Published May 6, 2020
Sean Miller, Kevin Sumlin among Arizona coaches taking 20% pay cut
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Matt Moreno  •  GOAZCATS
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Arizona's highest-paid coaches will be giving the school back 20% of their salaries to help relief some of the financial stress the school is under right now as a result of losses caused by the coronavirus pandemic. UA basketball coach Sean Miller along with football coach Kevin Sumlin, women's basketball coach Adia Barnes and baseball coach Jay Johnson are part of the group that will join athletic director Dave Heeke in taking a voluntary 20% pay cut.

All head coaches and senior leadership at Arizona will be taking a pay cut of some kind, the school announced in a statement released Wednesday morning.

“Arizona Athletics is a proud member of the University of Arizona community, and we are committed to continuing our work to address the economic hardships of this unprecedented crisis. In accordance with the University’s financial mitigation plan, senior leadership and all head coaches are taking salary reductions consistent with the University’s plan. Director of Athletics Dave Heeke as well as head coaches Adia Barnes, Jay Johnson, Sean Miller and Kevin Sumlin have voluntarily offered to take 20 percent salary reductions. We will overcome these immense challenges together with compassion and determination because that is the Wildcat Way.”

According to the Arizona Daily Star's Bruce Pascoe, the reduction in salaries for the top coaches will save the school $1.46 million.

The cut for Miller, Sumlin and Heeke, alone, will save Arizona more than $1.3 million.

Heeke previously mentioned that there would be a $7.5 million shortfall for the current fiscal year that the athletic department hopes to make up.

"This loss in revenue stems from a reduction in Pac-12 and NCAA revenues, other spring sport revenues, loss of ticket sales as well as a decline in other revenue projections," Heeke said last month. "Our department has taken significant steps to reduce and freeze spending to mitigate these reductions for this fiscal year."

The spread of COVID-19 has resulted in college sports being shut down forcing the NCAA to cancel some of its biggest events of the year including the NCAA Tournament and putting a financial strain on athletic departments across the country. Most schools have had coaches and athletic directors take pay cuts to help alleviate some of that burden and UA's salary reductions are among the most substantial so far.