The University of Massachusetts has a new football coach. Joe Harasymiak -- who comes to Amherst by way of Rutgers University, where he spent three years as defensive coordinator -- will make an average of just under $1.4 million per year over the course of his recently inked five-year contract. That's an increase of more than 50 percent over over what former head coach Don Brown had been making before he was fired earlier this year after another losing season for the Minutemen.

Comparing Mr. Harasymiak's average annual salary to last year's list of Massachusetts' highest-paid employees would put Mr. Harasymiak right around the No. 2 spot, comparable to UMass' chancellor who earned about $1.4 million. For those keeping score at home, the highest-paid state employee last year was UMass men's basketball coach Frank Martin, who made more than $1.6 million. So starting next year, two of the three top salaries at the UMass system's flagship Amherst campus (and therefore on the commonwealth's entire payroll) will total about $3 million, drawn by individuals whose jobs are neither educational nor administrative.

In addition to hiring Mr. Harasymiak, UMass Athletics announced it will beef up the salary pool for the football program's coaching staff. The $2.7 million for assistant coaches will be, as Athletic Director Ryan Bamford proudly noted last week, around $300,000 more than this year and $500,000 more than the next team in the Mid-American Conference.

We understand that proactively trying to correct the UMass football program's dismal performance -- this year's 2-10 season capped off a 6-28 record since 2022 -- presents a bit of a Catch-22. Investing in coaching might seem an attractive option, but one could be forgiven for wondering what the return on that increased investment -- fueled by state funds -- could possibly be.

We aren't aiming for a cheap shot at UMass football, and we wish Coach Harasymiak and the Minutemen best of luck in turning the corner next season. What we are trying to do is play defense for Bay State taxpayers -- because we and our neighbors are paying for this. Is this really the best use of millions from the commonwealth's coffers? Our region sees systemic issues from struggling school districts to crumbling community infrastructure proliferate with little attention from state leaders. It stings even more to see an eye-popping sum steered toward Western Massachusetts targeted not at any of those matters but at UMass' performance on the gridiron (and the hardwood).

We realize that zeroing out a coach's salary won't solve our region's or the state's most pressing challenges. Still, even in the grander scheme of things, throwing seven figures at a public university's sports coaches, no matter their teams' performances, is nothing to sneeze at. We recently used this space to highlight the Healthy Incentives Program -- a state-funded subsidy for Bay Staters receiving federal food assistance to buy more fresh produce -- and the need to fully fund the program again for the upcoming year. Closing the funding gap for this critical program, which helps food-insecure Massachusetts families access healthier food while also boosting small farms, would only require $10 million. That amounts to a few years' worth of UMass football and basketball head coach salaries (not counting assistant coach pay).

We're not saying coaches don't deserve compensation, and we aren't arguing to abolish public university athletics. What we're saying is much more conservative in every sense of the word: When the cost-efficient Healthy Incentives Program fails to attract full funding from the Legislature but one school's football head coach compensation increases by more than 50 percent into the seven-figure range, it's worth asking: What really are Massachusetts' public funding priorities? It's worth asking that even within the scope of UMass' funding priorities. Is it reasonable to push another UMass athletics official into the top-three highest-paid state employees even as his job directly affects such a small fraction of the student body?

Mr. Harasymiak's five-year contract is already inked, but it might be worth keeping all this in mind when it's up. Given all the other critical expenses the commonwealth shoulders, perhaps the UMass football coach salary doesn't need to grow so considerably -- or at all, since the previous head coach's salary sat comfortably among the state's top 10 highest-paid employees. We need not forgo rooting for the home team to be fiscally responsible, or vice-versa -- Massachusetts can do both.