at USC and David Shaw at Stanford. Should Leach be the fifth-highest paid coach in the Pac-12? Should he be higher? Maybe you think he should be lower?

If you ranked the Pac-12 coaches, the chances are Leach would slot in the top half. The Sporting News ranked him No. 3 in the conference earlier this year. Based on his resume and the early returns at WSU, I have no issue with him being the fifth-highest paid coach in the conference. I think the only curious thing about the latest raise is the timing. Yes, WSU made a bowl game last season. Leach also received a $75,000 bonus for that fact. If the Cougars continue on an upward trend this season, a reaction raise to keep Leach among the upper half of the conference would seem like the logical move. Paying it now ... well maybe Bill Moos just wants to be ahead of the curve.

Based on the state of college football, the returns at WSU and anything else you want to factor it, how much do you think Mike Leach is worth?