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The Arizona Wildcats announced Wednesday that athletic director Dave Heeke and all its head coaches will take pay cuts in order to help the University of Arizona address the economic hardships of the coronavirus crisis.
The schools’ four-highest paid coaches—men’s basketball coach Sean Miller, women’s coach Adia Barnes, football coach Kevin Sumlin and baseball coach Jay Johnson—have volunteered to take 20 percent pay cuts, per a school release. (The other coaches will take a smaller pay cut since their salaries are lower.)
The $1.5 million overall reduction will help Arizona mitigate the $7.5 million shortfall the athletic department is projecting for the 2019-20 fiscal year.
Those coaches salaries for 2020-21 originally were:
- Sumlin: $3.5 million
- Miller: $2.5 million ($1.8 million base + $700,000 for peripheral duties)
- Johnson: $530,000
- Barnes: $400,000
The pay cuts for Arizona's coaches are, so far, the most in the Pac-12. Oregon, OSU, WSU and Colorado have all announced cuts between 5-10% for top coaches while LA Times said USC AD, Helton, Enfield giving $1 million combined back. Cuts for Heeke, Sumlin, Miller total $1.33M
— Bruce Pascoe (@BrucePascoe) May 6, 2020