Outside Income Bolsters UA Coaches’ Bottom Lines

When Dave Van Horn signed a contract extension as the University of Arkansas’ baseball coach in 2007, his base salary was increased to almost $190,000 per year.

Thanks to outside income Van Horn more than doubled that number during the 2008-2009 academic year. Van Horn’s total compensation – an estimated $433,500 – is per documents obtained from the UA via the state’s Freedom of Information Act.

All told, Arkansas’ 16 head coaches earned more than $1.9 million in outside income during the 2008-2009 academic year. That accounts for almost 30 percent of their total compensation ($6.4 million).

Those figures didn’t surprise Mark Yost, a veteran sports and business journalist who regularly contributes to the Wall Street Journal. While researching his most recent book, “Varsity Green,” Yost discovered an interesting fact about former North Carolina State football coach Chuck Amato.

Hired with a base salary of $185,000 in January 2000, Amato received significantly more than that thanks to The Wolfpack Club.

“The booster club (paid) him $840,000 a year to keep him in town,” Yost said.

“For a lot of these places, especially the public universities, the outside income seems to deflect a lot of criticism because it allows the (athletic director) to say, ‘Hey, this money’s not coming out of the chemistry department.'”

Business as Usual

UA athletic director Jeff Long said outside income is simply part of the landscape of modern college sports. That’s especially true, he added, if a school wants to land the most sought-after coaches.

“It’s important to be competitive with salaries,” Long said. “Those are essential pieces to coming up with the package and to be competitive in the marketplace at this level. All programs of our stature have those similar kind of outside income opportunities.”

At Arkansas, the biggest chunks of outside compensation come from the Razorback Foundation, television and radio show agreements, and shoe and apparel deals. Van Horn, for example, received $100,000 from the Razorback Foundation, $85,000 from Easton – a bat manufacturer – and $25,000 in the form of a camp sponsorship from Adidas in 2008-2009.

Part of the Easton money was a bonus for the Razorbacks advancing to the College World Series, a practice not solely confined to high-profile sports. Men’s golf coach Brad McMakin was paid $32,000 by Titleist when Arkansas finished runner-up at the 2009 NCAA Championships.

Women’s cross country and track & field coach Lance Harter has had an agreement with Nike for the majority of his 20-plus seasons at Arkansas. The deal was valued at $15,000 in 2008-2009.

“The contract is basically taking care of the team – outfitting them – and then there’s a small supplement that goes to me,” Harter said.

The revenue-generating sports, though, are the most lucrative from an outside income standpoint. Football coach Bobby Petrino has an annual “personal services” agreement with the Razorback Foundation.In return for the healthy supplement to his $1.9 million base salary, he assumes TV and radio show duties, as well as a slew of speaking engagements. Add the $150,000 “Incentive to Stay” money Petrino is awarded, and his compensation jumps to $2.85 million annually.

Men’s basketball coach John Pelphrey also gets a lump sum – $450,000 – in addition to his $750,000 annual base salary. In Pelphrey’s case, the supplement is a combination of shoe and apparel money and compensation from the foundation.

Both Petrino’s and Pelphrey’s shoe and apparel deals were part of a larger deal the UA had with Adidas. Arkansas’ newly entered agreement with Nike, Long said, won’t affect the overall picture despite some differences in process.

Geared Up

Like practically all Division I head football coaches, and many of Arkansas’ head coaches in other sports, Petrino also enjoys outside income in the form of free merchandise. He had a $10,000 apparel deal with Adidas, for example, and a $3,000 agreement with Wilson sporting goods company.

Likewise, women’s basketball coach Tom Collen received $2,000 worth of merchandise from Adidas and $1,500 worth of merchandise from Wilson. He also received $1,200 cash from Wilson as part of a total outside income package worth more than $75,000.

For the purposes of this story, that total – and those of all of the UA’s head coaches – did not reflect perks like automobiles and athletic club or country club memberships. Collen, for instance, is provided a vehicle – or $700 monthly allowance – and a membership at Fayetteville Athletic Club.

Almost every head coach has a similar arrangement in relation to vehicles and club memberships. Petrino and Pelphrey actually are provided with two vehicles each.

More money

UA coaches also generate outside income via camps. Van Horn, for example, reported between $25,000 and $35,000 in camp money, while Pelphrey claimed $10,000.

Pelphrey’s lower number likely stems from the fact his assistants shared in the profits. Similarly, Petrino didn’t report any outside income from camps.

The monies these coaches receive from their other outside sources, it seems, allow their assistants to benefit from the camp cash flow.

Even coaches of non-revenue sports like soccer and softball reported $3,000 or more in camp money.

Yost said head coaches’ lucrative deals with shoe companies and the like have another benefit, too. When those coaches are compensated from outside sources, more internal money is freed for assistant coaches and other staffers.

Sometimes, Harter said, there are even more subtle benefits. He said the Nike deal can be a boon for recruiting.

“Everywhere you go, everybody understands Nike,” Harter said. “It’s the best of the best.”

And while Harter and others are free to sing the praises of companies with which the UA has an agreement, they do face some endorsement restrictions. At the same time the UA employs a policy that encourages its coaches “to engage in outside employment which will affirmatively contribute to his professional advancement or correlate usefully with his University work,” there are some limitations.

“We are using sponsors and such to generate revenue in order to compensate them,” Long said. “We wouldn’t want them in the marketplace with a competitor to us. We don’t want to compete against ourselves.”

With coaches making so much outside income, that policy is rarely an issue.

“To be honest with you,” Long said, “it’s not very often that coaches are pursuing other opportunities. I think we have compensated them