Nine university coaching contracts. And Krause buys another soccer team.
8/5/2026Each year, we publish several of the coaching contracts at our state’s publicly funded universities: Iowa State University, University of Iowa, and University of Northern Iowa. There is widespread reporting on some of the larger contracts like those of T.J. Otzelberger at Iowa State and Kirk Ferentz at Iowa, receive much press, but many of the others go by unnoticed. We requested several of the lesser-known contracts to see what they earn in comparison.
Iowa State University
The Cyclones saw their football program transform at the hands and mind of Matt Campbell. In an unexpected turn, Campbell left Ames for Penn State in State College, Pennsylvania. Before leaving, he was earning $5 million in total compensation at ISU. His replacement, Jimmy Rogers, won’t be making as much, but he won’t have to worry about putting food on the table.
Rogers’ base compensation is $3 million per year with his contract taking him through 2032. Some of his potential performance-based incentives include:
• $250,000 if the team wins seven regular season games
• $500,000 if the team wins eight games, the total achieved last season under Campbell
• $750,000 for nine wins
• $1 million for 10 wins
• $1.25 million for 11 wins, the most won under Campbell, and also the highest number in school history
• $1.5 million for 12 wins.
• Rogers could also earn $100,000 for appearing in the Big 12 conference championship game, and $500,000 if the team finishes in first place and wins the conference title game.
Rogers is provided the use of one team car, and it is likely not the Cyclone Helmet Car, which did make a reappearance last season after being retired in the 1990s.
In order to release Rogers from his recently signed contract with Washington State University, the Cyclones paid WSU a $4 million contract termination expense, which stated, “The University acknowledges that the payment of the Contract Termination Expense was necessary to obtain the services of Rogers, and, therefore, substantially benefits the University.” With football season looming, that sentence will be put to the test sooner rather than later.
ISU cut ties with its women’s gymnastics program this past year after “unresolvable” issues between players, coaches and parents. In its place came women’s wrestling, one of the fastest growing sports in the nation. With it, came a new coach: Alli St. John. ISU already has one of the more successful men’s wrestling programs in the country, and one of Jamie Pollard’s final acts as athletic director is to start the women’s program on a similar trajectory.
St. John’s contract goes through 2029 with a base compensation of $125,000. Her list of performance incentives is much shorter than Rogers’, with the bonuses being $25,000 for winning the NCAA championship, $15,000 for finishing second, $10,000 for finishing third, $5,000 for fourth and $2,500 for fifth. If St. John were to be named NCAA Coach of the Year, she would receive $2,500. She will also be provided the use of one car or $5,000 annually for a vehicle allowance.
Iowa State’s head women’s soccer coach, Matt Fannon, joined the team in 2019 from Bowling Green State University. To lure him away, the team had to pay $25,000 to fulfill contract termination terms.
Fannon’s original compensation was $150,000 on a five-year contract through 2024, which included a vehicle or allowance, as well as a golf, swimming, tennis and social membership to Ames Country Club. His performance incentives include two weeks’ pay for every Big 12 regular season championship, two weeks’ pay for every Big 12 conference championship, two weeks’ pay for a bid to the NCAA Soccer Championships, one week’s pay for a regional semifinal and final appearance, a College Cup appearance and winning the College Cup.
Fannon has had several amendments to his contract, the first being a 10% temporary salary reduction due to the pandemic; an extension, taking his contract through 2026, signed in 2022; a raise to $165,904, signed in 2024, and another raise to $170,881, signed in 2026. His squads have yet to post a winning record with their highest conference finish being eighth in 2021.
University of Iowa
In 2021, the University of Iowa became the first NCAA Power Five (now the Power Four) school to add women’s wrestling as an intercollegiate program. The team hired Clarissa Chun, a two-time Olympian who wrestled at the senior level for 18 years. The team started competing in 2023-2024, and Chun continues to lead the program today.
Chun signed an extension this year that will take her through 2031. She has led the Hawkeyes to two NCWWC national championships with a runner-up finish in 2026. She has also won two Coach of the Year awards.
Her salary is $133,900 and for each of the following years, she is eligible for a raise no less than 2.5% but possibly more. She also earns a $5,000 bonus by being a sport ambassador with speaking engagements, TV, radio, etc. and earns a longevity and retention bonus of $10,000 each year starting in 2027. For NCWWC championships, she earns $15,000; $3,000 for one to four individual champions; and $5,000 for five or more individual champions. She earns $5,000 for being named National Head Coach of the Year and $5,000 if the annual team GPA is a 3.0 or higher.
The Hawkeye women’s gymnastics head coach, Jennifer Llewellyn, became the fifth head coach in the program’s history in 2024, signing a deal that would make her the head coach through 2029 with a base salary of $155,000. Her annual salary raises mirrors Chun’s.
Llewellyn’s incentives include $10,000 for a regular season Big 10 conference title; $5,000 for a top three championship finish; or $10,000 for a conference championship title. If the Hawkeyes were to make an NCAA Regional selection or appearance, she would earn $7,500 and $25,000 for a national title. Llewellyn can also earn $1,500 for four different academic-based incentives relating to finishing in the top half of the Big 10 women’s gymnastics for APR, FGR or GSR, as well as underrepresented minority GSP-60% or better. If Llewellyn is still in charge by the end of June 2028, she will be paid a longevity payment of $15,000.
Another sport the Hawkeyes have that the Cyclones don’t is a baseball program, headed up by Rick Heller. Heller took over the program in 2014 and started his coaching career at Upper Iowa in 1988. Even though his original contract with the Peacocks was likely written by quill and ink, his most recent extension with the Hawkeyes was Docusigned in 2022, keeping him on board until 2029.
Heller’s base salary is $383,000 with a 3% increase each year and some interesting incentives. If the Hawkeyes are regular season champions, or tournament champions, Heller would receive a $15,000 bonus plus a salary increase of 7%. Heller and the Hawkeyes won the Big Ten tournament in 2017 and had two second-place regular-season finishes. If the team makes an NCAA regional appearance, he receives a $15,000 bonus, plus an 8% salary increase. UI made a regional appearance in 2023.
Heller is also earning longevity payments of $25,000 per year, as long as he is employed by June 1 of each year. That payment increased to $35,000 in 2025 and will remain at that level through the rest of his current deal.
University of Northern Iowa
The University of Northern Iowa went through its own massive coaching change this year, with longtime shepherd of the men’s basketball program, Ben Jacobsen, leaving the program for Utah State after leading the Panther pack since 2006.
In his place comes Kyle Green. Green was an assistant from 2001-2003 and again from 2012 to 2021. He spent the last five seasons as an assistant in Ames, now returning to Cedar Falls. His contract will take him through 2031 with a base salary of $400,000. Green will also receive an additional $87,500 media fee, paid in installments throughout the contract.
His performance incentives include $10,000 if he wins MVC Coach of the Year. If the Panthers are MVC regular season champions, Green earns $20,000. If they make the NCAA tournament, he receives $25,000 and $40,000 for every victory. Should they make the Final Four, Green would earn $100,000. Green also receives a courtesy vehicle/allowance up to $500 a month — as well as a club membership. He also gets plenty of complimentary tickets to other UNI sporting events: two volleyball season tickets, two football season tickets, 12 men’s basketball season tickets and 12 general admission tickets per game, two women’s basketball season tickets, and 16 NCAA Tournament tickets should the Panthers get there.
Head softball coach, Ryan Jacobs, joined the program in 2015 and signed an extension in 2023 to keep him on board until 2028 with a base salary of $72,500. Some of his incentives include $1,000 for winning MVC Coach of the Year; $2,500 for being MVC regular season champions; $4,000 for an at-large selection to the NCAA Championship tournament; $5,000 for advancing to super regionals; and $5,000 for each win in super regionals.
Jacob’s Panthers broke the conference record for homeruns in a season last year, were regular season champions in 2022 and 2023, and finished in the top four each year since 2021.
The Panthers’ head men’s and women’s track and field and cross-country coach, David Paulsen, signed on in 2015 at a base salary of $54,837 and has risen to $80,000 on the most recent extension that keeps him on until 2017.
Paulsen is entitled to a monthly cellphone allowance to assist in his job performance, which is to be reviewed annually. Show this to your kids the next time that they harp on you about the phone bill you pay for, that even division one college coaches are subject to the same scrutiny. Paulsen also receives a courtesy vehicle for personal and or business use.
Like other UNI coaches, he receives some sets of free tickets, including five volleyball season tickets, five football season tickets, and five men’s and women’s basketball season tickets. For performance incentives, if he is named indoor or outdoor MVC Coach of the Year, he gets $1,500; $2,500 per team for indoor or outdoor championships; $500 per indoor or outdoor individual qualifier; and $1,000 per NCAA First Team Track and Field All-American. …
The World Cup may have ended and left the United States, but Kyle Krause apparently still has soccer fever. Krause recently announced that he had purchased another soccer team, Casa Pia in Portugal. Krause has acquired a majority stake in the first division Portuguese side.
Krause appears to be drawn to teams that need, or are in the process of needing, a new home. Parma Calcio, his team in Italy, went through an entire restoration of its historic stadium to the tune of €140 million, reportedly paid entirely by the club. The Pro Iowa Soccer stadium, set to finally be built after clearing funding hurdles, which include, according to Krause Group, a $7 million grant from the Des Moines City Council; $40 million in private donations; $23 million from Kyle and Sharon Krause; $17.9 million from Iowa’s State Reinvestment act; $5 million from Iowa’s Destination Iowa fund; and a $200,000 donation from Prairie Meadows. His new team has reported plans of building a new 5,000- to 8,000-seat stadium in Lisbon at a reported €15 million. ♦
