As the pandemic hits the revenue of universities across America, some are wondering whether seven-figure coaching salaries can be justified
After Iowa State saw its Big-12 and NCAA basketball tournaments cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic, the school was among those immediately facing a financial suckerpunch – a $5m shortfall in its budget.
Yet the crisis was solved swiftly and in a way that would have been unthinkable just a few months ago. Jamie Pollard, the school’s athletic director, and the school’s football coach, Matt Campbell, immediately agreed to a reduction of their salaries, while there were other pay cuts across the department, creating a stopgap for the entire shortfall. For Campbell, a cut to his reported $3.5m salary would hardly mean a lean paycheck for a man who, even with the drop, is among the highest-paid employees in the state.
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