Joe Moglia, former Coast Carolina football coach, now works for $ 1

CONWAY, South Carolina – When he died, Joe Moglia, 71, wanted only a simple description written in his obituary, or perhaps engraved on his gravestone.

“I want him to say that this guy had a real impact on a lot of people,” Moglia told Deseret News Thursday.

Who is Joe Moglia?

That question doesn’t need to be asked in the greater Myrtle Beach area, where he’s known to have turned tiny coastal Carolina University into a college football force to be reckoned with. Nor does it need to be posed on Wall Street, where Moglia was once chairman of the board and former CEO of TD Ameritrade, the world’s largest online discount brokerage firm.

Moglia coached the Chanticleers, who host the BYU Cougars on Saturday (3:30 p.m. MST, ESPNU) at nearby Brooks Stadium from 2012 to 2018 and guided their transition from the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) level to the Football Bowl (FBS). ) level where it is currently located.

He helped Coastal advance to the FCS playoffs for four consecutive years before making it to the FBS Sun Belt Conference.

After stepping down as head coach in January 2019, handing over the reins to assistant Jamey Chadwell, Moglia is still involved in the program with the title of Executive Director of Football and President of Athletics.

And it does all of this for free, pretty much.

When Coastal’s sports department made budget cuts as a concession to the COVID-19 pandemic that decimated sports budgets across the country – BYU faces a $ 20 million shortfall, AD Tom said Holmoe last month – Moglia volunteered to forgo his annual salary of $ 177,000.

“I did it so that a few other people could keep their jobs,” he said.

He now earns $ 1 a year.

“There is probably no one like me in all of college football,” he said. “When I quit, intellectually it was the right thing to do for me. But emotionally, it was still very difficult.

That’s why Moglia doesn’t attend practice – it’s too hard for him, he says, as he has signed and coached many players who have the program going with a 9-0 record and a place of # 18 in college football qualifiers. rankings.

“We are proud of what we have accomplished at Coastal Carolina over the past eight years,” he said.

Before becoming a coach, Moglia was a Wall Street tycoon. According to USA Today, its compensation program in 2008 was close to $ 21 million. Other years, he earned more than $ 10 million a year.

Prior to taking over at Ameritrade, he was a member of several executive committees at Merrill Lynch.

“I have had incredible success in the business world,” he said. “But I wanted to go back and really help guys at this particular time in their lives, and help them build a foundation for their future life, and that gives me more satisfaction than anything I’ve ever done.

Moglia said his role was to act as Chadwell’s intermediary and adviser.

“I’m not a big football fan, but I love the strategy behind the games,” he said.

Asked for a scouting report on the Chanticleers, he said the No.13 Cougars, who are No.8 in both major polls, will have their hands full with upstarts from the East Coast.

“I know BYU has a great team,” he says. “It is perhaps the best team they have had in their history. I know it will be a big challenge for us. But we are a good football team. We will hold ours. “

Coincidentally, Moglia’s new boss is a BYU graduate. Michael T. Benson, the new President of Coastal Carolina, who takes over in January 2021, previously served as President of Snow College, Southern Utah University and Eastern Kentucky University, and is the grandson of Ezra Taft Benson, former president of the Church of Jesus Christ of the latter. -day Saints.

“If they’re not happy with me, they can let me go,” he said, almost nonchalantly. “I had a great race.”

And it won’t cost him more than 10 cents.