Assistants earn $490K in raises
UF coach Dan Mullen’s coaching staff was a big winner following the 2019 Gators’ 11-2 finish last season.
Mullen’s assistants received pay raises in early February totaling $490,000, according to coaching contracts provided to the Orlando Sentinel by the school’s University Athletics Association. The agreements were signed Feb. 1, more than a month before the coronavirus pandemic shut down sports and forced schools to alter budgets.
Linebackers coach Christian Robinson, who was hired for $80,000 in 2017, led the way with a $175,000 pay bump, putting his 2020 salary at $290,000. Two coaches received raises of $100,000 — quarterbacks coach
Brian Johnson, pushing his compensation to $540,000 annually, and veteran defensive line coach David Turner, who now earns $465,000 this year.
Johnson subsequently was promoted to UF offensive coordinator.
Longtime Mullen lieutenants John Hevesy and Billy Gonzales will earn $620,000 in 2020-21, a bump of $30,000 apiece. Hevesy coaches the team’s offensive line and serves as running game coordinator, while Gonzales coaches receivers and is the Gators’ passing game coordinator.
Greg Knox, who coaches running backs and special teams, will earn $485,000, an increase of $45,000, while cornerbacks coach Torrian Gray received a $10,000 raise that bumped his salary to $450,000.
Strength and conditioning coach Nick Savage, who is considered one of the key pillars of the UF turnaround under Mullen, earned a pay bump of $150,000 to push his salary to $450,000 salary through Jan. 31, 2023. Savage also received a $75,000 signing bonus.
The UAA also provided the contract of new tight ends coach Tim Brewster. The 59-year-old veteran will earned $485,000 annually.
The salary increases are a reward for Gators’ rapid turnaround, with the program going 21-5 the past two seasons and winning two consecutive New Years Six bowl games. Staff continuity has been a big reason for Mullen’s success, dating to his
time at Mississippi State.
Hevesy, Gonzales and Knox have coached with Mullen more than 10 seasons apiece, while the 33-year-old Johnson played for Mullen in 2003 at Utah and coached on his staff a Mississippi State from 2014-16. Defensive coordinator Todd Grantham and Savage also worked with Mullen in Starkville.
Grantham is scheduled earn $1.79 million in 2020-21, while safeties coach Ron English is due $440,000.
The spoils of success also are commonplace in bigtime college football.
Robinson also now receives an annual $6,000 car allowance. Gonzales and Grantham are the only other assistant coaches to receive one. Mullen’s other seven assistants can use of a vehicle from a Gainesville car dealer.
The compensation pool for Mullen’s 10 assistant coaches is now $6,185,000, an increase 12% from 2019. Savage is not included in the total.
Mullen, now in the third year of a six-year deal paying $6.07 million annually, did not receive a pay raise or extension.
Mullen and his staff will not be eligible for any performance-based bonuses during the 2020 season. Last season, UF’s head coach received $400,000 in bonuses — $200,000 for the Gators reaching a New Years Six bowl game, along with $100,000 apiece for the team finishing ranked in the top 10 and with an Academic Progress Rate of 965 or higher.
The school also will not invest in the pension plans for coaches.
Each assistant will receive a $10,000 stipend from the school’s apparel deal with Nike and an $1,500 academic incentive if the Gators perform well in the classroom.
Florida athletics director Scott Stricklin said his department, with a projected 2020-21 budget of more than $140 million, has thus far avoided furloughs and layoffs. But a letter to UF boosters this summer said the athletic department expects losses of around $50 million due to the pandemic.