Rick Barnes Salary: How Much Does Tennessee Coach Make?

Getty Tennessee Volunteers coach Rick Barnes

Longtime Texas Longhorns basketball coach Rick Barnes is now leading the Tennessee Volunteers and has helped make them one of college basketball’s top programs. After his time with Texas came to a close, he began a new chapter with the Volunteers and things have gone well through the early years. But after the school landed Barnes on a decent contract, they’ve recently upped the offer and now pay a premium for the well-known coach.

According to USA TODAY’s breakdown of coaching contracts, Barnes ranks in the top-15 currently. He’s the No. 14 highest-paid coach and has an average annual salary of $3.25 million. Interestingly, this places him just ahead of current Texas coach Shaka Smart, who replaced him with the Longhorns.

Barnes makes the same salary as Indiana’s Archie Miller currently and is just behind Wichita State’s Gregg Marshall ($3.5 million).

Rick Barnes Receives Contract Extension With Tennessee

Back in September, just prior to the 2018-19 season, Barnes was given a contract extension which pushed him into the mix with college basketball’s highest-paid coaches. As Mike Wilson of the Knoxville News Sentinel reported, his deal is an increase from the six-year, $13.5 million deal he signed in April 2015.

While Barnes’ new deal pays him $3.25 million this season, it includes an increase in pay by $100,000 each year until it reaches $3.75 million in 2023-24. The contract is worth $21 million over six years, and as the pay increases, he’ll continue to work his way up the list. If the list of current coaching salaries remained where it is currently, he would be the No. 11 highest-paid coach.

As things currently stand, the Tennessee coach is the second highest-paid coach in the SEC, behind only John Calipari, who tops the list with total pay of $9,276,643.

Rick Barnes’ Tennessee Contract & Bonuses

While Barnes has a base pay of $3.25 million, he also has the potential to receive a max bonus of up to $700,000. This appears to be on a yearly basis, and during the 2017-18 college basketball season, he earned $125,000 of that. After a strong 26-9 campaign for Tennessee last year, the Volunteers were one of the nation’s best teams in 2018-19.

Through the first 35 games, Barnes’ squad posted a 30-5 record and were the No. 1 team in the country at one point during the year. They earned a No. 2 seed in the 2019 NCAA Tournament and behind Barnes, the program has improved its record in each of the past four seasons.

Rick Barnes’ Coaching Career & History

Barnes began as a head coach with George Mason during the 1987-88 season, posting a 20-10 record. He proceeded to spend six seasons with Providence, leading the team to three NCAA tournament appearances between 1988-89 to 1993-94. From there, it was a four-year stint with the Clemson Tigers, and the team earned a ranking as high as No. 2 in the country during the 1996-97 season while making three tournament appearances.

The jump to Texas, where Barnes spent 17 seasons came in 1998-99 and he had a superb tenure with the Longhorns. He posted a 402-180 record while winning three Big 12 regular-season championships, making the tournament 16 times and advancing to the Final Four once.

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