Dawn Staley became the highest-paid coach in college women’s basketball history on Friday morning, which has a direct impact on a clause in Lady Vols coach Kim Caldwell’s contract.
Staley’s new contract is effective immediately. It will run through the 2029-30 season and will pay her an annual salary of $4 million with a $250,000 increase every season. It also includes a $500,000 signing bonus to make the total value approximately $25.25 million.
Dawn Staley’s contract matters for Caldwell because of a championship clause in her contract.
Tennessee athletics director Danny White put the clause in the contract for the next Lady Vols basketball coach even before he knew who he would hire to replace Kellie Harper in April. The contract that Caldwell signed guarantees she will become the highest-paid coach in the country if she wins a national championship.
The clause specifically states that if the women’s basketball team wins the NCAA national championship, Caldwell will receive a raise on or before May 1 following the end of the season that would make her annual compensation “equal or exceed the highest salary of any head coach of a women’s basketball team in Division I of the NCAA based on publicly available salary data on the date of such achievement.”
How Kim Caldwell’s salary could exceed Dawn Staley contract that just set women’s basketball record
Portrait of Cora HallCora Hall
Knoxville News Sentinel
Dawn Staley became the highest-paid coach in college women’s basketball history on Friday morning, which has a direct impact on a clause in Lady Vols coach Kim Caldwell’s contract.
Staley’s new contract is effective immediately. It will run through the 2029-30 season and will pay her an annual salary of $4 million with a $250,000 increase every season. It also includes a $500,000 signing bonus to make the total value approximately $25.25 million.
Dawn Staley’s contract matters for Caldwell because of a championship clause in her contract.
Tennessee athletics director Danny White put the clause in the contract for the next Lady Vols basketball coach even before he knew who he would hire to replace Kellie Harper in April. The contract that Caldwell signed guarantees she will become the highest-paid coach in the country if she wins a national championship.
The clause specifically states that if the women’s basketball team wins the NCAA national championship, Caldwell will receive a raise on or before May 1 following the end of the season that would make her annual compensation “equal or exceed the highest salary of any head coach of a women’s basketball team in Division I of the NCAA based on publicly available salary data on the date of such achievement.”
“We wanted to make it very clear that investment and how serious we are about getting our women’s basketball program back to the top is in no question at all,” White said in April. “She has our full support and will continue to have it.”
When Caldwell signed the contract, LSU coach Kim Mulkey was the highest-paid coach in the country. Mulkey signed a 10-year, $32 million deal in September 2023 after winning the 2023 NCAA championship, and her total salary is $3.264 million per season.
The bar was raised by Staley when the South Carolina board of trustees approved a new contract for the Gamecocks coach Friday morning.
Staley’s previous contract paid her $3.1 million, which matched UConn coach Geno Auriemma’s salary of $3.1 million as of March 2024.
Caldwell signed a five-year contract worth $3.75 million in April. She will be paid $750,000 annually through March 31, 2029 – unless she wins a national championship. Caldwell will also receive a $400,000 bonus if Tennessee wins the NCAA Championship.
