Florida Boosts Basketball Coach Todd Golden's Salary to $6M Annually Following National Title Win

Gainesville, Fla. (AP) - Florida's basketball head coach, Todd Golden, has agreed to an extended contract which will increase his yearly compensation to $6 million, marking a significant raise. nearly a month after the Gators won the national championship .

Golden inked a six-year, $40.5 million extension Tuesday night, adding a year to his current deal and putting him under contract through the 2030-31 season. He inked a two-year extension in March 2024 This raised his average salary to $4.1 million per year.

His latest raise is a significant commitment from Florida and puts Golden nearly on par with football coach Billy Napier, who is scheduled to make $7.4 million in 2025.

Golden’s deal pays $6 million a year (beginning April 16, 2025), with a $300,000 pay hike every year after.

Todd has accomplished something remarkable with Florida's men's basketball program," stated Athletic Director Scott Stricklin. "When we backed him in 2022 because of his vision, his drive, and his contemporary take on the sport, he proved us right swiftly. He has not only bolstered our spirits but also gifted unforgettable moments to a new wave of Gator enthusiasts.

The fresh funding increases the 39-year-old Golden's salary to make him the second-most compensated basketball coach in the Southeastern Conference, just after Arkansas' John Calipari, who receives an annual amount of $8 million. Golden, previously worked as an aide for Bruce Pearl at Auburn before securing his initial head coaching position at San Francisco In 2019, he was previously listed as the 12th out of 16 coaches in the league.

He now jumps to fifth among the seven active coaches with national titles, behind Bill Self of Kansas, Calipari, UConn’s Dan Hurley and Michigan State’s Tom Izzo.

"As we demonstrated during our tenure in Gainesville, the University of Florida possesses the necessary resources, backing, and personnel to contend for and secure national championships," Golden stated in a release.

Golden’s new deal is nearly fully guaranteed. Florida would owe him 85% of the remaining value if the school fired him without cause at any point.

The buyout for Golden to exit Gainesville begins at $16 million next year and decreases yearly as follows: $11 million in 2026-27; $4 million in 2027-28; $3 million in 2028-29; $2 million in 2029-30; and $1 million in 2030-31.

Nevertheless, Golden has the option to depart for the NBA at a significantly reduced cost. Starting next season, his NBA buyout will begin at $3 million and decrease to $2 million from 2026–28, before dropping further to $1 million in the 2028–29 period.

Included in Golden’s annual compensation is a $500,000 signing bonus, a $500,000 annual longevity incentive and a $60,000 annual expense account. In addition to that, he gets $70,000 annually in travel allowance for using the university athletic association’s plane and other fringe benefits valued at $62,000.

He would get a $100,000 bonus for winning the SEC regular-season championship, a $50,000 bonus for winning the SEC Tournament, a $100,000 bonus for making the NCAA Tournament and a $50,000 bonus for every NCAA Tournament victory.

With Golden at the helm for his third season in Gainesville, the Gators finished 36-4 and beat Houston to clinch the program’s third national title. They won their final 12 games, including four in the NCAA Tournament in come-from-behind fashion.

Florida’s style of play under Golden has drawn rave reviews, leading to sellouts in eight of the team’s last 10 home games. Florida averaged 84.8 points a game this season after setting the program record (85.6) during the 2023-24 campaign.

Golden became the third coach this century to win a national title within his first three seasons on the job, joining North Carolina’s Roy Williams (2005) and UConn’s Kevin Ollie (2014). Williams and Ollie accomplished the feat in their second seasons.

Goldena faces a minor reconstruction as key player Walter Clayton, who was named the Most Outstanding Player at the Final Four, plans to join the NBA alongside teammates Alijah Martin and Will Richard. Meanwhile, forwards Alex Condon and Rueben Chinyelu are participating in the NBA draft but have the option to remain in college and continue their careers next year.

Backup guard Denzel Aberdeen from Kentucky and the reserve forward Sam Alexis from Indiana have both switched teams. , and assistant coaches Kevin Hovde (Columbia) and John Andrzejek (Campbell) took head coaching jobs.

Golden added two guards from the transfer portal — Princeton’s Xaivian Lee along with Ohio’s AJ Brown — and will see swingman CJ Ingram and guard Alex Lloyd enrolling as new freshmen.

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