This is GREAT! Nothing but shambles in Knoxville!
Fulmer & Pruitt accepted pay cuts...but:
Eight Tennessee football assistants reject pay cuts proposed by Vols athletic department
Tennessee football: 8 assistants reject pay cuts. Martin, Graham accept
Eight
Tennessee football staff members rejected pay cuts that were proposed by the athletic department to help combat financial losses caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, according to documents obtained by Knox News via a public records request.
The eight staff members are the only athletic department employees who were asked to accept a pay cut and declined, records show.
Wide receivers coach Tee Martin and running backs coach Jay Graham are the only football assistants who have accepted pay cuts.
Declining pay cuts were:
- Offensive coordinator Jim Chaney
- Defensive coordinator Derrick Ansley
- Offensive line coach Will Friend
- Quarterbacks coach Chris Weinke
- Inside linebackers coach Brian Niedermeyer
- Outside linebackers coach Shelton Felton
- Tight ends coach Joe Osovet
- Strength and conditioning coach A.J. Artis
Tennessee’s athletic department expects a $40 million loss in revenue during this fiscal year, largely because of a pandemic-induced reduction in football revenue.
The athletic department has avoided layoffs, but in October,
it announced tiered pay cuts would go into effect from Nov. 1 through June 30 for employees earning more than $50,000 annually.
Salaries of at-will employees can be freely altered, but the salaries of Tennessee’s head coaches and football assistants are
protected by their contracts. For Tennessee to decrease a contract employee’s pay, the employee must voluntarily accept a cut and sign a contract amendment agreeing to the reduction.
Other than football coach Jeremy Pruitt, every Tennessee head coach signed a contract amendment agreeing to a salary reduction from Nov. 1 through June 30, which is the end of the fiscal year.
Pruitt was not asked to take a pay cut because
he did not accept a raise for the 2020 contract year as part of a contract extension he signed in September. The athletic department considered that to be Pruitt's contribution to the plan. Pruitt’s raise will kick in during the 2021 contract year.
The salary reduction plan was designed to save the athletic department about $1.6 million. Because eight football staff members rejected a pay cut, the savings will come to about $1.3 million, according to figures provided by the athletic department. About $280,000 of that savings will come from at-will employees; about $600,000 will come from contract employees; and $400,000 is from Pruitt forgoing a raise for the 2020 contract year.
“I am very grateful to all the athletic department employees and families that have taken a salary reduction and are showing support to our department during such a difficult time,” Tennessee athletics director Phillip Fulmer said in a statement to Knox News. “They have helped prevent the need to eliminate positions as we continue to battle this pandemic and its medical and financial implications.
“Unfortunately, there were some contract employees who did not agree to a reduction for their own reasons. But I am especially appreciative of all our head coaches and staff members who are doing their part for the greater good of the department.”
The salaries of Tennessee’s football staffers who refused pay cuts range from Artis’ $200,000 to Chaney’s $1.6 million. Chaney is the athletic department’s third-highest-paid employee.
Martin and Graham were star players at Tennessee under Fulmer. The assistants who declined a pay cut are not UT alumni.
What did Tennessee coaches and administrators agree to?
Fulmer, who earns $900,000 in annual salary, will take the biggest pay cut from a percentage standpoint. He
announced in August that he would accept a 15% pay cut. That reduction took effect on Nov. 1.
Fulmer also agreed to waive all incentive compensation he’s eligible for through June 30. He remains eligible for a $150,000 retention bonus if he is employed on Dec. 31.
Deputy athletics director Reid Sigmon opted to forgo a $15,000 raise that he was due on May 1. By declining the raise, his salary remained at $315,000. He also will forgo another scheduled raise on May 1, 2021. His salary will move to its scheduled $345,000 on July 1, 2021.
Like Fulmer, Sigmon is waiving any incentives he might be eligible for through June 30.
Additionally, Sigmon agreed to the tiered salary reduction structure of his current salary. Under that structure, the first $50,000 of his annualized pay will not be reduced; the amount between $50,000 and $150,000 will be reduced by 5%; and the amount over $150,000 will be reduced by 10%. This is also the tiered structure for at-will employees.
Every Tennessee head coach other than Pruitt signed a contract amendment agreeing to that tiered salary reduction through June 30. Those coaches also agreed to waive any incentive compensation they would have been eligible for through June 30, except for incentives for winning an SEC championship or a national championship. Those championship bonuses remain in play.
Martin also agreed to the tiered salary reduction through June 30. The documentation for Martin’s pay cut is not finalized, but it went into effect Nov. 1, and the paperwork will be completed in the coming days, athletic department spokesman Tom Satkowiak said.
Graham is in the midst of his second stint as a Tennessee assistant. Pruitt hired him from Texas A&M in January.
