Waste of the Day: Taxpayers Subsidize Football Coach Severance

Topline: In 1917, Congress made private donations to universities tax-deductible to give alumni an incentive to support the education of future students. Lawmakers probably didn’t plan on helping line the pockets of fired football coaches, but that’s exactly what will happen this year. Fifteen universities owe a collective $228 million in severance to their former football coaches — shattering last year’s record of $121 million, according to the Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics.

Football coach severance becomes a big part of university expenses

Scott Hodge, president emeritus of the Tax Foundation, first pointed out the taxpayer burden in an opinion piece for the Washington Post.

Key facts: Once this year’s buyouts are dispersed, colleges will have spent over $1 billion on football coach severance since 2015, according to the Knight Commission. 

Louisiana State University owes Brian Kelly $54 million after firing him on Oct. 26. The University of Kentucky owes Mark Stoops $38 million, and five other coaches are owed more than $10 million each.

Kelly and Stoops both worked for schools in the elite Southeastern Conference, which is responsible for $137 million of severance. 

Private donations will not fund the entirety of the $228 million buyouts. College athletics departments also earn tax-exempt revenue from ticket sales, sponsorships and more.

Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-WA) is writing legislation that would place income taxes on school athletics programs and remove the tax-exempt status of the National Collegiate Athletic Association, the organization that governs sports for nearly every notable university.

Search all federal, state and local salaries and vendor spending with the world’s largest government spending database at OpenTheBooks.com. 

Background: Taxpayers are also responsible for the large salaries coaches earn at public universities.

There were at least 107 coaches and assistant coaches across all sports that collected salaries of $1 million or more from public colleges in 2024, according to data obtained by Open the Books. Kirby Smart, football coach at the University of Georgia, earned $12.2 million.

Why continue to pay this freight?

Summary: Even the most die-hard sports fans would likely take issue with the federal government forgoing tax revenue to pay fired football coaches.

The #WasteOfTheDay is brought to you by the forensic auditors at OpenTheBooks.com

This article was originally published by RealClearInvestigations and made available via RealClearWire.