Where Dawn Staley, Geno Auriemma salaries rank among 2026 women’s Final Four coaches
This year’s NCAA Women’s Basketball Final Four again includes four powerhouse programs.
South Carolina, Connecticut, Texas and UCLA are in the Final Four for the second straight year and came into the tournament as No. 1 seeds.
In addition to being elite programs, the teams feature some of the sport’s highest paid coaches in South Carolina’s Dawn Staley, UConn’s Geno Auriemma and Vic Schaefer of Texas.
Here is a look at how the coaches’ salaries compare with each other as they all for a national championship in Arizona this weekend:
Dawn Staley, South Carolina
(18th season at USC, 510-113; 26th season overall 682-193)
Salary: $4.25 million
Staley has the Gamecocks in their sixth straight Final Four and eighth overall since she arrived.
She was given an extension after winning her third national championship and made her the highest paid coach in Division I women’s college basketball. The extension runs through 2030 and increases by $250,000 each year.
Under the contract, this year’s base salary is $1.95 million, and she gets $2.3 million for compensation for her services in connection with TV or radio shows and commercial endorsements.
Staley has already hit some extra incentives this year in the contract, including $15,000 for winning 11 or more Southeastern Conference games, $75,000 for winning SEC regular season championship and $250,000 for making it to the Final Four. If the Gamecocks win a National Championship, she will earn $250,000 more and get $15,000 if USC finishes in the Top 25 of The Associated Press or Coaches Poll.
Geno Auriemma, UConn
(41st season at UConn, 1,288-165)
Salary: $3.54 million
Auriemma is the winningest coach in all of college basketball, has the Huskies in their 25th Final Four and is going for his 13th national championship.
Auriemma signed a five-year contract extension in 2024 that was reported at $18.7 million. His base salary is $400,000 per year and additional compensation for speaking, consulting and media obligations that will be $3.14 million this year and increase $200,000 each year remaining of the contract.
Vic Schaefer, Texas
(6th season at Texas, 179-39; 21st season overall, 480-211)
Salary: $2.3 million
Schaefer has the Longhorns in their second straight Final Four and his fourth as head coach after leading Mississippi State to back-to-back National Championship games in 2017-18.
Schaefer a three-year contract extension in February 2025 that will run in 2030. His salary is $2.3 million through 2026-27 but will increase by $100,000 per year starting in 2027-28 and go through the remainder of the contract.
Cori Close
(15th season at UCLA, 356-144 record)
Salary: $877,500
Close has led the Bruins to each of the program’s only two Final Four appearances.
Close got a contract extension in May, but salary is still the lowest among the four coaches in Final Four. Her base salary is $300,000 plus a $575,000 talent fee for things such as speaking engagements, TV and radio appearances as well.
Close also has hit $170,000 in incentive bonuses this year in her contract, including NCAA Tournament appearance, Big Ten regular season and tournament championship and Final Four appearance to push her earnings this year over $1 million.
Close, who is in her 33rd season coaching overall, hinted earlier this postseason she could be close to retirement and had strong comments about name, image and likeness and dealing with the transfer portal.
“I think it’s harder for coaches. I’ve never been as tired as I’ve been in the last two years, and it’s made me think how much longer I can do this,” Close said on March 26. “And I’m just being transparent with you about that.”
