The COVID-19 pandemic has put a severe strain on athletic department budgets across the country.
As first reported by Steve Wiseman and the Charlotte Observer and confirmed by Senior Associate Director of Athletics Art Chase, several members of Duke Athletics are taking pay cuts to help relieve that strain.
"A portion of Duke Athletics staff members have taken a salary reduction between 2.5-10.0 percent in addition to the university's initial cut which affected employees holding salaries at and above $285,000," Chase said in an email to The Chronicle.
The Charlotte Observer reported that the most recent pay cut "[exempts] employees with the lowest salaries."
But for many employees, such as men's basketball head coach Mike Krzyzewski, athletic director Kevin White, football head coach David Cutcliffe and women's basketball head coach Joanne P. McCallie, this would be their second pay cut following the initial cut that Chase mentioned.
According to USA Today's latest database of college basketball salaries, Krzyzewski's original salary of $7,256,924 is the second-highest in all of college basketball, trailing only John Calipari's $8,158,000. Krzyzewski's salary is higher than all but four college football head coaches as well.
Duke University's latest tax Form 990 in December 2019—prior to any COVID-19 related pay cuts—lists Cutcliffe's salary at $2,669,345, White's at $1,577,546 and McCallie's at $1,304,935.
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