Kansas Athletics has taken a first major step towards offsetting financial issues that are ahead with the coronavirus epidemic.
KU announced Monday that men’s basketball coach Bill Self, football coach Les Miles and athletic director Jeff Long would all be taking 10% pay reductions. Those will begin May 1, and are scheduled to last for six months.
Self, in particular, said he would be returning the money in hopes “to help bridge the financial gap” the athletic department will face.
“These times are serious, but temporary,” Self said in a release, “and it’s everyone’s hope that we can return to a safe and prosperous time soon.”
Long said KU Athletics would continue to evaluate future needs to determine whether additional salary cuts would be needed among staff members for the upcoming fiscal year.
“While we do not know when this pandemic will come to an end, we are encouraged by the strength of each of our student-athletes, coaches and staff,” Long said. “We will continue taking steps to position our athletics department for a successful future.”
The estimated savings with Monday’s move will be around $500,000, KU Athletics said.
Miles, who is entering his second year with KU, said his family giving back the 10% salary was “something we wanted to do to help a place we’ve quickly grown to love.”
“We are all going through this pandemic together,” Miles said, “and I believe that our country will come through this stronger.”
In June, Long estimated that KU Athletics’ annual budget would be around $106 million for this fiscal year. KU’s budget was about $107 million in fiscal year 2019.
