University of Maryland coaches and administrators were the highest-paid employees in the state in 2023, mirroring soaring compensation costs across the country.
College football and basketball coaches tend to be the highest earners in a state and often make more money than the administrators running public universities, according to higher education compensation experts. Salaries for university presidents and chancellors have also escalated as the role demands attracting more donors and students.
The Baltimore Sun requested 2023 salary data from the Maryland comptroller’s office through the state’s Public Information Act. The data includes the regular, overtime and other earnings for 146,113 entries. Maryland paid workers over $7.9 billion last year.
The University of Maryland, which includes most of the state’s 100 highest-compensated employees, paid out the most in 2023 to head football coach Michael Locksley at $5.676 million . This comprised $598,000 in regular earnings, which is accounted for by his salary, then over $5 million in “other earnings.”
Jay Perman, chancellor of the University System of Maryland, earned $1.21 million in 2023 with $1.15 million in regular earnings. Perman was the highest-paid employee after sports coaches. He was among the highest-paid public college presidents in the country in 2022, falling just under the top 10 presidents, according to a database by The Chronicle of Higher Education.
Coaches
The National Collegiate Athletics Association has “never really been able to control coaches’ salaries,” said Tom McMillen, president and CEO of the Lead1 Association, which represents Football Bowl Subdivision athletic directors. For most states in the country, McMillen said, the public university football coach is the highest-paid employee.
“It’s pretty much an unregulated marketplace,” said McMillen, a former Maryland U.S. representative who played basketball at UMD.
Kevin Willard, the Maryland’s men’s basketball coach, was the second-highest earner at $4.03 million. He collected a $498,000 base pay with $3.53 million in “other earnings.” Brenda Frese, the women’s basketball coach, made the third-highest at $2.04 million, followed by Mark Turgeon, the former men’s basketball coach.
Turgeon, who abruptly left the university during the 2021-22 basketball season, was part of a $5.7 million buyout in 2022 that pushed the athletics department into the red. He received $1.23 million in 2023.
Although Locksley and Willard made the most of any employee in Maryland, their total pay falls in the middle of the pack compared to their peer NCAA coaches.
Nick Saban, the University of Alabama’s former football coach, brought in more than $11 million in total pay in 2023, according to a USA Today database . Ryan Day, of Ohio State University, made the most of any Big Ten Conference football coach at $10.8 million, according to the database.
“There’s tremendous competition for these coaches,” McMillen said. “The biggest driver in all this has been television money, the fact that television money has exploded during that period.”
The growth in coaches’ salaries is directly related to the growth in conference television contracts, he said.
Colleges and universities value their sports teams for brand visibility and relationship-building with the school population and fans, said Donna Lopiano, former president of The Drake Group, which advocates against educational and economic exploitation of student athletes. Deep-pocket donors are also interested in the success of their college teams, she said.
“They believe athletics is a special asset of the institution that makes donors happy,” Lopiano said.
Division I schools, including the Big Ten Conference, spent more than $17 billion on athletics in 2022, according to the NCAA. About $3.3 billion, or 20%, was spent on compensating coaches. About 17% was spent on administrative compensation.
“Coaches’ salaries are so high because the rate of compensation is their value to the institution, not in relation to their profitability of the business,” Lopiano said, adding that tax-exempt schools spend more money on athletics than their teams make.
University presidents
The role of university presidents has changed over the past decades in response to declining fiscal support from states and growing institutional debt. Presidents must fundraise large amounts while building political relationships and improving students’ success.
In Maryland, state funding for higher education has increased over the past decade. Although Gov. Wes Moore announced this week he is slashing funds for the Maryland Higher Education Commission , which administers financial aid.
University presidents have high-stakes jobs with frequent churn, said Alan Crist, a senior executive search consultant for AGB Search, which assists universities’ governing boards to establish competitive salaries for leaders.
“The expectations have been increased on presidents to be fundraisers for these institutions and to be the public face of them,” Crist said.
Perman, the chancellor who made $1.21 million last year, oversees 12 public universities, three regional higher educational centers and a central office. He declined an interview request.
In a statement, a spokesperson said Perman’s responsibilities include managing a $7 operating billion budget that serves around 170,000 students in Maryland and abroad. He also works as a physician and a faculty member in the University of Maryland, Baltimore School of Medicine, where he teaches and sees patients.
Large universities typically pay their presidents more than other types of educational institutions, said Glenn Colb, a senior researcher at the American Association of University Professors, who directs an annual faculty compensation survey.
The highest-paid presidents tend to be at private, independent universities. The median salary is $913,000 among those institutions, Colb said. Community college leaders make a median salary of around $300,000.
In fiscal year 2024, the median salary of presidents at public doctoral institutions was $642,000, excluding supplemental pay. University presidents and chancellors can receive benefits such as housing or car allowances, favorable loan rates and deferred compensation.
Deferred compensation retirement plans are used to retain leaders amid high turnover rates.
David Wilson, president of Morgan State University, earned $1.12 million last year, a significant bump from his $605,000 base salary, because he took a deferred compensation payout.
Wilson’s 2018 contract included a deferred compensation plan that he could take out after five years, resulting in a one-time payment being added to his overall earnings for that year.
Wilson, who signed a contract extension in 2023, is entering his 14th year as president. Next month, he will be the longest-serving president at a historically Black college or university, said Larry Jones, a university spokesperson. Wilson declined an interview request.
“Morgan has experienced tremendous gains in enrollment, research awards, program creation, capital improvements, and campus growth,” under Wilson’s tenure, Jones said in a statement. Wilson has personally donated $400,000 to Morgan, he added.
Salaries for presidents have grown at a much faster rate than salaries for full faculty members at those universities, Colb said. Full professors are the highest-paid faculty, with an average 2023 salary of $155,000.
“Currently, we’re finding that at doctoral universities, presidents are paid about 4.5 times what full professors are paid on average,” Colb said.
It’s hard to become a full professor. Just under half of faculty members in the country are employed part time, Colb said, and salaries have decreased 7% since the coronavirus pandemic. “It’s a serious problem.”
Darryll Pines, president of the University of Maryland, College Park, earned $914,000 last year. Tuajuanda Jordan, president of St. Mary’s of Maryland, earned $537,000. Freeman Hrabowski, the former president of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County who retired in spring of 2022, earned $529,000.
“It boils down to a market situation. What does the market pay at comparable institutions?” Crist said. “Boards really want to make sure they’re paying people fairly and competitively so they can attract and retain top leadership.”
Baltimore Sun reporter Annie Jennemann contributed to this article.
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