Press Releases
Congressman Continues Colossal College Coaching Contract Code Consistency CheckPascrell’s latest inquiry focuses on humungous deals to football coaches Mario Cristobal ($89,000,000) and Mel Tucker ($95,000,000), questions schools’ tax-exempt status while athletes remain unpaid
Washington, DC,
January 11, 2022
U.S. Rep. Bill Pascrell, Jr. (D-NJ-09), the Chairman of the House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Oversight, today expanded his probe into bloated college coaching contracts, writing new letters to the Presidents of Michigan State University (MSU) and the University of Miami (Miami), which enjoy federal tax exemption benefits while recently lavishing gigantic contracts on their head football coaches. “While the college football season ended last night, there is no offseason for oversight and my letters today expand our inquiry into exorbitant school coaching deals,” said Chairman Pascrell. “Americans are rightly astonished by the litany of mammoth contracts awarded to college sports coaches by taxpayer-supported schools. One of Congress’s oldest bodies, the Ways and Means Committee exists to safeguard the treasury from waste and excess. Our Oversight Committee will keep shining a light on any possible abuses of our tax code.” “I write today to request important information about how the university’s lucrative athletics program is furthering the educational purposes for which your school receives tax exemption… [R]ecent reports about compensation that [your school] will pay its football coaches have raised significant concerns about whether the university is operating consistent with its tax-exempt status,” Pascrell writes in his letters to the Presidents of MSU and Miami. “It is unclear how such lucrative compensation contracts further [your] overall educational mission and benefit your student body as a whole.” With the end of the Division I football season last night, Pascrell invoked the unpaid NCAA student athletes who will play under these coaches: “These contracts also present a stark contrast to the benefits received by the university’s student-athletes, whose grants-in-aid each semester pale in comparison to their coaches’ compensation. Student-athletes make an enormous commitment of time and effort as team members, but it is the coaches that are profiting handsomely from their labor.” Plucked from the University of Oregon by Miami, Mario Cristobal will one of the highest paid public university coaches in America, with total contract benefits reaching $80,000,000 dispersed over 10 years. This does not include a $9,000,000 buyout that Miami will pay the University of Oregon. The letter seeks answers about possible ties between athletic department decision making and revenues from the University of Miami Health System, as speculated about by The Athletic and Miami Herald. MSU’s extension will pay Mel Tucker $95,000,000 over 10 years. MSU’s contract includes $5,900,000 in base salary, $3,100,000 in media appearances, $100,000 from MSU-negotiated apparel, and a $400,000 annual retention bonus. The contract reportedly includes provisions with a litany of annual bonuses, including: “$25,000 for winning Big Ten Coach of the Year; $50,000 for AFCA National Coach of the Year; $125,000 for any non-College Football Playoff bowl game appearance; $200,000 for winning the Big Ten East Division; $200,000 for winning the Big Ten championship game; $250,000 for reaching a New Year’s Six bowl not factored into the playoff; $275,000 for reaching the CFP; $300,000 for each additional CFP game in the event the playoff is expanded and $500,000 for winning the national championship.” Tucker will be paid his entire salary even if he is ever terminated by MSU. On December 17, 2021, Chairman Pascrell wrote inquiry letters to the Presidents of Louisiana State University and the University of Southern California, asking questions about LSU’s $95,000,000 contract to football coach Brian Kelly and USC’s $110,000,000 pact with football coach Lincoln Riley. A copy of Chairman Pascrell’s letter to University of Miami President Julio Frenk is available here and a copy of Pascrell’s letter to MSU President Samuel Stanley, Jr. is available here, the text of which is below. January 11, 2022
Samuel L. Stanley, Jr., M.D. Office of the President Michigan State University 426 Auditorium Road Hannah Administration Building, Room 450 East Lansing, MI 48824-1046
Dear President Stanley, The Committee on Ways and Means of the U.S. House of Representatives has a long history of oversight of organizations granted Federal tax exemption. Much of that oversight is conducted through its Oversight Subcommittee (Subcommittee), which I chair. I understand that Michigan State University (MSU) qualifies for Federal tax exemption as a wholly-owned State instrumentality and as an organization described in Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. I write today to request important information about how the university’s lucrative athletics program is furthering the educational purposes for which MSU receives tax exemption. This inquiry is particularly timely in light of recent reports about the exorbitant compensation that your university will reportedly pay its head football coach under his new contract. Educational organizations, including public universities like MSU, comprise one of the largest segments of the tax-exempt sector. Undoubtedly, most of the activities undertaken by MSU further the university’s exempt purposes. However, recent reports about compensation that MSU will pay its football coaches has raised significant concerns about whether the university is operating consistent with its tax-exempt status. Notably, MSU’s head football coach reportedly will receive more than $95 million in basic compensation over the next ten years. It is unclear how such lucrative compensation contracts further MSU’s overall educational mission and benefit your student body as a whole. These contracts also present a stark contrast to the benefits received by the university’s student-athletes, whose grants-in-aid each semester pale in comparison to their coaches’ compensation. Student-athletes make an enormous commitment of time and effort as team members, but it is the coaches that are profiting handsomely from their labor. These issues are not confined just to Division I football programs either. Men’s basketball programs merit scrutiny as well, given the compensation provided to coaches. To help us understand how MSU sets compensation for your Division I football and men’s basketball programs, as well as how these programs protect athletes and contribute to MSU’s educational purpose, the Subcommittee requests answers to the questions below by no later than February 14, 2022. Compensation:
Serving MSU’s educational mission:
Students:
Revenue and expenses of the athletics department:
Governance of the athletics department:
Facilities:
Your answers will assist the Subcommittee in its oversight of tax-exempt universities and colleges and their engagement in intercollegiate athletics. Thank you for your prompt attention to this matter. Sincerely, |