Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh has decided to return his bonuses this season to Michigan athletic department employees who have had their pay cut during the COVID-19 pandemic.
When the pandemic hit in 2020, Michigan announced a pay cut of 5 to 10% for most of its athletic department employees. During an appearance on the radio show “Inside Michigan Football” this week, Harbaugh announced that he and his wife, Sarah, would distribute his bonus money to Michigan employees regardless of the amount. . With Harbaugh’s announcement, any employee who has taken a voluntary or mandatory pay cut in the past 18 months and still works for Michigan has the opportunity to receive some of Harbaugh’s bonus.
“Sarah and I talked about it last night, and we decided any bonuses I received this season would be redirected to reimburse the employees of the U of M athletics division. , who have stayed during voluntary or mandatory pay reductions during the past 18 months during the pandemic,” Harbaugh said on the show.
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Currently, Harbaugh earns about $4 million in salary per season. On top of that, he has the opportunity to earn $3,475,000 in additional bonuses depending on how the team performs each season. Below is a breakdown of the potential bonuses Harbaugh will earn this season.
Harbaugh announced he and his wife Sarah will be giving any incentive bonuses he earns this season back to the sports department to distribute to debtors who suffered a pay cut last year because of Covid. – radio station “Inside Michigan Football” w @ JonJansen77️ pic.twitter.com/aMGuUsBZfM
– angelique (@chengelis) November 30, 2021
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Harbaugh and the Wolverines won the Big Ten East on Saturday after they beat Ohio State 42-27. With that win, Harbaugh earned $500,000 in prize money. Michigan will compete in the Big Ten Championship on December 4 with the Iowa Hawkeyes. If he wins this game, Harbaugh will earn an additional 1 million USD in prize money.
Jim Harbaugh claimed a $500K bonus for the B1G East title on Saturday. A win over Iowa in Indy next week will be worth $1.5 million ($1 million in B1G title prize, $500k in CFP prize money). pic.twitter.com/8Iswe1uFBQ
– Marc Carman (@MarcCarmanSr) November 28, 2021
Currently, the amount of bonuses that Harbaugh will distribute to Michigan employees has not been determined. It depends on how Michigan evaluates the rest of the season. However, as Harbaugh said, he will give money no matter the amount. He also plans to spread the money among different divisions within the sports kit. So not all the money will go to football staff, for example.
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“Whether it’s the people who work here in football, the box office or the baseball coach, (swimming and diving coach) Mike Bottom, there are so many people that my wife is very close to, the kids. So do children,” Harbaugh said. “It’s really just our family’s path, our family’s contribution to those who have been struggling financially for the past 18 months.”
Harbaugh is also one of the top three employees at Michigan to take a 10% pay cut for fiscal year 2021. Athletic director Warde Manuel and men’s basketball head coach Juwan Howard also took pay cuts.
