Miami Hurricanes football coach Mario Cristobal got paid record amount in 2022
It’s the largest-ever, single-year amount for an athletics department employee on a tax form by a private university, according to USA TODAY Sports research.
The University of Miami (Fla.) paid football coach Mario Cristobal $22.7 million in 2022, including $7.7 million in base pay and $14.9 million in “other reportable compensation,” according to a federal tax form released by the university Tuesday to USA TODAY sports.
This is the largest-ever, single-year amount for an athletics department employee on a tax form by a private university, according to USA TODAY Sports research. The university did not go into further detail about why he was paid that much except that it paid “gross-up payments” to Cristobal and others — payments that cover income taxes so that the recipient receives a set amount of pay.
Miami athletic director Dan Radakovich confirmed to USA TODAY Sports Wednesday that the $14.9 million in “other” pay for Cristobal included the $9 million buyout he owed to Oregon for breaking his coaching contract there to return to Miami, his alma mater. The gross-up pay on that accounts for the rest of the “other” pay, he said.
How Mario Cristobal compares to others on these forms
Cristobal, 53, went 5-7 in 2022 after being hired away from the Ducks in December 2021. The tax form covers his calendar-year pay in 2022 and was made publicly available for the first time this week.
By comparison, the highest single year of pay for a private university president was only slightly more — $22.8 million for former University of Pennsylvania president Amy Gutmann in 2021, according to data from the Chronicle of Higher Education. But about 89% of that came from deferred compensation set aside over the course of her 18-year tenure, the Chronicle reported.
In athletics, the previous single-year high for a private university was $17.2 million in 2021 for TCU football coach Gary Patterson after he parted ways with the university that year
