How Can Schools Afford to Pay Players? Cutting Coach Pay Is One Answer

As colleges and universities brace for potential revenue-sharing as soon as next year, schools are searching for ways to source millions of dollars to pay athletes directly.

Clawing some back from struggling head football coaches could be one solution.

Florida State’s Mike Norvell, Oklahoma State’s Mike Gundy, and LSU’s Brian Kelly have all seen some form of seven-figure chunks taken out of their salaries in recent weeks. Florida State (2–10) and Oklahoma State (3–9) each fell from the top to the bottom of their respective conferences this season, while LSU sat in the middle of the SEC.

At the same time, the April decision of the looming House v. NCAA settlement could allow schools to pay athletes up to $22 million starting next school year. Administrators at some schools have already announced new ways to raise money, including fees on football tickets and concessions, alcohol sales, and fundraising pushes.

But redirecting existing funds is a new strategy. Norvell agreed to a restructured deal that puts $4.5 million into launching a fundraising campaign called the “Vision of Excellence” initiative. Norvell made $9.9 million this year after nearly doubling his salary in the offseason, and he had a buyout of roughly $65 million.

“I presented this to our administration in an effort to boost the support of our student-athletes while recognizing that the results and expectations need to be upheld to the highest level,” Norvell said in a statement announcing his new contract Monday.

Gundy also restructured his $7.75 million annual salary earlier this month—it’s reported he will take a $1 million pay cut. (ESPN reported that Gundy’s salary will be “reduced to be redistributed as part of revenue sharing with players.”) Kelly announced he will match up to $1 million in donations to the school’s NIL (name, image, and likeness) collective with his own gift to the Tiger Athletic Foundation, a decades-old nonprofit that puts private money into areas like scholarships and facilities.

While it’s largely unknown exactly how much NIL collectives are currently giving athletes, top college football players are already making six and sometimes seven figures apiece. Teams have already started to say how they’ll distribute their millions in revenue-sharing payments, if permitted by the House decision. Texas Tech said this week that football will receive about 74% of the total revenue-sharing.

When it comes to the largest known coaching salaries in college football, more than 20 coaches make more than $7 million per year. A number of them, including Mark Stoops at Kentucky, Brent Venables at Oklahoma, and Luke Fickell at Wisconsin finished near the bottom of their conferences.

While restructuring might not come for someone like new UNC head coach Bill Belichick, who is set to make double what his predecessor Mack Brown did, the trend could mean that stratospheric coaching salaries are increasingly contingent on winning.