Did You Know? The Highest Coaching Salaries in the UNC System | Eastern North Carolina Now

Publisher's note: The James G. Martin Center for Academic Renewal is a nonprofit institute dedicated to improving higher education in North Carolina and the nation. Located in Raleigh, North Carolina, it has been an independent 501(c)(3) organization since 2003. It was known as the John W. Pope Center for Higher Education Policy until early January 2017.

The author of this post is Jenna A. Robinson.

    College athletics is big business. And head coaches of successful teams have the salaries to prove it, particularly in football and men's basketball. Although sports are canceled, for now, it's worth taking a look at spending on coaches' salaries.

    Across the UNC system, the average pay of head coaches varies widely. The table below shows average institutional salaries across the system. It includes all wages and bonuses an institution pays a coach as compensation attributable to coaching. But coaches often receive other bonuses and perks which are not included here.



    The highest average pay for men's coaches is at North Carolina State University. The lowest is at Fayetteville State University.

    According to USA Today's NCAA salaries database, the highest-paid coach in the UNC system is Roy Williams, basketball coach at UNC-Chapel Hill. In 2019, he earned $4,102,409 in total pay. The institutional portion of his pay was $2,385,409. USA Today's database also includes bonuses in addition to coaches' base salaries.

    To read more from the Martin Center about college athletics, click HERE.

    Jenna A. Robinson is president of the James G. Martin Center for Academic Renewal.