KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Bill Self signed an amended lifetime contract to remain the Kansas men’s basketball head coach shortly before opening the 2023-24 season as the No. 1 team in the country.
Self and Jayhawks Director of Athletics Travis Goff signed the reworked agreement — effectively a five-year extension worth $44.5 million, including a $1 million signing bonus, according to KSHB 41 analysis of the deal — last Thursday.
It became official on Friday when KU Chancellor Douglas Girod added his signature to the Amended and Restated Employment Agreement.
Self, who led Kansas to NCAA titles in 2008 and 2022, is set to rake in more than $9.2 million this season, including the signing bonus, which makes him the highest-paid coach in NCAA Division I men’s basketball.
That is before any possible incentives for winning the Big 12 and the Big 12 tourney, any coaching awards and inclusion/advancement in the NCAA tourney and does not include deferred payments for past retention bonuses earned.
Self’s amended deal gives him a significant raise from the roughly $6 million he was set to receive, according to USA Today’s coaching salary database.
Self is set to receive a prorated $5 million retention bonus if he remains with the program through March 31, 2028, with a provision for a rolling $1 million retention bonus each subsequent year.
BILL SELF CONTRACT DETAILS
Given the rolling nature of Self’s lifetime contract, the 2027-28 salary would carry forward in subsequent seasons barring another amendment to the deal.
The contract includes language related to another $9.635 million in retention payments, which he earned in previous seasons under past iterations of his contract.
Technically, the grand total of money in the deal is $53.179 million, including the deferred payments — more than $4.5 million in payments Self’s already received.
Self’s contract also guarantees two courtesy vehicles, traditional health benefits, a $4-million university-paid life insurance policy, a monthly $20,000 travel allowance, 10 tickets per home game and six per road game with another 100 reserved for recruiting, a suite for football games, and memberships at the Jayhawks and Lawrence country clubs among other extra benefits.
He is eligible for up to $800,000 in incentives per year, including $500,000 for an NCAA championship run.
BILL SELF INCENTIVES
Some outlets have reported the deal as a five-year, $53-million deal, but that includes previously earned retention payments unrelated to the new amended contract’s structure.
Self receives $100,000 per month under a previous agreement that deferred a retention payment among revenue losses during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Beginning in April 2021 and continuing through March 2027, Self gets the monthly payment in lieu of a $7.2-million retention bonus he earned in April 2021.
Self earned another $2.435-million retention bonus at the conclusion of the 2022-23 season, but it was converted to a $1,007,970 royalty payment and $1,427,030 additional payment.
However, those previously earned retention payments do not reflect new contract terms or additional money added under this amendment.
Self’s Jayhawks opened the season Monday with an easy romp past North Carolina Central.
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