Duke athletics staff, including Coach K, take coronavirus-related pay cuts. Here’s how much.
Even Hall of Fame coaches aren’t safe from the financial ramifications the coronavirus pandemic has hit the sports world with this year.
Annually one of the highest-paid coaches in college athletics, Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski is among several Blue Devils coaches affected by a second round of pay cuts at the school this year.
Duke’s athletics department implemented pay cuts to a portion of its staff, exempting employees with the lowest salaries, as the shutdown of college athletics due to COVID-19 is causing revenue shortfalls across the country.
Duke athletics spokesman Art Chase told the News & Observer“ a portion of Duke Athletics staff members have taken a salary reduction between 2.5-10%.”
For some of Duke’s highest-paid athletics department employees, such as Krzyzewski, athletics director Kevin White, women’s basketball coach Joanne P. McCallie and football coach David Cutcliffe, this is the second pandemic-related pay cut. The university earlier cut salaries for employees at or above $285,000.
Krzyzewski’s salary was $7,256,924, according to the latest tax Form 990 the school filed to the Internal Revenue Service in December 2019. According to USA Today’s latest database of college basketball coaches salaries, only Kentucky’s John Calipari ($8 million) made more.
Cutcliffe’s salary was $2,669,345, White’s was $1,577,546 and McCallie made $1,304,935.
Pay cuts at other college sports programs
Duke’s coaches aren’t alone in feeling a financial pinch from the pandemic. Earlier this week, Michigan announced football coach Jim Harbaugh and basketball coach Juwan Howard will each take 10% pay cuts beginning Aug. 1.
Harbaugh’s salary will drop from $7.5 million — the third-highest among college football coaches behind only Clemson’s Dabo Swinney ($9.3 million) and Alabama’s Nick Saban ($8.85 million) — to $6.75 million under the plan.
In the ACC, football coaches Dino Babers of Syracuse, Dave Clawson of Wake Forest and Scott Satterfield of Louisville have all taken 10% pay cuts, according to CBS Sports.
In May, Virginia announced all 20 of its head coaches, plus athletic director Carla Williams and 51 assistant coaches and staff were voluntarily taking pay cuts. The amount of the decrease was not disclosed.
“The shared sacrifices of our coaches and staff will help us address financial shortfalls during this difficult time,” Williams said in a statement when the cuts were announced. “Our hearts go out to those who are suffering and to those who have lost loved ones.”
This story was originally published July 1, 2020 at 1:13 PM with the headline "Duke athletics staff, including Coach K, take coronavirus-related pay cuts. Here’s how much.."