It’s a bummer to hear that Coach Tad Boyle’s salary for taking the Buffs to the Big Dance this past season was only $165,830. That is only three times as much as the average for Colorado wage earner, but it is a pittance compared to coaches at the country’s top programs.
After his first season at CU, Boyle was recruited to coach elsewhere, but declined to stay at CU – for a meager salary of $165,000. There is more to the story – his total compensation package includes incentives.
According to the Daily Camera (March 15, 2012) there are six people on the Boulder campus who have multi-year contracts. Tad Boyle is one of the six.
The Board of Regents has directed campus officials to structure these six contracts in a manner that focuses on incentives, rather than large salaries. This is similar to salesmen who are paid commissions or executives who receive other types of performance incentives. In other words, the coach gets a cut of incremental revenue he/she is able to generate for the school. When viewed from that perspective, most will find the concept of his total compensation package to be more palatable.
The breakdown of Boyle’s salary follows:
Base – $165,830
Public relations – $180,000
Fundraising – $96,000
Sponsorship support – $108,000
Summer camps – $35,000
Country club – $6,480
Academic performance incentive – $34,000 in 2012 ($68,000 other years)
Welfare and development incentive – $33,000 in 2012 ($66,000 other years)
Outreach and reputation incentive – $33,000 in 2012 ($66,000 in other years).
The total package is worth $691,310.
This is a lot more than $165,000, but still well below the total for coaches at other major programs.
The breakdown of Boyle’s incentives follows:
15 regular season wins – $30,000
17 regular season wins – $20,000
19 regular season wins – $30,000
Pac-12 tournament semifinals – $75,000
Pac-12 tournament win – $30,000
NCAA tournament appearance $105,000.
These incentives, totaling $290,000, were earned by Boyle this past season.
Other incentives that were available included:
NCAA second round appearance – $30,000
NCAA third round appearance – $30,000
NCAA fourth round appearance – $30,000
Final four appearance – $105,000
National championship – $750,000.
A lackluster season, with 15 wins, will result in a $2,000 bonus per game won. If two additional games can be won, or 17 wins, then $10,000 is awarded for each of those two wins. The value of a game won in the Big Dance is $30,000 per game.
If you were the coach, how would you deal with the pressure of coaching a game that included a $2,000 bonus if you won? $10,000 for each game won? $30,000 for each game won? or $750,000 to win the national championships?
By offering incentives, colleges are able to contain and manage their costs. At the same time, the likelihood of transgressions is much greater when results are tied too closely to incentives. For additional information take a look at USA Today. They typically prepare a database of coach’s salaries and incentives in conjunction with March Madness.