In 39 states the highest paid public employee is either a football or basketball coach, and Arizona is no different. Former ASU head coach Herm Edwards is the highest paid state employee in Arizona with an annual compensation package that works out to $3.7 million.
ASU employees are amongst the highest paid employees in Arizona. The highest salaries belong to Herm Edwards, followed by men’s basketball coach Robert Hurley at $2.5 million.
Six of the ten employees are with the athletics department and only one, former women’s head coach Charli Turner is a woman.
According to data from USA Today, compared to other PAC-12 rivals Herm Edwards’ compensation is squarely in the middle.
Salaries for head coaches range from $8.9 million at Stanford to $2.3 Million at University of Arizona. The median salary is $3.5 million, close to both Berkley and ASU.
Large contact buyout packages are commonplace for head football coaches. Pending the outcome of an NCAA investigation, Herm Edwards is set to receive the remaining $8.3 million on his contract.
The median contract buyout according to data from the 2021 season is $5.4 million. The highest buyout belongs to Texas A&M head coach Jimbo Fisher who would receive above $95 million in a contract buyout.
