The fame. The glory. The sense of accomplishment.
And the money.
Winning an NCAA team championship comes with a lot of perks, not the least of which is a significant payday for coaches who take their teams to victory.
At the 2024 NCAA Division I Swimming & Diving Championships, the University of Virginia women won their 4th consecutive title while the Arizona State men won their first-ever championship.
Both Arizona State head coach Bob Bowman, who has since left to take over as the Director of Swimming at the University of Texas, and Virginia head coach Todd DeSorbo had significant bonuses written into their contracts for winning NCAA team championships.
How Much Did Bob Bowman Receive?
Bowman received a $50,000 bonus for his team’s NCAA title according to the incentives in his employment contract. That’s almost 25% of his annual base salary of $219,000.
Of course that pales in comparison to the big prize, which was a massive contract from Texas that starts with a base salary of $400,000 per year and increases to $450,000 per year in its final season in 2029-2030. In addition, he can receive up to 67% of his salary in bonuses annually, which would amount to $1.7 million of additional money over six years. If maximized, his contract carries potential earnings over around four-and-a-half million dollars, plus benefits.
In addition, Bowman was named the CSCAA Men’s D1 National Coach of the Year, which earned him a further $10,000 bonus. While the national title doesn’t guarantee Coach of the Year honors, the two are highly correlated.
Bowman also received $10,000 for leading the Arizona State men to the Pac-12 Conference Championship and a $10,000 bonus for being named Pac-12 Coach of the Year.
Todd DeSorbo signed a new five-year contract in 2021 that carried a base salary of $140,000.
That contract has a stipulation in it that a men’s NCAA team championship earns him 1.5 months of base salary, a women’s championship earns him 1.5 months of base salary, and if both teams win a championship in the same season, he receives 3 months of base salary, plus $5,000.
1 month of base salary for DeSorbo is worth $11,666.67, which means his bonus for the NCAA title comes out to $17,500.
He also received a bonus for the ACC Championship for women ($5,000), being named the ACC Coach of the Year ($5,000), and being named the National Coach of the Year ($10,000).
In both cases, these are just the bonuses written into their employment contracts with the university. Collegiate swim coaches often receive additional compensation and bonuses from boosters, sponsors, camps, and other organizations that is not public record and is not accounted for in their employment contracts.
