Jerritt Elliott’s Texas volleyball team achieved what he, and his players, had long coveted: a national championship. And with that accomplishment comes a burnt orange check.
According to documents obtained by The Daily Texan, Elliott will take home an additional $77,000 in athletic incentives on top of his yearly salary of $178,000 plus the use of a car. He will also receive $10,000 in academic incentives, bringing his yearly total to $265,000.
The 44-year-old Elliott received $10,000 for making the final and $25,000 for winning. He also received $5,000 for each win in the tournament, as well as $5,000 for qualifying. Other athletic incentives include $15,000 for winning the Big 12 Conference Championship, $2,000 for winning Big 12 Coach of the Year and $5,000 for winning the American Volleyball Coaches Association’s National Coach of the Year.
Chris Plonsky, women’s head athletics director, said Elliott has defined the volleyball culture at Texas.
“He was the one who thought of having students along the court during the games,” Plonsky said. “He personally called every season ticket holder and said, ‘Could we please fill it with students?’ and all those people very gladly went along with it.”
Comparatively, head football coach Mack Brown receives $5.3 million per year, making him among the highest-paid college football coaches in the country, floating near the top of a list that includes Alabama head coach Nick Saban and Oklahoma head coach Bob Stoops.
A national championship victory in 2009 would have earned Brown an additional $450,000.
Despite a large difference in national championship compensation between university coaches, Plonsky said salary comparisons have never been a point of contention.
“We don’t compare it and say Coach A got this and Coach B got this,” Plonsky said. “We say this is what we negotiated, and contracts are meant to be reviewed. Every coach is responsible for their team, and they drive energy off each other.”
The volleyball team’s championship run also means bonuses for the rest of the coaching staff. Associate head coach Salima Rockwell will receive an additional $35,500, while assistant coach Erik Sullivan will net $32,000. Rockwell has been with the team since 2009 and Sullivan since 2011.
In his 12 years at Texas, Elliott has consistently nabbed top-notch recruits, to go with five Big 12 championships and two national championship appearances, including this year’s national championship title over Oregon. He has a 270-75 career record at Texas.
Along the way, Elliott coached Destinee Hooker, a member of the 2012 U.S. Olympic team. This year Haley Eckerman and Khat Bell garnered conference recognitions and other awards throughout the season and afterward.
Plonsky said the team’s win is a positive one for women’s sports on campus.
“We tell all 11 of our women’s sports teams that women’s athletics are respected on this campus,” she said. “You’re considered as marvelous an athlete and a student as any, and I think it’s a tribute to how long we’ve had women’s athletics here and the respect women’s athletics gets here.”
