University coaching contracts surprise. Office space vacancies rise. KCCI viewership increases.
8/6/2025University coaches are often the highest-paid state employees, which is true in Iowa. For example, the University of Iowa’s head football coach, Kirk Ferentz, is compensated $7 million a year before bonuses and incentives, making him the state’s highest-paid employee. Iowa State University’s head football coach, Matt Campbell, makes $4 million a year. Many of the other coaching contracts tend to not get the same attention. Consequently, Civic Skinny requests and shares some of these lesser-known coaching agreements from Iowa’s three state universities.
Iowa State University
Jamie Pinkerton became ISU’s head softball coach in 2017 and recently signed an extension that will keep him in charge of the Cyclones until June 30, 2026. During his time at ISU, he has transformed the program with last season arguably being its best. The team has won 30-plus games three times during his time at the helm, something the school had only done six times prior and not since 1989.
Pinkerton’s yearly salary is $150,000. Some of his performance incentives include two weeks’ pay for every Big 12 Conference regular season championship, and four weeks’ pay for a Big 12 tournament championship. He can receive two weeks’ pay for every at-large bid to the NCAA Softball Championship and an additional week’s pay for each time the team advances in said tournament. Pinkerton is also provided with the use of one automobile or a vehicle allowance of $5,000 annually. Pinkerton must have prior approval from the athletic director for engaging in athletically related income and benefits from outside sources of $1,000 or more.
ISU’s volleyball team has been headed up by Christy Johnson-Lynch for more than two decades. Johnson-Lynch, as head coach, has earned numerous awards and fundamentally improved the program. Her all-time record is 380-219 with the Cyclones, making the NCAA Championships 16 out of 20 seasons.
Johnson-Lynch is contracted to be the head coach until Dec. 31, 2028, thanks to her most recent extension, which was signed in January of 2024. Johnson-Lynch’s salary is $300,000 per year. She earned a retention payment of $85,000 on Feb. 1, 2025. Performance incentives for Johnson-Lynch include $100,000 for each year her team advances to the NCAA Final Four, as well as $25,000 that she can have the university distribute to assistant coaches or the director of volleyball operations. Johnson-Lynch earns $5,000 each time her team wins a match in the NCAA volleyball tournament. She can also receive $25,000 each year her team wins the Big 12 Conference regular season. Like Pinkerton, Johnston-Lynch is provided the use of one automobile.
University of Iowa
According to the public records officer at Iowa, long-form contracts are not yet available for the contracts we requested. The following information is from offer letters/term sheets.
Ben McCollum sent shockwaves throughout the college basketball world with his single year of dominance at Drake University. McCollum had spent 15 seasons at Northwest Missouri State before joining the Bulldogs. In his one year in Des Moines, his team went 31-4, won the Missouri Valley Conference and an NCAA tournament game. The University of Iowa fired longtime head basketball coach Fran McCaffery, and McCollum stepped in.
The offer sheet for McCollum shows a salary of $500,000 plus an additional $2,850,000 in “guaranteed supplemental compensation.” He will also be provided with a transition/relocation incentive of $50,000.
The offer was for a six-year term, taking him through April 30, 2031. McCollum is also provided the use of two courtesy cars and will be eligible for “Athletics Specific Staff Privileges,” which include sporting event tickets, Finkbine golf privileges, access to sports camps, post-season travel and, best of all, apparel discounts at Hawkeye Fan Shop: A Black and Gold Store. Performance incentives include $50,000 for an NCAA tournament invite, or first four win, $200,000 for advancing to the Final Four, $300,000 for advancing to the National Championship, and $400,000 if the Hawkeyes are able to win the Championship. McCollum can also receive $50,000 for being named National Coach of the Year and $25,000 for Big Ten Coach of the Year. McCollum has won 19 Coach of the Year honors during his career thus far.
The offer sheet of the University of Iowa’s new head softball coach, Stacy May-Johnson, says her annual salary will be $210,000 and she will be provided a one-time lump sum transition/relocation incentive of 10%. She is also provided with a courtesy car and the same Athletics Specific Staff Privileges and Taxable Benefits as McCollum. Should the Hawkeyes finish in the top half of the Big Ten standings, May-Johnson will receive a 5% increase to her salary. If she is named Head Coach of the Year, she can earn a $15,000 bonus and $10,000 for being named Big Ten Coach of the Year. If her program appears in the College World Series, she can earn a $20,000 bonus. May-Johnson comes into the role with extensive experience as a player at Iowa, where she was named All-Conference three times and a three-time All-Star as a professional. She was previously coaching at Fresno State, where her team won 30-plus games in back-to-back seasons.
University of Northern Iowa
Todd Stepsis will have big shoes to fill at UNI. He takes over the football program from Mark Farley, who had led the Panthers since 2001. Stepsis had been a defensive coordinator at Drake University for four years before becoming its head coach in 2019. In his last two seasons, he led the Bulldogs to back-to-back eight-win seasons and was named the Pioneer Football League Coach of the Year Award in 2023.
Stepsis makes an annual salary of $325,000 through Jan. 31 of 2030. An additional year will be added to the contract automatically for the first FCS playoff appearance, or if the team wins at least seven games in 2025 or 2026. He will also be granted a courtesy vehicle, $20,000 for moving expenses/temporary housing and a country club membership. If his team is able to appear in the FCS playoffs, Stepsis is in line for a $10,000 bonus and a $20,000 bonus pool to distribute to assistant coaches. A win in the playoffs earns $4,000, and winning the championship would bring him a $50,000 bonus. Northern Iowa normally schedules an FBS team like ISU or Iowa. If the Panthers win a game versus an FBS opponent, Stepsis receives a $5,000 bonus.
John Bermel has been the head men’s golf coach since 1995 and became the women’s golf coach in 2002. He is a staple in the Iowa golf scene, being named the Iowa PGA professional of the year in 2012 and inducted into the Iowa Golf Hall of Fame in 2014.
His current contract goes through 2026, and he will earn a base salary of $37,671. As part of the compensation for the position, Bermel is available to assist in the instruction of coaching theory classes. He is also provided with four season tickets for volleyball, football and men’s and women’s basketball. Bermel can earn incentive bonuses for accomplishments with both programs, such as $1,000 for being awarded the Missouri Valley Conference Coach of the Year or $1,000 for being an NCAA team final round qualifier. …
Vacancies in Des Moines office space have increased, according to a report by Colliers, a professional services and investment management company. The company claims overall office vacancy in Des Moines rose to 17.9%, also noting that asking lease rates remained stable at $22 per square foot per year but tenant improvement allowances increased due to rising construction costs. Office sales activity reportedly rose in quarter two of 2025, totaling $20.9 million but remained lower compared to 2024.
On the industrial side, two lease signings totaled 371,000 square feet of industrial absorption in Des Moines in quarter two. Colliers says vacancy rates fell to 5.7%, down 10.5% from last quarter and down 21.5% year over year. Also in quarter two, buyers invested $23.1 million in Des Moines industrial buildings, a 42% increase compared to the first half of 2024. …
Will those investments result in more jobs? Let’s hope so. TechR, an online HR platform, used the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics to examine state-level manufacturing employment changes between May 2024 and May 2025 and says Iowa unfortunately claims the No. 4 spot with a 3.74% decline in manufacturing employment, dropping from 224,700 to 216,300. Alaska, Montana and Connecticut were the only states with a greater percentage decrease, but each has significantly fewer manufacturing jobs than Iowa. …
KCCI reported that its newscasts in the early evening are being watched more than ever before. Nielsen ratings in June 2025 showed wins for the station at 4 p.m., 5 p.m. and 6 p.m. in adults aged 25-54. At 5 p.m., KCCI posted a 14% share of the TV viewing audience with 7,079 impressions, and at 6 p.m., KCCI grew by nearly 3,000 impressions to 10,104 with a 17% share of the TV viewing audience. ♦
