2024 NCAA men’s basketball head coach salaries methodology
USA TODAY Sports requested all forms of compensation for the men’s basketball head coach, and/or acquired the federal tax return, from each school in the Atlantic Coast, Big 12, Big Ten, Pac-12 and Southeastern conferences and from each school outside those conferences whose team has appeared in at least three of the past five NCAA tournaments.
Except as noted, a not available (designated by “—" in the table) denotes schools that are private; did not release the information; or schools whose coaches are new. A $0 means the coach doesn’t get compensation from that source. In cases where an athletically related outside-income report was unavailable, a coach’s compensation might be undercounted by thousands of dollars from that category alone.
Figures for public schools are based on the coach’s contract year that covers, or covered, the 2023-24 season, including the most recently available base salary.
Schools that provided contract information were given the opportunity to review their figures.
COMPENSATION CATEGORIES
SCHOOL PAY: The most recently available base salary, except as noted; income from contract provisions other than base salary that are paid, or guaranteed, by the university or affiliated organizations, such as a foundation or an athletics department operating as a related non-profit organization. Examples include payments in consideration for shoe and apparel use; television, radio or other media appearances; and personal appearances.
It also includes deferred payments earned annually, conditional or otherwise; contractual expense accounts (if unaudited) and housing allowance; signing and other one-time bonuses earned in the current contract year.
It does not include other amounts that might have been earned as annual incentive bonuses in other years, the value of standard university benefits such as health care or the value of potentially taxable items such as cars; country club memberships; game tickets for the regular season, postseason and other sports; the value of stadium suites; travel upgrades; spouse/family travel and game tickets; and amounts connected to transactions related to buyouts owed by coaches for terminating a contract with a prior employer.
OTHER PAY: Amounts listed on the coach’s most recently available, self-reported athletically related outside-income report. Some public schools, citing public records disclosure exemptions, do not provide the outside-income report.
TOTAL PAY: Sum of school pay and other pay.
MAXIMUM BONUS: The greatest amount that can be received if the team meets prescribed on-court performance goals (e.g., NCAA tournament goals, win totals, regular-season and/or conference tournament championships, coaching awards, etc.), academic and/or player conduct goals. Bonuses that can be awarded on a discretionary basis are not included.
BONUSES PAID: Amount coach was paid from July 1, 2022 through June 30, 2023, for meeting personal or team-performance goals. Does not include longevity and/or retention payments. Includes payments due to head coaches, regardless of whether they distributed portions to other staff. Because schools were informed that the intent is to report amounts paid for goals achieved during the 2022-23 basketball season and school year, some schools provided information about applicable payments that were made after June 30, 2023. Amounts presented only for head coaches who are at the same public school that employed them as the head coach during the 2022-23 season.
SCHOOL BUYOUT OWED AS OF APRIL 1, 2024: Amount school would owe coach if it fired the coach without cause on April 1, 2024. Many of these amounts are expressly subject to coach’s duty to make good-faith efforts to find another job, with income from that employment offsetting the amount owed. If mitigation and offset are not addressed in contract, coach still may have obligation to make efforts in that regard.
NOTES
AMOUNTS IN ADDITION TO COACHES' TOTAL PAY: Includes payments made by schools and/or their affiliated organizations on behalf of coaches who owed buyout amounts to their previous employer for terminating contracts so they could accept employment elsewhere.
PITTSBURGH, PENN STATE AND PRIVATE SCHOOLS: The pay information listed came from federal tax returns or the Pennsylvania Right-to-Know Law report. Documents provide compensation for 2021 calendar year based on all income paid by the school or support organizations, including benefits, perks and performance bonuses.
TEXAS TECH: Paid $750,000 on Grant McCasland's behalf to North Texas. In addition, Texas Tech paid $252,158 in connection with the taxes owed on that amount.
UTAH STATE: Paid $250,000 on Danny Sprinkle's behalf to Montana State. Utah State also agreed to cover any taxes that Sprinkle may owe in connection with this payment.
VCU: Under the terms of Ryan Odom's contract with his prior employer — Utah State — VCU is scheduled to pay $1.2 million to Utah State in multiple installments. If this payment is determined to be income to Odom, VCU has agreed to negotiate in good faith with him to address VCU providing "some form of compensation" to cover his tax payment.