Sacramento State is paying for two head football coaches.

But despite the additional cost, the athletics department said there will be no effect on the funding of their sports programs.

“These decisions become difficult to make in wake of the budget crisis,” said Athletic Director Terry Wanless.

Last November, then football coach John Volek was fired from his position after eight years at the helm. The football team?s record under Volek was 31-56-1.

In January, Steve Mooshagian was hired as Volek?s replacement for an annual salary of around $105,000, Wanless said.

The university bought out the last year on Volek?s contract and is continuing to pay his salary, worth about $93,000.

Despite the additional cost, Irene Shea, senior associate director of athletics, said none of the athletics programs was affected by hiring Mooshagian while still paying the former coach for one more year.

“We did not know Coach Volek was going to be let go. It was not planned,” she said.

Shea said the athletics department plans their budget a year in advance.

The athletics department?s current budget is $7.2 million.

The athletics department receives its income from grants, ASI and the university?s general fund. Wanless said athletics also receives “soft money” from ticket sales, sporting events, corporate sponsorships and fund-raisers. If needed, he said this soft money generated from previous years will be used to fulfill current expenses.

Wanless declined to go into the details of the expenses because he said they are too complex to understand.

The decision to fire coach Volek during the fall semester initially came from Wanless. Wanless hoped that replacing coach Volek would provide a new opportunity to recover the cost of the new change through higher ticket sales at football games.

Shea stated that the department did not know Volek was to be fired.

Click here to send private feedback about this article to the State Hornet’s News staff.