The record-setting rate of college coaching buyouts this year has reignited one member of Congress’ push to impose sweeping limits on how much universities can pay their coaches—both to lead their teams and, if desired, leave them.
The Correcting Opportunity and Accountability in Collegiate Hiring (COACH) Act, introduced Monday by Rep. Michael Baumgartner (R-Wash.), would amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to cap the total annual compensation of any athletics department employee at no more than 10 times the institution’s annual in-state costs for a full-time undergraduate student.
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Baumgartner floated a similar measure in April as part of his Restore College Sports Act. But in the wake of Brian Kelly’s firing at LSU—with a staggering $53.8 million left on his contract—Baumgartner decided to separate the pay cap this week as a standalone bill.
For a university like LSU, where in-state tuition and fees total $27,876, the COACH Act would cap the Tigers’ next football boss’ annual compensation at roughly $278,760. That’s about what a mid-tier Group of Five linebackers coach might make. (Heck, it’s scarcely more than the Speaker of the House’s current salary of $223,500.)
By contrast, Kelly was earning $9.5 million in annual guaranteed money.
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In a phone interview with Sportico, Baumgartner contends that, while dramatic, there is nothing unreasonable about the figure he is proposing—which would bring it in line with pre-1990s coaching pay—given that college athletics remains, in his view, “subsidized public good.”
“We are trying to have a public policy baseline that is reasonable within the broader general public,” Baumgartner said, when asked how he arrived at his calculations. “Obviously, it is significantly different than what college coaches are paid right now, but if you think about how much the President of the United States makes, or top generals in the armed forces, or high school coaches, or what [college coaches] made previously, it’s quite a reasonable salary.”
Baumgartner added: “There is no greater societal benefit to have a coach make $10 million versus $200,000. The college sports arms race has really only been to the benefit of people who put roller coasters in locker rooms and high-powered agents for coaches who can overwhelm the abilities and incentive constraints for presidents and athletic directors.”
Kelly’s buyout, which is still being negotiated, follows other recent multimillion-dollar coaching exits—including Penn State’s James Franklin ($49.7 million) and Florida’s Billy Napier ($21.2 million)—that have fueled fresh debate over the source of college sports’ so-called revenue “crisis.” Much of that scrutiny, over the last several months, has focused on the $20.5 million in athletics revenue schools are now permitted to share with athletes as part of the House v. NCAA settlement.
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Baumgartner is not the first to advocate for limits. In 2014, the Drake Group, a college sports reform organization, circulated draft legislation offering the NCAA antitrust protection in exchange for curbs to the industry’s perceived excesses, including salary caps on coaches and athletic directors. A decade ago, the Drake Group proposed a limit of $558,146, pegged to twice the average salary at the time of top-paid professors at doctoral institutions ($223,258). Even without adjusting for inflation, that number is still far higher than Baumgartner is now proposing.
To be sure, the likelihood of Baumgartner’s bill advancing is slimmer than the chance of every FBS coach keeping their job for the rest of the season. Baumgartner said he is open to negotiation and would consider it a success if Congress can effect any kind of meaningful salary reductions.
Baumgartner says he is not trying to demean or demagogue coaches, citing his close friendship with former Washington State head football coach Mike Leach, who was making $5.5 million per year at Mississippi State before his unexpected death in 2022.
“The single most straightforward area to free up more area in college athletics, if you look at incentive structure, is college coach salaries,” he said. “College athletic directors and regents would actually love [Congress legislating] this because they can’t control it themselves. And players’ advocates support it, because they look at what are essentially salary caps for players, and appropriately so, because you have to have competitive balance.”
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Though a Republican, Baumgartner has been critical of the GOP-led SCORE Act, which seeks to standardize NIL rules for college athletes, give the NCAA and College Sports Commission immunity from antitrust lawsuits, and prevent college athletes from being classified as employees.
“I appreciate the fact there is an effort to try and deal with structural problems in college sports,” he said. “But other than my bills, I don’t think there is anything that solves the issue systemically. Whether Congress is dealing with out-of-control college coach salaries this year or some year down the line, eventually Congress is going to have to deal with this issue.”
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