ETSU coaches earn good paydays for Tri-Cities area

East Tennessee State athletic coaches make well above the average salary for Johnson City, but pale in comparison for the marquee programs at the University of Tennessee and major NCAA Division I schools. The average salary in Johnson City is $48,161 annually, according to Zip Recruiter. ETSU coaches range from $59,000 to $280,000 base salaries, with performance bonuses available. Still, they're nowhere near the $9 million paid to Tennessee football coach Josh Heupel, who is eligible for another $1.7 million in bonuses. According to a Knoxville News Sentinel report, Heupel has a $37.5 million buyout if UT fires Heupel without cause. That's still less than half the $77 million buyout that Texas A&M paid Jimbo Fisher in 2023. The highest paid coaches are Georgia's Kirby Smart, a two-time national champion with the Bulldogs, at $13.2 million, and defending national champion Ohio State's Ryan Day at $12.6 million. The buyout for Smart is a hard to comprehend $105 million. ETSU doesn't pay anywhere near this level. The two highest paid head coaches at ETSU come as no surprise. Football coach Will Healy makes $280,000 annually, and basketball coach Brooks Savage is at $202,000 per year. While many fans were angry at former football coach Tre Lamb leaving ETSU after one season in 2024, he was presented an opportunity to quadruple his pay. He was able to get a five-year deal for $6 million to become the new coach at Tulsa. As for the current ETSU coaches, Savage's contract is filled with bonuses, such as $5,000 for a win over a Power 6 Conference (SEC, ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-12 or Big East) team. Savage gets a one-time bonus of $5,000 for 20 wins against NCAA Division I opponents, and a $1,000 bonus for each win above that. A regular-season Southern Conference championship adds $10,000, and it's $5,000 if he's named the league's coach of the year. Winning the SoCon Tournament is more lucrative, with a $15,000 bonus for that, and an NCAA Tournament win worth another $15,000. If the Bucs could win the NIT Championship like rival Chattanooga did last season, that's a $25,000 bonus. Winning the NCAA Championship would be worth $100,000, although at that point, it would put Savage in a position to make millions of dollars at a larger institution. If ETSU decided to part ways with Savage without cause before May 1, 2027, he would be paid his base salary up to $300,000. If the coach resigned to take another job, then he would be responsible for the payout to the university. On the lower end of the salaries, ETSU triathlon coach Allie Nicosia has a base pay of $59,000. The base pay for head coaches in sports like men's and women's soccer, softball, tennis, volleyball and women's golf range from $76,000 to $92,000. All of these contracts have built-in bonuses, such as volleyball coach Lindsey Devine received $2,500 for her team being the SoCon regular-season champions and another $1,500 for being named the SoCon Coach of the Year. Baseball coach Joe Pennucci also reaped the benefit of his team's success beating then No. 1-ranked Tennessee, winning the Southern Conference regular-season and tournament championships. Bonuses were paid in addition to his $125,000 base salary. Women's basketball head coach Brenda Mock Brown has an annual base pay of $150,000, as well as an annual stipend of $30,000 for additional responsibilities and a $600 per month vehicle stipend. With a strong tradition in men's golf, head coach Aaron O'Callaghan is financially rewarded with a $165,000 base pay. He earned an extra $5,000 for an NCAA tournament appearance. There are other competition incentives, which can put him over $200,000. He also receives a $20,000 retention bonus if he doesn't give his resignation or signs with another Division I program within six months of receiving the bonus. Other benefits include a country club membership at Blackthorn Club and an option of education for his children at University School. Still, these figures are dwarfed by those at the University of Tennessee, which pays men's basketball coach Rick Barnes close to $6 million per year, women's basketball coach Kim Caldwell $1 million and baseball coach Josh Elander $1 million per year. Former Tennessee baseball coach Tony Vitello made $3 million per season before accepting the San Francisco Giants manager job for $3.5 million annually. If you're curious, the highest paid NCAA non-football coaches are two-time national champions in college basketball. Kansas coach Bill Self earns over $8.8 million for coaching the Jayhawks and UConn's Dan Hurley has a $7.75 million salary. While ETSU coaches are nowhere near those levels, they still have good to great pay for the Tri-Cities area.