With revenue sharing about to take hold in college athletics, it’s not an easy time to go on a spending spree.
But under the leadership of President Pam Whitten and AD Scott Dolson, that’s exactly what Indiana has done over the last six months.
It started when Indiana renewed football coach Curt Cignetti’s contract in November. IU signed him to a new eight-year contract with an average annual compensation of $8 million, as well as an additional annual $1 million retention bonus. That makes him one of the 20-highest paid coaches in college football.
Cignetti also negotiated significant raises for his entire staff. The Hoosiers have committed $11 million per year for the football program’s on-field staff and support staff, to be allocated at Cignetti’s discretion. At the time of the new deal, IU’s new staff allotment was the second-highest in college football.
And it didn’t stop there. When defensive coordinator Bryant Haines became a top target of programs like Penn State and Ohio State, Indiana renegotiated his deal again. Haines will make $2 million next season in total. Per USA Today, only nine assistants across college football reached that mark last season.
After all of that, Indiana turned its attention to the men’s basketball program.
Under Mike Woodson’s contract, he could be owed approximately $1 million per year over the next eight years, although we should find out soon if IU and Woodson agreed to a settlement.
According to multiple reports, Indiana will have to pay West Virginia approximately $6 million to buy out new head basketball coach Darian DeVries’ contract with his former school. That amount is thought to be one of the largest buyouts paid on behalf of a basketball coach to allow them to exit a deal.
DeVries’ new contract with Indiana isn’t public yet, but it is expected he will be the highest-paid basketball coach in school history, with a six-year deal reported to be in the $4-$5 million per year range. Of course if things go exceptionally well with him next year, the parties will no doubt be back at the negotiating table sooner than later.
All of this comes at a time when college athletic departments are about to face a massive new expense.
Indiana is expected to begin sharing $20.5 million per year of its revenue with IU athletes in 2025-26. That is the full amount anticipated to be allowed by the NCAA, and it represents a roughly 15% increase in expenses over recent IU Athletics norms. IU Athletics has reduced staff and examined other cost-cutting measures to be ready.
But Indiana can invest in athletics with some degree of confidence under the Big Ten’s new media rights deal signed in 2022. Incremental revenue from that deal, which schools are now beginning to fully receive, should come close to, if not fully offset or even exceed the cost of revenue sharing. It was the deal that Cignetti said made the Big Ten a very attractive conference when he was a coveted coach in 2023.
With the Big Ten functioning as a Power-2 league now with the SEC, success on the field/court will mean more revenue. The Big Ten had four of the 12 teams in the College Football Playoff, and four of this year’s Sweet 16 in the NCAA basketball tournament.
And of course better football has meant more ticket, concession and merchandise sales as well.
But still, under Whitten and Dolson’s leadership, IU is making aggressive moves at a time of uncertainty.
At the university level, it’s probably reasonable to at least question the prudence of such maneuvers. Along with Whitten and Dolson, the IU Board of Trustees has no doubt done just that.
But if you’re a fan of IU Athletics, it seems clear you have leadership who is giving the your teams every chance to be successful.
And that hasn’t always been the case.
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