SEC softball: Alabama, Florida, Texas A&M headline conference's highest-paid coaches
The SEC Softball Tournament is here.
All 13 of the conference's programs will play at Auburn's Jane B. Moore Field from May 7-11. No. 12 Kentucky and No. 13 Ole Miss will get things started Tuesday (6 p.m. CT, SEC Network), and the championship game is set to be played Saturday (4 p.m. CT, ESPN2).
Nine of the past 11 national championships have been won by an SEC program (Alabama in 2012 and Florida in 2014 and 2015) or Oklahoma, which is set to join the conference next season. When the Sooners do officially become an SEC team, coach Patty Gasso and her salary of $1.625 million, according to the Oklahoman, will top the conference.
Until then, Florida's Tim Walton sits atop the SEC for the 2024 season with an annual compensation of $550,855. Texas A&M's Trisha Ford is next at $540,000, Alabama's Patrick Murphy follows her at $530,000 and Tennessee's Karen Weekly ($500,000) is the only other coach making half a million or more. Texas, which will also join the SEC next season, is paying coach Mike White $625,000.
Compensation information was obtained by the USA TODAY Sports Network from the schools through open-records requests. Totals do not include amounts earned as annual incentive bonuses in other years, the value of standard benefits such as health care or the value of potentially taxable items including, but not limited to, cars or car stipends; country club memberships; game tickets for the regular season, postseason and other sports.
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SEC softball coaches compensation 2024
Tim Walton, Florida: $550,855₁
Trisha Ford, Texas A&M: $540,000₂
Patrick Murphy, Alabama: $530,000₃
Karen Weekly, Tennessee: $500,000₄
Beth Torina, LSU: $480,000₅
Courtney Deifel, Arkansas: $475,000₆
Rachel Lawson, Kentucky: $355,000₇
Mickey Dean, Auburn: $300,000₈
Larissa Anderson, Missouri: $275, 625₉
Jamie Traschel, Ole Miss: $255,000₁₀
Tony Baldwin, Georgia: $237,000₁₁
Beverley Smith, South Carolina: $223,290
Samantha Ricketts, Mississippi State: $186,000
Walton's total includes a $95,000 equipment supplement payment, a $75,000 longevity bonus and a $4,000 academic incentive payment.
Ford's total includes $10,000 that she is being paid in relation to Texas A&M's equipment deal.
Murphy's total includes a $200,000 talent fee that he is being paid.
Weekly's compensation took a $160,000 jump from last year, per her contract.
Torina's total includes $30,000 in media participation and $50,000 in longevity compensation.
Deifel's base salary rose by $25,000 from last year due to Arkansas making the NCAA Tournament. Here listed total also includes $100,000 compensation for speaking engagements.
Lawson's total includes a $50,000 longevity bonus and $5,000 for media and endorsements.
Dean's total includes a $25,000 endorsement rights payment and a $25,000 personal appearances payment.
Anderson's base salary increases by 5% annually, per her contract.
Traschel's total includes base salary from state contract, plus any compensation from contract with the Ole Miss Athletics Foundation, a private non-profit organization that declines to release its agreements. University provided summary of current contract-year pay and available bonuses.
Baldwin's total was provided by the university, not an analysis of his contract.
Steve Berkowitz of USA TODAY Sports contributed to this report.
This article originally appeared on Montgomery Advertiser: SEC softball coaches salaries: Which are the highest paid?