Louisville AD Vince Tyra is taking a 10% reduction in compensation to help save moneyGETTY IMAGES
The Univ. of Louisville athletic department tomorrow will announce "potential furloughs for department employees," and AD Vince Tyra is "planning to cut 15% in all of the sports budgets to save some money," according to Gardner & Robinson of the Louisville COURIER-JOURNAL. Tyra himself is "taking a 10% reduction along with the rest of his senior staff members" and there will be 10% pay cuts "for all head coaches." Tyra said that the Louisville football program "makes up 45% of the athletic department's budget." Football was "budgeted to bring in" more than $40M in FY '19-20. As of March 31, the budget was at $27M. The men’s basketball program is second, budgeted to bring in $24M. In a worst-case scenario, Tyra said that the athletic department could lose up to $50M if "football is not played and even more if there isn't basketball." Despite this, Tyra said that he does not see playing football games without fans as a "viable option." He said during a virtual meeting of the UL Athletic Association BOD, “We won’t be playing games with empty stands." Gardner & Robinson note the idea of "encouraging unpaid college athletes to grab, push and tackle one another in a venue that fans are not permitted to enter due to health concerns is ethically questionable." That is "part of the reason that, in Tyra’s eyes, Louisville football will return only when fans are in seats" (Louisville COURIER-JOURNAL, 4/21).
CUTS AT SYRACUSE, MICHIGAN: In Syracuse, Mark Weiner reports Syracuse "plans to cut salaries of its top administrators and coaches," as well as issue a "halt to the university’s construction and capital improvement projects, except for the replacement of the Carrier Dome roof." Pay cuts "will extend" to Syracuse AD John Wildhack and coaches Dino Babers (football), Jim Boeheim (men's basketball), Quentin Hillsman (women's basketball), John Desko (men's lacrosse) and Gary Gait (women's lacrosse) (Syracuse POST-DISPATCH, 4/21). In Detroit, Rainer Sabin reports Univ. of Michigan AD Warde Manuel, who is scheduled to earn close to $1M in '19-20, will "have his salary reduced by 5% through the end of the year as the university looks to contain costs and mitigate the fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic." School President Dr. Mark Schlissel "indicated Manuel's pay cut was voluntary" (DETROIT FREE PRESS, 4/21).
UNLV FEELING EFFECTS: In Las Vegas, Mark Anderson reported UNLV athletics has "implemented a hiring freeze" amid the crisis. As for further spending restraints, AD Desiree Reed-Francois has "instructed coaches in each sport to search for ways to cut expenses as long as those reductions don’t negatively affect that team’s ability to compete." Likewise, Reed-Francois "wants to make sure recent efforts to improve nutrition, training and counseling aren’t diminished even as she seeks administrative cuts." Losing even part of a football season "would be potentially devastating for most athletic departments, including at UNLV, which last fiscal year brought in" $7.2M in football revenue. Its men’s basketball program earned $7.4M (LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL, 4/19).
