Five coaches and AD taking voluntary pay cuts
Director of Athletics Jim Sterk and five Mizzou head coaches have agreed to take a voluntary pay cut for at least the next three months in an attempt to help the athletic department minimize financial damage from the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
The coaches are Eli Drinkwitz (football), Cuonzo Martin (men's basketball), Robin Pingeton (women's basketball), Brian Smith (wrestling) and Steve Bieser (baseball).
“In the wake of the unprecedented challenges the University of Missouri, our state and nation are facing, collectively we believed it was important to step forward and support President (Mun) Choi and other University leaders at this time,” Sterk said in a statement released on Thursday night. “As leaders, I believe it is important that we lead by example, especially in times of crisis, and this is one way that we can demonstrate that.
“Part of our Win it Right culture includes togetherness, and I appreciate Eliah, Cuonzo, Robin, Brian and Steve’s unselfishness and willingness to step forward in these difficult times to voluntarily give up a part of their compensation. All five of them have impeccable character and understand the role that they play as leaders on our campus.”
Earlier this week, system President Mun Choi announced in an email "The president, chancellors, their cabinet members, and deans are taking 10% salary cuts beginning May 1 through at least July 31." The email stated that other senior leaders and administrators had been asked to do the same. That list included 20 members of the Mizzou athletic department.
Sterk's annual salary is $700,000. Drinkwitz signed a six-year contract worth $4 million annually in December. Martin makes $3 million per year. Pingeton's guaranteed salary is $500,000 per year (though another $100,000 is put in an annual fund each year). Bieser signed an extension raising his salary to $400,000 per year earlier this year. According to the most recent information available, Smith is making $300,000. All told, the savings on the six salaries would be $222,500 over the next three months if each cut is at that 10% mark.
Choi's email earlier this week indicated that salary cuts could go beyond July. That date is an initial time frame, but Choi said the school will remain on a 60- to 90-day timeline in assessing its budget and the pandemic. Choi has also said that the overall financial impact of the virus and its fallout could be $180 million across the four campuses in the University of Missouri system.