Athletic director salary database

USATODAY

METHODOLOGY

To determine the total pay packages of Football Bowl Subdivision athletics directors for their current contract years, USA TODAY Sports — in partnership with Stinson Morrison Hecker LLP — requested all forms of compensation for the athletics directors at public schools. About 20 of the 124 FBS schools are private or are public schools covered under state law exempting them from releasing salary data on athletics directors. Schools that provided contract information were given the opportunity to review their figures.

Any pay the university guaranteed (even if paid by shoe/apparel company or another source) is listed as "school pay." Anything not guaranteed by the university is listed as "other" pay.

A not available (NA) in the chart denotes schools that are private or did not release the information or schools whose coaches are new and had not filed an outside income report. A $0 means the coach doesn't get compensation from that source.

EXPLANATIONS OF COMPENSATION CATEGORIES

SCHOOL PAY: Base salary; income from contract provisions other than base salary that are paid, or guaranteed, by the university or affiliated organizations, such as a foundation. Examples include payments in consideration for: shoe and apparel use; television, radio or other media appearances; 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) or housing allowance; signing and other one-time bonuses earned in the current contract year; and buyouts paid to an athletics director's previous employer.

It does not include amounts that may have been earned as annual incentive bonuses in other years, the value of standard university benefits such as health care or the value of potentially taxable items called for in contracts such as cars; country club memberships; game tickets for the regular season, postseason and other sports; the value of stadium suites, travel upgrades or spouse/family travel and game tickets.

Salaries reported do not take into account deductions that have, or may, occur because of state government furlough, or other pay-reduction, actions.

OTHER PAY: Income from sources listed on the athletics director's most recently available, self-reported athletically related outside income report. Some public schools, citing public-records disclosure exemptions, decline to provide the outside-income report.

TOTAL PAY: Sum of university and non-university compensation.

MAXIMUM BONUS: The greatest amount that can be received for meeting all prescribed performance goals (for instance: departmental academic and financial benchmarks; or competitive achievements of all or specific teams), and/or athlete conduct departmental rules-compliance goals. including win totals, bowl-game appearances, conference and national championships, coaching awards, etc.), academic or player conduct goals. It typically does not include possible payment based on percentages of ticket revenue or sales or departmental fundraising amounts.

NOTES

NAVY, PITTSBURGH, TEMPLE AND PRIVATE SCHOOLS OTHER THAN WAKE FOREST: The pay information listed came from federal tax returns or the Pennsylvania Right-to-Know Law report. Documents provide compensation for 2010 calendar year based all income paid by the school or support organization, including benefits, perks and performance bonuses.

ARKANSAS: School pay includes a $50,000 one-time payment Long was awarded in the final quarter of 2012 by chancellor G. David Gearhart "in recognition of your outstanding performance and the additional duties you are performing this year."

BUFFALO: School pay includes a $75,000 payment "to assist with relocation expenses." If White voluntarily terminates his employment prior to June 3, 2017, he must repay this amount.

EAST CAROLINA: Holland who had announced plans to retire, will be replaced by Jeff Compher, effective May 1. Compher's annual base salary will be $415,000, according to ECU athletics spokesman Tom McClellan.

FLORIDA: University compensation includes annual retention bonus that, if Foley remains employed as Florida's AD on Jan. 31, 2014, will pay him $250,000. This is the second-greatest in a series of eight such bonuses under contract provision that paid him $200,000 in 2011, $550,000 in 2012, $150,000 in 2013 and would pay him $100,000 in 2015 and in each of next three years.

GEORGIA TECH: Bobinski begins employment at the university on April 1. Paul Griffin serving as acting AD.

IOWA STATE: School pay includes $400,000 as a one-time retention payment for Pollard's completion of eight years of employment – three under his initial contract and five under a contract that began July 1, 2008. Under the 2008 contract's terms, Pollard was to receive this payment on July 31, 2013 if he remained employed by the university on June 30, 2013. Under a new contract signed in October 2012, the university agreed to give Pollard the retention payment on or before Dec. 31, 2012. Early payment was made on the understanding that Pollard intends to remain AD at school. If he accepts "other substantially full time professional employment" before July 1, he must repay the retention payment.

LOUISVILLE: School pay includes $300,000 in bonus money that is guaranteed under Jurich's contract with the University of Louisville Foundation. The foundation agrees to pay Jurich a bonus of $300,000, less the amount paid to Jurich in performance incentives under his contract with the University of Louisville Athletic Association. He can earn up to $646,000 in bonuses from the association.

NEBRASKA: School pay includes a $150,000 one-time payment "to defray relocation and moving expenses in connection with the move of his residence to Nebraska" after he departed the athletics director job at Miami (Fla.).

NORTHERN ILLINOIS: Compher will be leaving the school to become East Carolina's AD, effective May 1.

TULSA: Buck serving on an interim basis.

VANDERBILT: During the period covered by the university's most recently available federal tax return, Williams was vice chancellor for university affairs and athletics; general counsel and university secretary for Vanderbilt and its medical center; tenured law professor . School pay includes $2,009,952 distribution during the 2010 calendar year of money accrued in a supplemental executive retirement plan that was part of Williams' initial offer to join the university in 2000. School pay also includes another $193,921 in retirement and deferred compensation. As of July 2012, Williams' title changed to vice chancellor for athletics and university affairs and athletics director; he no longer had the roles of general counsel and university secretary, but he remains a tenured law professor.

WAKE FOREST: School pay amount reflects Wellman's current base salary, which Wellman provided via athletics department spokesman Steve Shutt. On its most recently available federal tax return, the university reported 2010 calendar year compensation for Wellman that included $1,737,619 from the payout of a deferred compensation arrangement that accrued from 1995 through 2010 and vested during 2010.

WISCONSIN: School pay includes $118,500 in one-time additional pay that Alvarez received for coaching the football team for the Rose Bowl following the 2012 football season after coach Bret Bielema resigned to become Arkansas' coach. Alvarez also could have received a $50,000 bonus if Wisconsin had won the game.

USA TODAY Sports was assisted by Robert Lattinville, Caitlin Ahearn and Stephanie Groth of Stinson Morrison Hecker LLP, whose practice areas include representation of athletics directors through its affiliate, Premier Stinson Sports, as well as representation of coaches and NCAA member institutions.