Is Dan Mullen the state of Mississippi's highest paid employee?

Last week, Deadspin.com released this fantastic infographic, which shows who the highest paid public employee is in each of the 50 states. Most of these aren't surprising -- a football coach at a major university seems to rule the paygrades of most of our country's states -- and that rings true in the state of Mississippi as well.

The article's author denotes that it is difficult to attain state employee pay information for both Ole Miss and MSU, but that more than likely, Dan Mullen's $2.65 million is the state's highest salary.

Now, Mullen's crowning as king of the public employee pay ladder is based on some large assumptions. It should be noted (heavily) that the $2.65 million figure doesn't take into account the fact that the majority of Mullen's salary is actually paid privately through Bulldog Club donations. However, I would assume that the same can be said for Hugh Freeze's $2 million salary and the Ole Miss Athletics Foundation. So, if you assume that Dan and Hugh's paychecks feature identical percentages re: public/private portions of pay, and you do not include any incentive-based bonuses (which I would assume are paid privately as well), then Mullen is still the highest paid employee in Mississippi. I would assume the only salary at either of the two universities that could rival Dan Mullen or Hugh Freeze's are:

• Basketball Coaches -- Andy Kennedy ($1.75 million total, no clue as to public/private breakdown) | Rick Ray ($1 million total, again, no clue as to public/private breakdown)
• Baseball Coaches -- John Cohen ($604,841 total, unsure public/private breakdown) | Mike Bianco ($623,333 total, unsure public/private breakdown)
• Presidents -- According to this survey, Mark Keenum makes $458,299, and Ole Miss president Daniel Jones makes $454,298.
  
• Athletic Directors -- According to this: Scott Stricklin ($450,000 -- 268,000 private) | Ross Bjork ($400,000 -- unsure public/private breakdown)

Even though I don't have all the specifics on the public/private breakdowns for each listed position, you get the point -- no other salaries are getting close to the head football coaches. Therefore, by process of elimination and based on a good amount of assumption, Dan Mullen is the highest paid state employee in Mississippi.

NOTE: if this is incorrect or I incorrectly omitted a position that would rival Mullen's or Freeze's, please make sure and let me know

Here's a look at the infographic (via Deadspin):

click to embiggen

P.S. -- I should've gone to Medical School Department Chair school