Clemson finalizing contract extension with Brad Brownell after Indiana coaching interest
Brad Brownell is staying put.
Per multiple national reports Wednesday, Clemson and its longtime men’s basketball coach are finalizing a new contract that will keep him with the Tigers through 2031.
The extension, first reported by CBS Sports’ Jon Rothstein and ESPN’s Pete Thamel, comes after Brownell was floated as one of the top candidates for the open Indiana coaching job in recent weeks.
Brownell also confirmed the news during a news conference in Providence, Rhode Island, where the Tigers play their opening NCAA Tournament game Thursday.
“We started to have preliminary conversations and certainly they’ve heated up in the last week or so and it’s been really good,” Brownell said. “We’re really close to being able to finalize something. Obviously, I’m extremely excited about it.”
Brownell’s new deal, like all major athletics contracts, will not be final until it’s approved by the Clemson University Board of Trustees compensation committee. The Clemson BOT’s spring quarterly meeting is set for April 24-26 on campus.
Brownell’s contract is expected to be approved during that regularly scheduled meeting in late April, an athletics source told The State.
IU announced Tuesday that it had hired West Virginia coach Darian DeVries as its next coach. The Hoosiers were in search of a new leader after announcing earlier this year that Mike Woodson would not return after the 2024-25 season.
Brownell is currently on a five-year, $20 million deal signed last year following Clemson’s run to the 2024 Elite Eight. The winningest coach in school history, Brownell is making $3.5 million in total salary in 2024-25, per his contract.
Brownell’s total salary (excluding bonuses) currently ranks No. 37 among Division I men’s basketball coaches, per the USA TODAY coaching salary database.
Considering Brownell, 56, is now the ACC’s most tenured coach and has stayed put after drawing notable interest from a major program, expect that total salary number and his rank among coaching salaries nationally to rise with a new deal.
Clemson a ‘very special place’
Although it’s unclear if Indiana ever formally offered Brownell its job or he turned them down, Clemson’s coach was reportedly in the mix and high on IU’s list with names such DeVries (who ultimately got the job) and Drake’s Ben McCollum.
During a media availability last week, Brownell said he had a “great job” at Clemson but said it was “flattering” to hear his name come up for other jobs and did not explicitly say he wasn’t interested in the Indiana job.
That caused some consternation among Clemson’s fanbase, given Brownell also had natural ties to IU. He’s an Evansville, Indiana native, played high school basketball with Hoosiers legend Calbert Cheaney and had previously coached in the state.
Indiana announced Feb. 7 that Woodson (who was on the hot seat) would step down after the 2024-25 season. Brownell’s name came up on initial “hot boards” following that news and continued to circulate throughout the month of March.
In context of that news and Clemson’s success this year, Brownell said he’d had “a bunch of meetings” with university athletic director Graham Neff as the regular season came to the end and the two sides were “very close to ironing out” a deal.
“Clemson’s been a very special place for me and my family for 15 years,” Brownell said Wednesday. “I’ve thoroughly enjoyed building the program, love what Clemson stands for as a university and proud to be a part of it. I sent my daughters here. We’re all in, as Dabo (Swinney) likes to say.
The Tigers (27-6) have set a program record for single-season wins this year and are a No. 5 seed in this year’s NCAA Tournament. Clemson plays No. 12 McNeese State on Thursday at Amica Mutual Pavilion in Providence, RI (3:15 p.m., truTV).
Clemson has also won 20-plus games in three consecutive seasons for the first time since 2006-10 and has made back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances for the first time in Brownell’s tenure. The Tigers are 73-29 (.715) since 2022.
“I’m excited about where my program is,” Brownell said. “I think we’ve done an unbelievable job from facility improvements to success initiatives on the floor and off the floor. Just excited to try to continue this level of success.”
This story was originally published March 19, 2025 at 12:00 PM.
