One question a few of you have asked the last few days is where Steve Sarkisian's reported annual salary of $1.85 million in guaranteed compensation will rank him in the Pac-10.

One thing to keep in mind is that his contract isn't done yet, so the final number could fluctuate a little. By way of comparison, Tyrone Willingham made about $1.4 million a year guaranteed (and one reason why it's best to always use a qualifier before the salary is that there are some things in there that aren't easy to exactly quantify, such as travel for families to away games). And then there are incentives which can boost a salary, but obviously aren't part of the guaranteed package (and which Willingham obviously wasn't meeting too often).

But assume the final number is as advertised, it would currently rank Sarkisian fourth in the Pac-10.

Here's a look at the guaranteed income for Pac-10 coaches for the 2008 season culled from what I could find as the most reliable and consensus figures (you often see varying figures in part because coaches have a base salary that usually is about 20 percent or so of their guaranteed income, the rest of which comes from media compensation, shoe contracts, etc. You add up all the guaranteed parts to get the total guaranteed income).

1, Pete Carroll, USC, $2.8 million (though as a private school, USC doesn't have to release it and this is just an estimate. And I've seen figures as high as $4 million for Carroll, so it's hard to know exactly.

2, Mike Bellotti, Oregon, $2.1 million (with incentives and all, he can top $3 million).

3, Jeff Tedford, Cal, $1.8 million, but he apparently made about $2.8 million last year when bonuses and incentives and others were factored in, and it also increases in coming years, so I'm putting him above Sarkisian but I'll leave him below Bellotti since there does seem to be a sizeable gap in their guaranteed deals right now).

4, Steve Sarkisian, Washington, $1.85 million

5, Dennis Erickson, Arizona State, $1.275 million

6, Rick Neuheisel, UCLA, $1.25 million

7, Mike Riley, Oregon State, $1.1 million

8, Mike Stoops, Arizona, $1.025 million

9, Jim Harbaugh, Stanford $1 million (though Stanford is also a private school so this also has some uncertainty)

10, Paul Wulff, Washington State, $600,000

IN OTHER NEWS. ...

--- One person asked if the 34-year-old Sarkisian is the youngest head coach in UW history. I don't know the ages of all of them, but I know that the answer is no. Jim Owens was just 29 when he was hired on Jan. 21, 1957, as one longtime Husky follower pointed out to me today. According to Tom Porter's book, "A Football Band of Brothers,'' Owens was given a three-year contract for $15,000 a season. Rick Neuheisel was 37 when he was hired and Don James 43.

--- One reader wanted to know the ages of Sarkisian's kids. According to this year's USC media guide, he has three children --- daughter Ashley, 5, and sons Brady, 3, and newborn Taylor. His wife's name is Stephanie, and all are apparently here with him.

--- FSN will televise the press conference for Sarkisian tomorrow live at 9:30 a.m. It will also be re-aired at 12:30 p.m. and 10:30 p.m. Also, FSN has prepared a half-hour "In My Own Words'' segment on Sarkisian that will run Monday night, as well, and likely be re-aired a bunch of times in the future as those things usually are.

--- Finally, Greg Biggins of ESPN.com chipped in with this overview of the recruiting challenges awaiting Sarkisian at UW.

All for now.