The Western Michigan head football coach is set to take a financial hit. And a bigger hit than those that have come before him.
WMU revealed Monday that the athletic department will make cuts in its budget that will total in excess of $6 million because of the coronavirus pandemic. As part of that cost-reduction measure, Western Michigan head football coach Tim Lester will take a 25% cut in pay.
Out of all the FBS schools to announce salary reductions, Lester’s is easily the largest.
Lester made $800,000 in 2019 according to the USA Today coaching salary database. If the reduction were to last an entire year, the coach would lose $200,000.
Lester’s coaching staff will take a similar pay cut as well.
“We have done an extensive review in all of the areas we do. Our revenue, our expenses, what comes in from the NCAA,” athletic director Kathy Beauregard said. “Our world kind of changed, so not only did we have the normal university reductions, but also not a lot of ability to receive the resources that we were getting from the NCAA, from the MAC and from the different revenue sources that we had.
Western Michigan is the second MAC school to make such a cut. The other is Northern Illinois.
Below is a partial list of FBS programs that have initiated various cost-cutting measures for athletic department personnel, including coaches:
- Arizona (HERE).
- Boise State (HERE).
- Colorado (HERE).
- Iowa State (HERE).
- Kansas (HERE).
- Kansas State (HERE)
- Louisville (HERE).
- Michigan (HERE).
- Minnesota (HERE).
- Missouri (HERE).
- Northern Illinois (HERE).
- Oregon (HERE and HERE).
- Rutgers (HERE).
- Syracuse (HERE).
- USC (HERE).
- Wake Forest (HERE).
- Washington State (HERE).
- Western Kentucky (HERE).
- West Virginia (HERE).
- Wyoming (HERE).
Additionally, Pac-12 commissioner Larry Scott, who reportedly made north of $5 million a year ago, is taking a 20% pay cut. Scott’s Big 12 counterpart, Bob Bowlsby, announced pay cuts for himself and the conference’s staff.