Details revealed on bonus money Jim Harbaugh donated to Michigan athletics employees
Michigan Wolverines football head coach Jim Harbaugh saw his base salary cut in half as part of a contract extension ahead of the 2021 season. However, the heavily-incentivized deal allowed him to make that money back up in bonuses for winning the Big Ten East and the conference as a whole, making the College Football Playoff, earning AP Coach of the Year honors — of which he did all three — among other accomplishments.
Just after beating Ohio State and winning the Big Ten East late last November, Harbaugh announced he would donate all of his bonus money to Michigan athletics employees who took pandemic-related pay cuts in 2020.
“So important,” Harbaugh told Jon Jansen on the Inside Michigan Football radio show at the time when asked what the Michigan athletics community means to him. “Whether it’s folks who work here in football or at the ticket department or baseball coaches, [swimming and diving coach] Mike Bottom, there are so many that my wife has gotten very close to, kids have and really just our family way, our family contribution to those that have had some financial strain through the last 18 months.”
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Now, details have emerged on exactly what happened with the Michigan coach’s donated money, via USA Today.
According to the media outlet, which received information from an open-records request, 210 employees received a combined total of just over $1.5 million. Thirty of the payments were five figures, and one reached six digits. Michigan head basketball coach Juwan Howard received the largest amount, close to $133,000.
Harbaugh told USA Today he was inspired to make the donations from two players on his Michigan team — quarterback J.J. McCarthy and running back Blake Corum.
Before Thanksgiving, Corum donated 100 turkeys and other food items to the less-fortunate in nearby Ypsilanti, Mich. as part of his “Give Back 2 Give Thanks,” initiative. McCarthy pledged to donate a cut of his NIL profits to children’s hospitals in Chicago, his hometown, and Ann Arbor in his “quest to impact the lives of future generations.”
“I just thought it would be something that would be a very good, positive thing,” Harbaugh told USA Today.
All told, Harbaugh was slated to receive $2.075 million in bonuses, and kept $575,000 after the athletic-department employees who agreed to accept the money were taken care of.
“I was really happy that we ended up — our team ended up — earning enough to cover, to make it make it a total reimbursement,” Harbaugh told USA Today.
The USA Today piece also revealed that Michigan athletic director Warde Manuel was not aware Harbaugh was going to make the donation until he announced it on the radio Nov. 29.
This offseason, Harbaugh signed another contract extension through 2025 that includes a $7.05 million base salary for this coming season. The head man will also receive $1 million in annual, deferred compensation to a 403(b) retirement fund.
