Livescore
A new trend is emerging as athletic departments shuffle finances to prepare for a new revenue-sharing model with its players: restructured contracts for their highest-paid coaches.
At least three major college coaches in the last 10 days have restructured their contracts or donated money to help their athletic departments, which will soon bleed millions in payments to players as part of the upcoming settlement of the House v. NCAA case. The pending settlement has placed major athletics on the hook for at least $20.5 million in annual payments to players, and creative accounting has been the rage as a July 1 deadline quickly approaches.
On Monday, Florida State joined the party when coach Mike Norvell agreed to a restructured contract that includes a $4.5 million contribution to launch the Vision of Excellence initiative, “a fundraising campaign that seeks to immediately raise Florida State athletics to new heights of comprehensive excellence by setting ambitious goals for the future of of the student-athlete experience, coaching, facilities and fan engagement.”
Norvell last season earned a contract extension that boosted his annual salary to $9.9 million.
“It’s a reallocation of resources,” a power conference athletics director told CBS Sports, speaking generally on the new trend. “They’re going to reallocate these resources in favor of the cap and revenue sharing. That’s what’s happening.”
Simply put, it’s a legal way for schools to shuffle cups and move money from one bucket to another. Coaches are not allowed to contribute directly to name, image, and likeness collectives, but in-house initiatives provide a different way to help players — if not technically connected.
Embattled Oklahoma State head coach Mike Gundy agreed to a similar restructured contract Dec. 7, though financial terms were not released after a standoff where Gundy’s options were to either take the new deal or get fired. LSU’s Brian Kelly announced Friday that he would personally match up to $1 million in contributions to LSU’s NIL fund with a gift to the Tiger Athletic Foundation’s Excellence Fund.
The three coaches all suffered disappointing seasons (Florida State and Oklahoma State were winless in their conferences), which may have contributed to their impetus for goodwill to their universities.
“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 press release announcing his new contract. “I wanted to be proactive in my financial assistance through this time of transition as we all push forward to get back to the standard of Florida State football.”
Gundy was in a standoff with Oklahoma State’s board of regents about his future before the sides agreed to a new contract. A source familiar with the discussions told CBS Sports that Gundy, who will enter his 21st season leading the Cowboys in 2025, planned to donate a portion of his salary to the university before the school’s board meeting in early December.
“The only coaches who do it are really trying to buy some time, it seems,” an agent who represents college coaches told CBS Sports. “… None of them truly feel genuine to help the schools. It just seems like they’re saving themselves.”
Eight FBS head coaches were paid at least $10 million this year, including Kelly and Norvell. The cost of doing business in college athletics has never been higher, and cost-cutting measures are underway nationwide. West Virginia hired Rich Rodriguez last week with a five-year contract worth an average of $3.75 million annually, which is less than what his predecessor, Neal Brown, was paid. Schools have been more wary of paying large buyouts to coaches, too.
Twenty-seven head coaches have changed across the FBS, but only six head coaches in the power conferences have changed since the end of the season, a stark contrast to the 14 changes a year ago. The smaller conferences are not required to participate in revenue-sharing, making it easier for them to hire and fire coaches during the transition.
“It’s not surprising to me you’re starting to see this because there’s obviously already multi-year contracts in place and if coaching salaries decrease as a result of [revenue sharing], that is going to take some time to work through for the market to readjust,” a power conference athletics director said.
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