Steve Alford gets more than satisfaction out of a 20-win season, first place in the Mountain West Conference and Coach of the Year honors.
The men's basketball head coach also gets $45,000 in incentive pay.
Alford is eligible for incentive pay throughout the year, according to his employment contract. Some of the incentives include reaching specific goals, such as winning the conference championship or the conference tournament championship.
Having won the conference championship this year, Alford will receive $25,000. Being named Coach of the Year and winning 20 games tack on $10,000 apiece.
Alford's contract includes several forms of compensation in addition to his base salary, such as two courtesy cars for his personal use and a country club membership.
He could net $25,000 more if the Lobos win the conference tournament. This will be added to his annual compensation of about $975,000, which includes salary, benefits and other compensation.
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Associate Athletics Director Greg Remington said funding for Alford's bonuses comes from the athletics department's general operations budget. This budget is funded by ticket sales, concessions, corporate sponsorship, NCAA revenues, media contracts and private contributions, he said. The $35 in fees students pay toward athletics each semester also goes into the budget, he said.
"The general operations budget funds everything: uniforms, travel, scholarships and equipment. Everything for day-to-day operations," Remington said.
Alford's salary, as well as that of every other employee in the athletics department, is paid out of the general operations budget, Remington said.
Alford's contract lists 16 opportunities to earn incentive pay. The amount offered per achievement ranges from $10,000 to $250,000 if he wins the national championship.
In addition to the incentive bonuses, winning the conference championship means Alford's contract with the University will be extended for an additional year, and the amount earned in bonuses from the year before is added to his base salary for the upcoming year.
This sort of incentive pay is not unusual for a head coaching position, according to a fiscal impact report published by the New Mexico Higher Education Department in 2007.
According to The Chronicle of Higher Education, the chancellor of Texas' university system, Mark Yudof, earned $693,677 last year, while UT football coach Mack Brown makes about four times as much.
Alford received similar benefits as head coach at the University of Iowa, according to his employment contract there.
