Athletic department cuts will be coming to pretty much every athletic department over the coming months and the AD at Wyoming is taking a small, but important, step in mitigating things as much as possible.
In what is bound to be the first of several announcements like it, Cowboys athletic director Tom Burman announced on Twitter Wednesday that he was taking a 10% pay cut through the end of 2020 as the school deals with the fallout from the coronavirus.
In light of the economic challenges we are all facing - especially in Wy. I have decided to reduce my salary by 10% through 12/31. Hoping to limit impact to all students. We also plan to increase giving to Cowboy Joe Club - the best way to support Wyoming Athletics #OneWyoming
— Tom Burman (@TomBurman1) April 1, 2020
Wyoming’s athletic department is on the smaller end of the FBS scale and faces inherent challenges due to its location and small (but fierce) fan base. USA Today’s college financial database lists the school as having a budget of just under $45 million in 2018 so Burman’s salary is still just a drop in the bucket but it does go to show what steps are being taken to reduce expenses.
Others, such as Iowa State, have already announced reductions on things such as coach bonuses and a general salary reduction.
Given how much the COVID-19 outbreak is already impacting the financial statements of programs across the country, such measures figure to become less newsworthy going forward because they’ll simply be commonplace. Such is, sadly, the state of affairs we’re in right now.