Iowa college hoops coaches' pay growing sharply, report shows
The salaries for college basketball coaches in the NCAA Tournament continue to escalate.
And there’s no telling when this trend will reach its peak.
“I’ve been doing it 25 years, and I have not seen anything close to a ceiling,” Iowa State athletic director Jamie Pollard said. “As long as we are in a free-market world, I don’t see that happening.”
Compensation for head coaches continues to rise dramatically, according to a USA TODAY special report released Wednesday.
Twenty-four coaches in this year’s NCAA field of 68 teams made at least $2 million, up from 11 in 2011.
Three teams from Iowa competed in the 2016 edition of March Madness, and all three saw a significant increase in coaching compensation.
“The coaches who are compensated extremely well have earned that opportunity by being very good at what they do,” Pollard said.
Database: State of Iowa employee salaries
Iowa State advanced the furthest of the Big Four schools, reaching the Sweet 16 before losing to Virginia.
Cyclone coach Steve Prohm had a total earning potential (total pay plus available max bonus) of $2,125,000 during his first season in Ames.
That's an increase of more than a million dollars from what former coach Fred Hoiberg was eligible to earn when he led Iowa State to his first NCAA Tournament during the 2011-12 season ($1,108,750).
Two seasons later, Hoiberg had a total earning potential of $2,892,250 with the Cyclones.
Prohm, meanwhile, signed a contract extension in March 2015 with his former school, Murray State, that would have paid him an annual base salary of $500,000.
Iowa’s Fran McCaffery is the state's top-compensated college basketball coach, with a total earning potential of $2,807,156 for the 2015-16 season.
That's about a $500,000 increase from two seasons ago. (McCaffery's guaranteed pay also increased by about $500,000 between 2014-15 and 2015-16). McCaffery agreed to a six-year deal that paid him an annual guaranteed salary of $1.1 million when he was hired from Siena in 2010.
“We love Fran as our coach,” Hawkeye athletic director Gary Barta said in a statement to the Register. “His salary is competitive in the Big Ten and nationally, and it has increased since he arrived six years ago because of his success and the marketplace.”
Northern Iowa coach Ben Jacobson saw his pay increase by $154,250 from last season.
His total earning potential jumped to $1,263,000 for the 2015-16 season, after he signed a new 10-year deal with UNI in late March of last year.
The original base pay was $150,000 when Jacobson was elevated to head coach in 2006.
The success of all these coaches boosts potential revenue streams such as attendance and donations.
“We had 7,000 people who were willing to pay a full-price $450 ticket to the Big 12 tournament,” Pollard said. “We had probably 5,000 to 6,000 people in Chicago at the Sweet 16, and I know many of them paid upwards of $300 and $400 a ticket.
“So those fans are clearly speaking with their actions that they want to support a team that wins, and so you have to compensate a good coach to do that.”
Iowa State and Iowa benefit from being in conferences that have lucrative TV contracts.
But as salaries continue to escalate, more schools will feel the pressure to ante up for coaches.
“I’ve always taken the approach that I worry about what Iowa State does,” Pollard said. “I don’t worry about what others do.
“We have a history of compensating our coaches who are successful extremely well.”
Compensation categories
SCHOOL PAY: Base salary and other income from contract provisions paid or guaranteed by the school or affiliated organizations, such as a foundation. 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; certain payments based on attendance, ticket revenue or sales; contractual expense accounts (if unaudited) and housing allowances; and signing and other one-time bonuses earned in the current contract year.
It does not include amounts that might have been earned as annual incentive bonuses in other years; the value of standard school benefits, such as health care; the value of potentially taxable items, such as cars; country club memberships; game tickets for the regular season, postseason and other sports; or the value of stadium suites, travel upgrades and spouse/family travel and game tickets.
Salaries reported do not take into account deductions that have or might occur because of state government furlough or other pay-reduction actions.
OTHER PAY: Income from sources listed on the coach's most recently available, self-reported athletically related outside income report. Some public schools, citing public records disclosure exemptions, decline to provide outside income reports.
TOTAL PAY: Sum of School Pay and Other Pay.
MAXIMUM BONUS: The greatest amount the coach can receive, if the team meets on-field performance goals (including win totals, NCAA Tournament appearances, conference and national championships, coaching awards, etc.), academic goals or player conduct goals. This amount typically does not include possible payments based on percentages of ticket revenue or sales or departmental fundraising amounts.
If a coach did not qualify for certain bonuses because of NCAA or school sanctions, those amounts were not counted toward the maximum.
Bonuses that can be awarded on a discretionary basis are not included.