First-year Kansas University men’s basketball coach Bill Self has at least one thing in common with his predecessor.
On the list of Big 12 Conference men’s basketball coaching salaries, Roy Williams ranked dead last. So, too, does Self, who has inherited the same annual $129,380 salary as Williams.
Most of us, of course, could muddle along quite nicely with nearly 130 grand a year, but that’s peanuts in the stratospheric recompense realm of high-profile university coaches. Self, for instance, is guaranteed at least $1 million in addition to his salary. That’s right. One million big ones.
Self’s $1 million windfall will come from three sources — multimedia payments, equipment and apparel contracts and summer basketball camps.
Under terms of Self’s contract obtained by the Journal-World from KU’s business and planning office, the Jayhawks’ new coach is guaranteed $400,000 from multimedia deals, $350,000 from equipment and apparel pacts and $250,000 from his summer camps. Total: $1 million. And those are minimums. He could — and probably will — earn more.
How do those numbers compare to what Williams was making before he left for North Carolina?
I wish I could tell you, but I can’t, because terms of Williams’ equipment and apparel deals and his summer-camp income were not listed on the terms of his contract with the university.
A good guess, though, is that Williams’ income from apparel and equipment companies like Nike was probably more than what Self can command based of the fact Williams has accrued more time in the limelight than his successor. Meanwhile, it’s probably safe to assume the summer camp income has remained basically the same because the sessions were sold out under Williams and again under Self.
As far as multimedia money goes, we know Williams made more, but not that much. In his last year here, Williams was guaranteed $458,000 for his radio-TV package, or $58,000 more than the $400,000 stipulation in Self’s pact.
Then there are the perquisites. Williams was furnished with two automobiles, membership in two country clubs and a term life insurance policy. Self has all that, too, although his life insurance policy is for $2 million and Williams’ policy was for half of that.
Williams had a suite at Memorial Stadium and Self will inherit those digs on football game days. Also, Williams was provided with basically as many tickets as he requested for home basketball games, and Self will have the same privilege.
Finally, Williams’ pact contained a clause assuring him payment of “reasonable in-state and out-of-state travel and entertainment expenses.” I’m not sure how they define “reasonable”, but Self has the same codicil, as so do football coach Mark Mangino and women’s basketball coach Marian Washington.
As you probably know, under KU Athletic Corp. policy, Mangino and Washington earn the same base salary as Self ($129,380), but they collect less in outside income. Mangino’s total package is probably in the $750,000-a-year range while Washington’s annual income is quite likely around $200,000.
Nine years ago, Williams and football coach Glen Mason had the distinction of becoming the first Kansas University head coaches to reach the six-figure plateau when their base salaries were boosted from $98,000 to $101,920 a year.
Today, five of Mangino’s assistants earn more than $100,000 a year as do Self aides Norm Roberts and Tim Jankovich. As a matter of fact, Kansas may be the only school in the country with some assistant coaches making more than the head coach. Football coordinators Nick Quartaro and Bill Young have higher base salaries than Mangino. They make $141,500 a year.
In fact, because of KU’s curious way of determining the three head coaches’ salaries, the highest-paid coaches in the entire athletic department are Young and Quartaro.
Yes, the Kansas University athletic department boasts a lot of high-paying coaching jobs. Not a single one of them, however, comes with tenure.
