Jim Boeheim, other Syracuse coaches taking pay cut is the right move

Syracuse University head coaches Jim Boeheim, Dino Babers, and others electing to decrease their compensation is an appropriate measure.

Syracuse athletics leaders, such as Jim Boeheim, are stepping up their game to help the university best deal with the financial fallout from the novel coronavirus pandemic.

Among the actions revealed by the school on Monday in a letter from Chancellor Kent Syverud and other senior officials, Syracuse athletics director John Wildhack, football head coach Dino Babers, basketball head coaches Boeheim (men’s) and Quentin Hillsman (women’s), and lacrosse head coaches John Desko (men’s) and Gary Gait (women’s) will all take a voluntary 10-percent reduction in their compensation for the fiscal year 2021.

Other university officials to do the same are Syverud, Interim Vice Chancellor/Provost John Liu, and Senior Vice President/Chief Financial Officer Amir Rahnamay-Azar, along with members of the Chancellor’s Council, including vice-chancellors, senior vice presidents, and deans.

The letter states that funds generated by these decisions – which likely will total more than $1 million – “will be specifically reallocated to support students, faculty, and staff who are particularly impacted by the current situation.”

It’s a commendable effort by Boeheim and the rest of the Orange sports-related crew. Given that at least Boeheim and Babers earn millions of dollars a year, some out there in the ‘Cuse community might suggest that these coaches could sacrifice even more.

That’s a fair point to make, however, a 10-percent pay cut is substantial, considering that Boeheim, for one, made $2.6 million in total compensation in 2017, per this Syracuse.com report.

One would hope that athletic directors and head coaches at major programs around the country are mirroring what Boeheim and his Orange colleagues have elected to do. That is exactly what should occur in these uncertain times.

Syracuse, since it began its response to the pandemic over the last few months, has witnessed more than $35 million in unanticipated costs and unrealized revenue, Syverud and his associates wrote in their letter.

The university is also making other difficult decisions, such as freezing faculty and staff salaries; a temporary halt on hiring in non-essential positions; a 5-percent cost reduction across all administrative, academic and auxiliary units; and putting on hold all new capital projects, except those already underway such as the replacement of the Carrier Dome’s roof.

Given that the sports world is basically at a standstill, with it anybody’s guess when competition could resume – or when colleges and universities might re-open their doors to on-campus instruction – how these announced cuts at the ‘Cuse could affect its teams’ staffs, operations, recruiting and scheduling endeavors remains unclear.

In any event, kudos to Wildhack, Babers, Boeheim, Hillsman, Desko and Gait for their leadership.