College athletics is big business these days. And while there are money-makers like football and basketball to feed the revenue that seeps out towards other sports, a program can’t be successful without a leader who knows what to do with all that money. Whether it’s distributing it across various sports to show support and build a team program or upgrade facilities for players to enjoy, Athletic Directors have the difficult task of running their department like a CEO of a Fortune 500 company—except, they need to worry about graduation rates. For that reason, universities pay big money to hire someone who gets things right, which is why these men make such a high salary. Here are the top-15 highest-paid Athletic Directors in the country.
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15. Joe Alleva – LSU, $725,000
After serving as the Athletic Director at Duke University, Joe Alleva accepted the job in Baton Rouge with the LSU Tigers, instantly seeing some success in his tenure. With the Tigers coming off of a national title in football, Alleva has also maintained the team’s head coach position, keeping Les Miles from greener pastures, and improved the men’s and women’s hoops teams, too.
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14. Eric Hyman – Texas A&M, $800,000
The current AD at Texas A&M, Eric Hyman has years of experience from other universities such as South Carolina, TCU and VMI, among others, serving him well in helping the Aggies maintain their tradition and expand on their athletic programs. With a certain, former football player named Johnny Manziel, Hyman was able to reap the rewards of the popularity that his school seemed to thanks to their, then, star quarterback.
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13. Dave Hart Jr. – Tennessee, $817,250
After a highly successful run at Florida State for 12 years from 1995-2007 which saw national titles in a few sports, Dave Hart Jr. made the tough decision to leave Tallahassee for Tuscaloosa, Al., overseeing the athletics department at the University of Alabama for a few years. Since then, he has made his way to Rocky Top, with the Volunteers giving him money that, well, proves he isn’t volunteering his time, as he gets paid $817,250 per year.
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12. Jamie Pollard – Iowa State, $900,000
Although Iowa State’s athletic teams haven’t been competing for national titles since he took over the Cyclones as AD, Jamie Pollard has still had plenty of success. These include tripling the school’s revenue and, most importantly, graduated its student-athletes at some of the best rates in the country. For that reason, it’s not surprising he earns a hefty $900,000.
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11. Jeff Long – Arkansas, $903,900
Joining the University of Arkansas in 2008 after serving as the AD at Pittsburgh, Jeff Long has seen some embarrassing moments during his tenure in Fayatteville, yet he has risen above them all to keep the department strong. His most pressing issue was the debacle that occurred with former football coach, Bobby Petrino, who Long openly defended until the facts came out about what really happened in a motorcycle accident with the coach. However, in being named the first chairman of the College Football Playoff last fall, Long has shown to have a good rapport with his colleagues, which shouldn’t be overlooked.
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10. Kevin White – Duke, $906,536
Overseeing one of the best athletic programs in the country, Kevin White has the daunting task of maintaining the level of play at Duke University each year. With both men’s and women’s basketball being the bread and butter of the department, White has made sure to focus on keeping those teams first-class, while also improving other sports like football, soccer and lacrosse. He also maintains excellence in high graduation rates and academic honors for student-athletes.
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9. Joe Castiglione – Oklahoma, $1 million
The past 15 years in Oklahoma athletics might very well be the best 15 years that the school has ever seen—and a lot of the credit has to go to Joe Castiglione. Earning eight national titles and 60 conference championships in his tenure, Castiglione has seen his teams do tremendous things. He also has seen those athletes do even better in the classroom, producing a combined 3.00 GPA among nearly 600 student-athletes who graduated in 2013. With those type of numbers, no wonder the school pays him a cool million dollars each year.
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8. Jack Swarbrick – Notre Dame, $1.02 million
Jack Swarbrick has the difficult task of running one of the finest, independent and private universities athletics program in the nation, so you better believe that he is going to make some serious money. That’s just one reason why Notre Dame pays him $1.02 million per year, but another is his success rate, as Swarbrick has launched the Fighthing Irish Digital Media website, bringing in more money to the university, as well as expanding the football stadium and placing the Irish in the more competitive ACC in all sports other than football and hockey. The guy has done a tremendous job in keeping tradition healthy while also progressing with the everchanging culture.
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7. Gene Smith – Ohio State, $1.09 million
Gene Smith has taken what was a very good program at Ohio State and has turned it into one of the top athletics departments in the entire country. Overseeing the hiring of Urban Meyer as the school’s football coach and seeing success in other sports like men’s and women’s basketball, and, in the past year, was promoted to vice president of the university, making him more visible in other areas at OSU while still focusing on his day-to-day as the AD. As an ambassador of the Buckeyes, he gets paid $1.09 million each year.
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6. DeLoss Dodds – Texas, $1.10 million
Although DeLoss Dodds recently resigned from the University of Texas, at the time of his tenure, he was making $1.10 million per year. Serving as the AD from 1981 until November, 2013, Dodds saw the Longhorns claim 13 national titles and 103 conference championships, leaving a serious mark on the rest of the nation as Texas proved they were one of the top programs around. He now serves as a special assistant to university President Bill Powers, giving him a more prominent role in the entire school’s landscape.
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5. Shawn Eichorst – Nebraska, $1.12 million
Many have probably seen Shawn Eichorst’s name in the news recently after he decided the fate of since-released head football coach Bo Pelini a few days ago. But, restoring Nebraska football back to where he believes it belongs is just one of his tasks. Leading the tradition-rich athletics program, Eichorst has produced a nation-leading 314 Academic All-Americans under his guidance, while also seeing success across a variety of sports like volleyball, soccer, men’s and women’s basketball and baseball and softball. The department is in good hands with him running it, which is why he makes $1.12 million per year.
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4. Barry Alvarez – Wisconsin, $1.23 million
There are few people who have it made like Barry Alvarez does. That’s because, even before his resignation in 2005 as the head football coach of the Wisconsin Badgers, Alvarez has maintained his role as the school’s Athletics Director since 2004, pulling double duty for a university he clearly cares a lot about. For that reason, he gets paid nicely, earning $1.23 million this year. And with such a payday comes a lot of success, as he has seen both team and individual champions across a variety of sports each year.
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3. Jeremy Foley – Florida, $1.23 million
One could argue that, all things equal, Florida Gators AD Jeremy Foley is one of the most polarizing figures in college sports. That’s because he has built the Gators program into a national powerhouse since overtaking the job in 1992. While the football program has fallen on hard times and is currently looking for a new coach, Foley has built new facilities in Gainesville over the past several years to cater to athletes, while also seeing a number of national and conference titles build up under his guidance. For all that success, he makes $1.23 million per year.
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2. Tom Jurich – Louisville, $1.41 million
Hired back in 1997, Tom Jurich has done a pretty smooth makeover to the University of Louisivlle’s athletics department since. Not only have his strategies of fan awareness and intrigue helped in football with the opening of Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium in 1998, but his hiring of Rick Pitino as men’s basketball coach has paid-off beautifully, with the coach winning a national title recently and going to three other Final Fours. Jurich has taken the program head and shoulders above where it was when he first took the job in the late-90s—with him earning a lot more, too.
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1. David Williams – Vanderbilt, $3.23 million
With a salary more than double that of the second highest-paid Athletics Director in the country, I bet you wouldn’t think that it would be Vanderbilt’s David Williams who earns the most money amongst his peers, right? Nothing against Williams, but Vandy doesn’t exactly have the athletic prestige that other schools do. Still, Williams has implemented a full initiative for his student-athletes to experience all that the school has to offer, allowing more overseas travel and study for athletes, helping the GPA of those players to improve since initiated. Williams also saw his baseball team the national title this past season, along with his women’s bowling team doing the same, and, routinely, sees his men’s and women’s hoops teams go to postseason play. With old money, a private institution and solid strategy in place, David Williams has taken Vanderbilt athletics to a place other schools are still trying to strive for—which is why he makes $3.23 million per year.
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