ESPN: ONLY 2 OF 10 TOP-PAID COLLEGE FOOTBALL COACHES TAKE PANDEMIC PAY CUTS
ESPN is reporting that while nearly half of major college football and basketball coaches have voluntarily taken pay cuts in response to financial problems due to the coronavirus pandemic, most of the highest paid coaches have not.
According to a report filed Friday on espn.com, “Eight of the 10 top-paid football coaches and at least five of the 10 highest-paid men's basketball coaches -- all of whom earn more money than anyone else at their schools -- have not taken cuts.”
Those who have not taken pay cuts include: Aggie football coach Jimbo Fisher ($7.5M), Longhorn football coach Tom Herman ($6.75M), and Texas Tech basketball coach Chris Beard ($4.4M).
The list of those whose pay is unchanged includes the two highest-paid coaches in their respective sports: Clemson football coach Dabo Swinney, who earned $9.3 million in the 2019-20 season, and Kentucky basketball coach John Calipari, who earned $8.2 million.
At 33 of the Power 5 schools, ESPN reports at least one coach agreed to renegotiate a contract to accept a pay cut amid the pandemic. They include Michigan football coach Jim Harbaugh, who last month agreed to a one-year, 10% cut of his $7.5 million salary; Kansas basketball coach Bill Self ($4 million, 10% cut for six months); and Oklahoma football coach Lincoln Riley ($6.4 million, 10% cut for one year).
At the University of Arizona, football coach Kevin Sumlin ($2 million) and men's basketball coach Sean Miller ($3.2 million) accepted 20% pay cuts this year -- believed to be among the highest in the country.
Most of the schools that employ those coaches have not announced university-wide salary or job cuts, but they are all facing deep financial distress, accepting millions of dollars in taxpayer relief and, in most cases, implementing a range of cost-saving measures inside and outside athletics.
Among Big-12 schools, five have seen both football and men’s basketball coaches accept pay cuts: Iowa State (Matt Campbell and Steve Prohm); Kansas (Les Miles and Bill Self); Kansas State (Chris Klieman and Bruce Weber); Oklahoma (Lincoln Riley and Lon Kruger); and West Virginia (Neal Brown and Bob Huggins).
In the ACC, just three schools have had both coaches take pay cuts: South Carolina (Will Muschamp and Frank Martin); Mississippi (Lane Kiffin and Kermit Davis); and Missouri (Eliah Drinkwitz and Cuonzo Martin).
The entire in-depth report can be read at espn.com.