College Coaches Taking Pay Cuts: Only One From SEC

Coaches across the college football landscape are taking pay cuts during the Coronavirus pandemic, but only one coach from the SEC has made the move.

Author:
Greg Arias
Publish date:
May 6, 2020 12:41 PM EDT

The world has changed in the wake of the Coronavirus pandemic including the world of big-time college athletics where recruiting has been heavily impacted by the inability of coaches and recruits to conduct in-person visits to campuses and players' homes and schools.

Because of the changes and the economic issues surrounding the cancellation of the entire seasons of some sports and postponements of others, college football coaches have begun doing their part to save their schools money during this time when they are not being allowed to fulfill all the normal duties of their position.

As many as 15 current Division-I head coaches, 14 of which come from Power Five conferences (one from the Mountain West) have voluntarily taken pay cuts during this pandemic.

Among the 14 head coaches of the Southeastern Conference, only one, Missouri's first-year head man, Eli Drinkwitz (10%) have joined this trend, and Drinkwitz hasn't even coached a game for the Tigers.

The SEC is home to some of the highest-paid coaches in all college football, including five of the top ten and seven of the top 25. None of those names appear on the list.

It's not just the SEC, it's every single coach in the top 25 whose names you won't find on this list.

What does that say about college coaches?

That's a question I'm not sure there is an answer for. The top coaches in the sport make big dollars in salary from their universities, not to mention other ventures and advertisement monies they might receive. Some coaches give back to their respective institutions through scholarships or other avenues, but none are returning any of it through pay cuts.

COACHES TAKING PAY CUTS

ACC

Louisville: Head coach Scott Satterfield (10%)
Syracuse: Head coach Dino Babers (10%)
Virginia: Head coach Bronco Mendenhall (undisclosed)
Wake Forest: Head coach Dave Clawson (10%)

Big Ten

Minnesota: Head coach P.J. Fleck furloughed (unspecified pay cut)
Rutgers: Head coach Greg Schiano for the next four months (10%)

Big 12

Iowa State: Head coach Matt Campbell (One-year pay reduction, suspension of bonuses and incentives)
Kansas: Head coach Les Miles (10%)
Kansas State: Head coach Chris Klieman (13%)

Pac-12

Colorado: Head coach Karl Dorrell (10%)
Oregon: Head coach Mario Cristobal (10%)
USC: Athletic director Mike Bohn, football coach Clay Helton, and men's basketball coach Andy Enfield will return a combined $1 million of compensation.
Washington State: Head coach Nick Rolovich (5% pay cut and suspension of bonuses and/or incentives)