Clemson athletic director gets raise, contract extension. Here are the details
Clemson is giving its athletic director a big raise and contract extension.
On Friday morning, the university’s board of trustees compensation committee unanimously approved a new deal for Graham Neff, who has served in the Clemson athletic department’s top role since December 2021.
Under terms of his new deal, Neff’s total annual salary will rise 39% from $900,000 to $1.25 million in 2025-26 and eventually climb to $1.75 million. The deal keeps Neff, whose previous contract expired in 2027, under contract through 2031.
Neff, 42, is the 14th athletic director in Clemson history. He previously served as the school’s deputy athletic director (the No. 2 role in the department) before being tapped to replace Dan Radakovich when Radakovich left for Miami.
Neff’s Clemson tenure has overlapped with one of the crazier times in college sports history. He’s been tasked with navigating the introduction of name, image and likeness (NIL) payments, unlimited transfers, significant conference realignment and directly sharing money with athletes in the NCAA’s new revenue sharing era.
Clemson has sued its own conference, the ACC, under Neff’s leadership, a move that ultimately resulted in a settlement most viewed as a win for the Tigers.
Neff’s also executed a number of key coaching hires and extensions, including football coach Dabo Swinney’s latest deal (2022), two contract extensions for men’s basketball coach Brad Brownell and coaching transitions in baseball (Monte Lee to Erik Bakich) and women’s basketball (Amanda Butler to Shawn Poppie).
Clemson president Jim Clements presented Neff’s contract for approval to the committee Friday and said Neff, who initially joined Clemson as an associate AD in 2013, has “served Clemson incredibly well for the past 12 years.”
“He’s doing a wonderful job as our AD and represents us very well on the national scale,” Clements told the board. “We’d like to lock him in long term and make sure that he remains at Clemson for the remainder of his career.”
More Clemson AD Graham Neff contract details
Neff’s new contract includes a number of interesting perks, according to a copy of his terms sheet provided to The State.
There are regular details, such as the fact Neff’s total salary will rise by $100,000 annually and he’ll receive a $300,000 retention bonus if he remains Clemson’s athletic director as of July 1, 2026.
But Clemson is also paying Neff an annual “licensing fee” of $250,000 for his “name, likeness, trademarks, and similar IP.” That money is considered deferred compensation and will be paid into an LLC held by Neff.
Neff can also earn up to $250,000 annually in bonuses based on various Clemson sports accomplishments, including finishing among the ACC’s top four schools in football/basketball television viewership numbers. Starting this year, the conference is giving additional money to the schools that draw the most eyes on TV.
Although full lists of NCAA athletic director salaries aren’t widely available, Neff’s new contract (average annual value $1.5 million) should place him among the ACC’s highest paid ADs and somewhere in the upper half of athletic directors nationally.
USA TODAY reported in July that Tennessee AD Danny White was the highest paid public school athletic director in the country after earning $3.5 million (including bonuses) during the 2024-25 fiscal year.
Neff’s counterpart at rival South Carolina, athletic director Jeremiah Donati, will make $1.9 million in base salary this year after coming over from TCU to replace Ray Tanner in December 2024, The State previously reported.
If Clemson were to fire Neff without cause, it would owe its athletic director 75% of the total money left on his contract. If Neff were to terminate his contract and accept another AD job, he’d owe Clemson 25% of the total money left on his contract.
This story was originally published October 17, 2025 at 9:15 AM.
