Athletic departments across the country have been furloughing and laying off employees and implementing pay cuts. However, because college football coaches salaries are protected by their contracts, they must agree to any pay cut. Many head football coaches salaries have been reduced, and we’re tracking them below.
Coach
School
% Reduction
Notes
Kevin Sumlin
Arizona
20%
For one year
Sam Pittman
Arkansas
10%
With no bonuses and deferred to a later date
Scot Loeffler
Bowling Green
20%
Justin Wilcox
California
Undisclosed
Dabo Swinney
Clemson
13%
Swinney took a 10% pay cut in August 2020; In September, agreed to forego $1M retention payment in January 2021 and raise due at same time, which represents 13% of what he was due in 2021
Karl Dorrell
Colorado
10%
David Cutcliffe
Duke
10%
Mike Norvell
Florida State
25%
Geoff Collins
Georgia Tech
6%
16 unpaid days off
Lovie Smith
Illinois
10
For 6 months
Tom Allen
Indiana
10%
Donated 10% of salary back to athletic department
Kirk Ferentz
Iowa
15%
Matt Campbell
Iowa State
10%
With no bonus
Les Miles
Kansas
10%
Chris Klieman
Kansas State
13%
Scott Satterfield
Louisville
10%
Manny Diaz
Miami
10%
Jim Harbaugh
Michigan
10%
For one year
Mel Tucker
Michigan State
7%
P.J. Fleck
Minnesota
10%
Eliah Drinkwitz
Missouri
10%
Scott Frost
Nebraska
Undisclosed
Donated portion of salary back to athletic department
Mack Brown
North Carolina
10%
Pat Fitzgerald
Northwestern
10%
Brian Kelly
Notre Dame
Undisclosed
Lincoln Riley
Oklahoma
10%
For one year
Mike Gundy
Oklahoma State
19%
Self-imposed
Lane Kiffin
Ole Miss
Undisclosed
Mario Cristobal
Oregon
10%
Jonathan Smith
Oregon State
7%
James Franklin
Penn State
10%
Jeff Brohm
Purdue
20%
Also no bonus
Greg Schiano
Rutgers
10%
For 4 months
Will Muschamp
South Carolina
10%
For one year and will not recoup the reduced salary with any type of back-end compensation
David Shaw
Stanford
Undisclosed
Dino Babers
Syracuse
10%
Gary Patterson
TCU
10%
Indefinite
Tom Herman
Texas
15%
Matt Wells
Texas Tech
14%
Clay Helton
USC
Undisclosed
Combined $1 million cut with basketball coach and AD
Kyle Whittingham
Utah
Undisclosed
Bronco Mendenhall
Virginia
10%
Dave Clawson
Wake Forest
10%
Jimmy Lake
Washington
5%
Nick Rolovich
Washington State
5%
Also no bonus
Neal Brown
West Virginia
10%
Paul Chryst
Wisconsin
15%
Cut for 6 months
Author
Madison is a current senior working toward her B.S.M and B.B.A. degrees at Ohio University. She has previous experience working in NFL training camp operations, collegiate licensing, and academics in collegiate athletics. She is a member of Sigma Alpha Sigma Mu, the nation's first professional sport management fraternity that gives students a platform to prepare and develop professionally in the sports industry.
