One-Time Bonuses Pushed Michigan State Coach’s Pay Past $8.7-Million in 2006

Michigan State University’s men’s basketball coach, Tom Izzo, came close to breaking the eight-figure barrier for coaches’ pay in 2006, pocketing more than $8.7-million in total compensation, according to a Chronicle analysis of tax documents.

The analysis, based on a 42-page compliance questionnaire the university submitted to the Internal Revenue Service earlier this year, gives a rare glimpse into the financial labyrinth of college coaches’ pay.

Mr. Izzo’s boost in compensation came two years before the recent economic crisis struck. But the dollar figure would represent a new high mark in the hand-wringing over coaches’ escalating salaries.

Mr. Izzo—who has been the Spartans’ head coach for 14 years and claims five appearances at the NCAA Final Four and one national championship—received $8,722,663 in the 2006 tax year, according to the IRS questionnaire, which The Chronicle obtained through an open-records request. That made him the university’s highest-paid employee that year. (Michigan State did not respond to requests for clarification on Mr. Izzo’s pay.)

The coach’s big jump in total compensation did not go unnoticed. But news accounts at the time it was first publicized, though taking note of the spike that was largely attributed to bonuses, fell short of citing the full $8.7-million listed in the tax documents. Instead, they said his compensation “exceeded $7-million” that year.

Bonuses can be notoriously hard to track. Their terms, like those listed in Mr. Izzo’s 59-page contract, often hinge on future events—for example, a coach will receive a predetermined amount of money for staying with a program through a certain date. And the payouts can be awarded retroactively.

The full extent of Mr. Izzo’s compensation for 2006 comes to light just 10 days after college sports thought it had blown past an eye-popping benchmark in coaches’ pay: A $5.1-million employment agreement approved last week for the University of Texas’s Mack Brown has made him the highest-paid college football coach.

Mr. Brown gets $2-million of that amount if he stays on with the Longhorns through January 15—even if they lose to the University of Alabama in the BCS championship game on January 7. The new agreement makes the $2-million retention bonus annual for the remainder of his contract.

Paul Fain and Eric Kelderman contributed to this report.