Jay Butler’s return to Rutgers did not come cheap.

The Hillsborough native and trusted Greg Schiano assistant will be one of the nation’s highest paid strength and conditioning coaches after signing a two-year deal that pays $500,000 annually, according to an offer letter obtained by NJ Advance Media following an open records request.

Butler, given the official title of “director of sport performance,” would have tied for the third-highest paid strength coach in the Big Ten and the country’s eighth-highest in 2019, according to salaries available in a USA TODAY database. Only Iowa’s Chris Doyle ($800,200) and Ohio State’s Mickey Marotti ($735,000) made more in 2019, according to the database, while Michigan’s Ben Herbert made $500,000.

Butler will make more than strength coaches at national powers Georgia (Scott Sinclair, $450,000) and Oklahoma (Bennie Wylie, $380,000) made in 2019. Former Rutgers head strength coach Kenny Parker made $290,000 last season. Butler will have a rolling extension clause in his contract that adds a year on the deal every March 1 following the completion of the initial two years.

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The investment makes sense. Rutgers needs to drastically improve its player development to return to respectability. It was often overmatched physically in recent seasons, particularly on the offensive and defensive lines, and needs a proven strength coach to make the roster bigger, stronger and faster. Butler was at the helm for the entirety of Schiano’s first stint at Rutgers in 2001-11, training a slew of under-recruited players who became stars in Piscataway before moving on to the NFL. He also worked for Schiano with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and was most recently the assistant head of physical conditioning at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida.

Rutgers has now committed $4.41 million in 2020 salaries to nine of 10 on-field assistants plus Butler, according to an NJ Advance Media review. Butler is the highest-paid head strength coach in school history while offensive coordinator Sean Gleeson and secondary coach Fran Brown are the highest-paid coordinator and position coach, respectively.

Schiano needs to hire one more assistant to complete his on-field staff. He is expected to hire a special teams coordinator, according to a person with knowledge of the situation. Schiano has about $2.915 million left under the cap after being granted a school-record $7.7 million staff salary pool for 2020, according to an NJ Advance Media review. Some of the remaining salary pool will be used on new hires, including the final on-field assistant. Schiano is also expected to retain some Chris Ash-era support staff.

Here is an updated look at each member of the coaching staff’s deal and how it compares to their previous stops and Rutgers predecessors:

Sean Gleeson, offensive coordinator/quarterbacks: Gleeson received a three-year, $2.565 million deal, making him the highest-paid assistant in school history. Gleeson, who made $550,000 this past season at Oklahoma State, will make a school-record $805,000 in his first season. Gleeson will then make $855,000 in 2021 and $905,000 in 2022. Former Rutgers offensive coordinator John McNulty made a previous school record $625,000 last season (he will be paid $650,000 this coming season to honor the remainder of his contract).

Robb Smith, defensive coordinator: Smith will get a two-year, $1.375 million deal to return to Rutgers. He will be paid $675,000 in 2020 and $700,000 in 2021. Former Rutgers defensive coordinator Andy Buh - now a linebackers coach at Arizona - made $525,000 in 2019 and was scheduled to make $550,000 in 2020. Rutgers will only need to pay out the difference between its commitment to Buh and what he receives from Arizona. Smith made $710,000 as Minnesota’s defensive coordinator in 2018 (he was fired during the season) and was scheduled to make $720,000 in 2019. He worked as an analyst at Texas A&M last season but there is no record of his salary in a Texas state database.

Fran Brown, secondary: Brown is the highest-paid position coach in school history. He received a two-year, $1.15 million deal that will pay him $575,000 annually. Brown’s previous salary at Temple is not known since Pennsylvania state schools are not required to disclose salaries. Former Rutgers safeties coach Noah Joseph made $290,000 and cornerbacks coach Jay Valai made $228,500 in 2019.

Jay Butler, director of sport performance: Butler is the highest-paid head strength coach in school history and one of the highest-paid in the country. He received a two-year, $1 million deal paying $500,000 annually with a one-year rolling extension that kicks in every March 1 following the completion of his initial two-year contract. Butler’s previous salary at IMG Academy is not available.

Jim Panagos, defensive line: Panagos received a two-year, $950,000 deal that will pay him $450,000 in Year 1 and $500,000 in Year 2. Former Rutgers defensive line coach Corey Brown made $250,000 in 2019. Panagos made $240,000 last season at Minnesota.

Bob Fraser, linebackers: Fraser received a two-year, $700,000 deal that pays $350,000 annually. The veteran coach made $300,000 in his last year during his previous stint at Rutgers in 2015. His salary last season as a New England Patriots off-field assistant is not available. Rutgers’ last two defensive coordinators - Jay Niemann and Buh - coached linebackers, so the best Ash era salary equivalent for Fraser is likely Joseph’s $290,000 to coach the safeties last season.

Andrew Aurich, offensive line: Aurich received a two-year, $600,000 deal that pays $300,000 annually. He is the lone hire confirmed to make less than his predecessor so far. Former offensive line coach Peter Rossomando, now at Vanderbilt, made $320,000 last season and was scheduled to make the same in 2020 (Rutgers is entitled to offset money). Aurich’s previous salary at Princeton is not available.

Augie Hoffmann, assistant coach: Hoffmann received a two-year, $550,000 deal paying $275,000 annually. Hoffmann’s position group has not yet been announced, but former outside linebackers coach Vince Okruch is a comparable predecessor. He made $236,750 according to his most recent Rutgers contract. Hoffmann’s salary as St. Joseph of Montvale’s head football coach is not available.

Tiquan Underwood, wide receivers: Underwood received a two-year, $500,000 deal paying $250,000 annually. Former wideouts coach Lester Erb made $245,000 in 2019. Underwood’s salary this past season as a Miami Dolphins offensive assistant is not available.

Nunzio Campanile, assistant coach: Campanile’s contract has not been altered since Schiano’s hire. He is currently scheduled to make $230,000 in 2020 to coach a to-be-announced position. He received a stipend last season while serving as interim head coach that amounted to an extra $38,167.94 per pay period (or roughly $160,000 for the nine weeks he led the program).

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James Kratch may be reached at jkratch@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JamesKratch. Find NJ.com Rutgers Football on Facebook.