What is Dawn Staley’s salary? How much money does the South Carolina head coach make?
With an overall record of 438-106 during the course of 16 seasons South Carolina’s coach is easily one of the best in the business, but how much does she earn?
As she prepares for the National Championship Game against Iowa on Sunday afternoon, it’s hard not to think of South Carolina’s head coach as the most revered in women’s college basketball. Indeed, should her Gamecocks succeed in clinching the title, there will be no debate.
Is Dawn Staley’s salary is on par with her success
If you didn’t know, South Carolina is now just one win away from making two significant pieces of history. Firstly, there is the team’s record. Having seen off the No. 3 seed North Carolina State on Friday in the Final Four, the Gamecocks now sit on a 37-0 record ahead of their game against the Iowa Hawkeyes in the National Championship Game on Sunday afternoon. Should they win, the Gamecocks will become only the 10th team in women’s college basketball history to clinch the title with an undefeated record. Then, we’ve got head coach Dawn Staley who would become just the 11th coach in both men’s and women’s basketball combined to have won three national titles.
Interestingly, the magnitude of it all is something that seems to have taken the coach by surprise. Speaking earlier this week ahead of the Final Four win over NC State, the 53-year-old admitted that she is “shocked” that her team has made it this far and in such a manner, something we find hard to believe when looking at the numbers. Since her arrival in Columbia some 16 years ago, Staley has given her critics few things to talk about as she has literally gone about winning everything and then some. Truthfully, South Carolina now stands as one of the dominant forces in the college game, with the Gamecocks winning a national title in both 2017 and 2022. Needless to say a third would likely confirm her status as one of college basketball’s greatest coaches.
This of course brings us to her contract. How is such a successful coach compensated? As things stand, Staley is in the third year of a seven-year, $22.4-million contract that she signed back in 2021. It is understood that the contract increases by $100,000 each year. With that in mind, Staley earned $3.1 million this season and that includes her bonuses. Quite frankly, she has secured each and every one of the performance bonuses in her deal, including the extra $25,000 that she pocketed for picking up the Naismith Coach of the Year award. Should the Gamecocks manage to defeat the Hawkeyes on Sunday afternoon, she will receive a bonus of $680,000 which would take her overall earnings for the season to almost $3.8 million. Tip off in Sunday’s national championship game between South Carolina and Iowa is set for 3:00 p.m. ET. Don’t miss it.