Texas Athletics plans to reduce salaries for 26 coaches and 273 staff members, and temporarily furlough 11 employees to ensure Texas’ financial stability during the coronavirus pandemic, Texas Athletics Director Chris Del Conte announced Tuesday in his weekly Forty Acres Insider newsletter.

Beginning Sept. 1, 2020, through Aug. 31, 2021, UT will reduce salaries for 26 coaches and administrators, Del Conte said. Additionally, 273 staff members’ salaries will be reduced beginning Oct. 16, 2020, through Aug. 31, 2021, and UT will temporarily furlough 11 employees with benefits. Del Conte said the cutbacks will save the department $13.1 million.

The first $50,000 of an employee’s salary will be reduced by 2.5%, the next $50,000 by 10% and any amount over $100,000 by 15%. Texas Athletics will also suspend its performance incentive program, lay off 35 employees and permanently eliminate 35 vacant positions, Del Conte said.

“Although this is an extremely difficult time for our department, we fully expect to bounce back from this experience stronger and positioned well to continue to provide the best student-athlete experience in the country and strive to compete for Big 12 and National Championships in all of our 20 sports programs,” Del Conte said in the newsletter. 

The news comes as schools around the country are announcing furloughs and eliminating positions to mitigate the financial damages from canceling and postponing sports due to the pandemic. Yesterday, Texas Tech announced that it is eliminating 40 positions in its athletic department and reducing the salaries of employees earning more than $30,000 per year. 

Although Texas was able to save over $19.9 million after implementing cost containment measures following the cancellation of post-season basketball tournaments and spring sports and an additional $21.3 million by reducing athletic expenses, Del Conte said “significant full-time personnel actions were still required to stabilize the financial health of the department.”