How much will UNC coach Hubert Davis make? Here’s what’s in the proposed agreement.
The terms of North Carolina’s new men’s basketball coach Hubert Davis employment agreement of $1.8 million the first year will give the first-time coach one of the lowest salaries in the ACC, according to the USA Today’s database of coaches salaries. Davis is the only coach in the league who did not have prior head coaching experience.
Private schools like Wake Forest and Boston College are obtained based on last year’s taxes. Boston College paid Jim Christian just more than $1.4 million in 2019-20, which was the lowest salary reported. Christian was fired in February and there is no word on what the Eagles’ newly hired coach Earl Grant will be compensated.
Steve Forbes just completed his first season at Wake and his information is not yet available. The remaining ACC coaches’ salaries started at $2 million, although COVID-19 forced many athletic departments to ask their coaches to take pay cuts.
Roy Williams, who retired after 18 seasons at UNC, made $4.1 million this past season making him the sixth-highest paid coach in NCAA Division I basketball. And that was after agreeing to an amended salary due to the revenue shortfall the COVID-19 pandemic created for the athletic department.
Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski was the highest paid in the league and second nationally at more than $7 million, again based on the 2019-20 season. N.C. State’s Kevin Keatts took a reduction of nearly $300,000 and is still expected to earn $2.4 million.
Why contract is different than Roy Williams’
The difference at UNC between the Williams’ and Davis’ contracts came from supplemental income and outside compensation. Williams made $1.8 million compared to $600,000 set aside for Davis in supplemental income. That large difference was essentially part of the price of luring him from Kansas.
Williams’ contract reads: “The parties acknowledge that, by accepting employment with (UNC, Williams) forfeited his rights to deferred compensation provided pursuant to an agreement between the University of Kansas Athletic Corporation and (Williams).”
Williams made $1.5 million from Learfield, the multi-media and marketing company that also broadcast his radio show, in outside compensation. Davis is set to receive $500,000 annually throughout the five-year deal.
According to Davis’ proposed agreement, he will have performance-based incentives up to $1,075,000, including a $250,000 bonus for winning a national championship. He can also hold basketball camps, which would also be considered outside compensation.
Davis’ base salary as an assistant coach was $240,000 as of March 31, according to the UNC system salary database,
Davis was named the new men’s basketball coach on April 5 after Williams brought an end to his Hall of Fame career on April 1. Davis played for legendary coach Dean Smith from 1988-92 at UNC before embarking on a 12-year NBA career. He spent seven years as an ESPN analyst before Williams hired him to join the staff in 2012.
Davis served the last nine years as an assistant under Williams and during that time he was the head coach of the Tar Heels’ junior varsity team. He inherits a shadow arguably as big as the one Smith left behind after Williams won three national championships and went to another two Final Fours at Carolina.
This story was originally published April 12, 2021 at 7:09 PM.
