Long Beach State men’s basketball head coach Dan Monson’s base salary of $325,297 in 2013, ranks as the highest salary among all non-football Big West coaches from California schools.
Monson signed a six-year contract in 2010, thereby earning a base salary of $281,000 that was set to increase by 5 percent each year. According to the contract, the University and Foundation pays for his increases, so when his salary reaches $358,640 in 2016, the University and Foundation will be paying for $77,640 of it.
Like most men’s basketball coaches in the Big West, Monson also has a more complex set of bonuses specified in his contract. For example, Monson will receive a “retention bonus” of $111,525 if he serves at LBSU throughout the six years of his contract.
This bonus has proven necessary, as Athletics Director Vic Cegles said Monson has been offered and subsequently turned down jobs at Colorado State and Southern Methodist in the past.
Monson also receives bonuses based on home game attendance and team performance. If the 49ers win the NCAA national championship, he would take home $210,000 in bonuses, including $100,000 for winning the championship game.
The money is far from wasted, however: Monson has won three of the last four Big West Coach of the Year awards and Big West regular season conference championships.
Cegles said that success is often measured by NCAA tournament appearances, but Monson’s one trip to the Big Dance while with LBSU does not diminish his performance as head coach.
“There’s no question in my mind that Dan [Monson] is worth the investment that we’ve made,” he said. “He’s disappointed, and I’m disappointed that we didn’t go to the tournament the last two years, but I know how hard it is to get there. People don’t realize how hard it is.”
When taking into account the contracts of Hawaii coaches, Monson may not be the highest paid in the Big West. Hawaii coach Gib Arnold receives a base annual salary in the range of $185,000 to $400,000 per year, according to a redacted version of his contract.
The Honolulu Star-Adviser, however, reported in 2011 that his three-year contract was worth $344,000 per year — almost $20,000 more than Monson’s current salary.
Overall, men’s basketball coaches earn far more than coaches of other sports in the Big West. The average salary of a men’s basketball coach is currently $205,430, a number skewed slightly lower by the backloaded contract of UC Davis’ Jim Les. Les receives $125,000 as a coach and lecturer over the first three years of his contract before earning $250,000 and $275,000 in the fourth and fifth year, respectively.
The next-best-paid coaches are those of women’s basketball, who earn an average of $142,235 per year.
By comparison, women’s golf coaches at Big West schools earn annual salaries from as much as $60,000 to as low as $34,436. LBSU’s Joey Cerulle falls right at the conference’s average for women’s golf head coaches, making a base salary of $52,068 per year.
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