{"id":813275,"date":"2026-03-15T06:40:28","date_gmt":"2026-03-15T06:40:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/813275\/"},"modified":"2026-03-15T06:40:28","modified_gmt":"2026-03-15T06:40:28","slug":"texas-longhorns-other-colleges-workforce-pay-shift-amid-ncaa-changes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/813275\/","title":{"rendered":"Texas Longhorns, other colleges workforce, pay shift amid NCAA changes"},"content":{"rendered":"<\/p>\n

Texas football<\/a> coach Steve\u00a0Sarkisian<\/a> is due over $11 million<\/a> in 2026. Mike Elko<\/a>, his counterpart at Texas A&M<\/a>, agreed to a contract extension in November that is set to pay him $10.75 million this year.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Together, Texas and Texas A&M athletics employed 15 people who earned over $1 million in 2025, documents obtained by the American-Statesman<\/a> show. The two titanic athletic departments also employed 122 workers who made $51,000 or less.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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\"Texas<\/p>\n

Texas Longhorns outfielder Aiden Robbins (43) puts his \u201chorns up\u201d around the bases after a home run in the eighth inning as the Longhorns take on the Michigan State Spartans in the second game of a three-game series at UFCU Disch-Falk Field in Austin, Feb. 21, 2026.<\/p>\n

Sara Diggins\/Austin American-Statesman\"Texas<\/p>\n

Texas Longhorns outfielder Aiden Robbins (43) celebrates his home run in the eighth inning as the Longhorns take on the Michigan State Spartans in the second game of a three-game series at UFCU Disch-Falk Field in Austin, Feb. 21, 2026.<\/p>\n

Sara Diggins\/Austin American-Statesman\"Texas<\/p>\n

Texas Longhorns infielder Jayden Duplantier (0) runs home to score, putting the Longhorns in the lead in the seventh inning of the their 3-1 win over the Michigan State Spartans in the second game of a three-game series at UFCU Disch-Falk Field in Austin, Feb. 21, 2026.<\/p>\n

Sara Diggins\/Austin American-Statesman\"Texas<\/p>\n

Texas Longhorns head coach Jim Schlossnagle sings \u201cThe Eyes of Texas\u201d after the Longhorns 3-1 win over the Michigan State Spartans in the second game of a three-game series at UFCU Disch-Falk Field in Austin, Feb. 21, 2026.<\/p>\n

Sara Diggins\/Austin American-Statesman\"The<\/p>\n

The Texas Longhorns put their \u201cHorns Up\u201d after their 3-1 win over the Michigan State Spartans in the second game of a three-game series at UFCU Disch-Falk Field in Austin, Feb. 21, 2026.<\/p>\n

Sara Diggins\/Austin American-Statesman\"Texas<\/p>\n

Texas Longhorns infielder Jayden Duplantier (0) runs home to score, putting the Longhorns in the lead in the seventh inning of the their 3-1 win over the Michigan State Spartans in the second game of a three-game series at UFCU Disch-Falk Field in Austin, Feb. 21, 2026.<\/p>\n

Sara Diggins\/Austin American-Statesman\"Michigan<\/p>\n

Michigan State Spartans pitcher Carter Monke (7) pitches in the seventh inning as the Longhorns take on the Michigan State Spartans in the second game of a three-game series at UFCU Disch-Falk Field in Austin, Feb. 21, 2026.<\/p>\n

Sara Diggins\/Austin American-Statesman\"Texas<\/p>\n

Texas Longhorns outfielder Anthony Pack Jr. (6) makes it to third base in the seventh inning as the Longhorns take on the Michigan State Spartans in the second game of a three-game series at UFCU Disch-Falk Field in Austin, Feb. 21, 2026.<\/p>\n

Sara Diggins\/Austin American-Statesman\"Texas<\/p>\n

Texas Longhorns outfielder Jonah Williams (9) gets ready to bat in the eighth inning as the Longhorns take on the Michigan State Spartans in the second game of a three-game series at UFCU Disch-Falk Field in Austin, Feb. 21, 2026.<\/p>\n

Sara Diggins\/Austin American-Statesman\"Texas<\/p>\n

Texas Longhorns infielder Jayden Duplantier (0) runs home to score, putting the Longhorns in the lead in the seventh inning of the their 3-1 win over the Michigan State Spartans in the second game of a three-game series at UFCU Disch-Falk Field in Austin, Feb. 21, 2026.<\/p>\n

Sara Diggins\/Austin American-Statesman\"Texas<\/p>\n

Texas Longhorns infielder Jayden Duplantier (0) slides back to second base in the seventh inning as the Longhorns take on the Michigan State Spartans in the second game of a three-game series at UFCU Disch-Falk Field in Austin, Feb. 21, 2026.<\/p>\n

Sara Diggins\/Austin American-Statesman\"Texas<\/p>\n

Texas Longhorns infielder Temo Becerra (1) throws to first base in the eighth inning as the Longhorns take on the Michigan State Spartans in the second game of a three-game series at UFCU Disch-Falk Field in Austin, Feb. 21, 2026.<\/p>\n

Sara Diggins\/Austin American-Statesman\"Texas<\/p>\n

Texas Longhorns outfielder Anthony Pack Jr. (6) avoids a collision with Michigan State Spartans infielder CJ Deckinga (13) as he runs from second to third base in the seventh inning as the Longhorns take on the Michigan State Spartans in the second game of a three-game series at UFCU Disch-Falk Field in Austin, Feb. 21, 2026.<\/p>\n

Sara Diggins\/Austin American-Statesman\"Texas<\/p>\n

Texas Longhorns pitcher Max Grubbs (38) pitches in the eighth inning as the Longhorns take on the Michigan State Spartans in the second game of a three-game series at UFCU Disch-Falk Field in Austin, Feb. 21, 2026.<\/p>\n

Sara Diggins\/Austin American-Statesman\"Texas<\/p>\n

Texas Longhorns infielders Temo Becerra (1) and Ethan Mendoza (5) jog in to the dugout after keeping Michigan State scoreless to maintain a one point lead in the eighth inning as the Longhorns take on the Michigan State Spartans in the second game of a three-game series at UFCU Disch-Falk Field in Austin, Feb. 21, 2026.<\/p>\n

Sara Diggins\/Austin American-Statesman\"Texas<\/p>\n

Texas Longhorns outfielder Aiden Robbins (43) catches a ball in the outfield in the eighth inning as the Longhorns take on the Michigan State Spartans in the second game of a three-game series at UFCU Disch-Falk Field in Austin, Feb. 21, 2026.<\/p>\n

Sara Diggins\/Austin American-Statesman\"Texas<\/p>\n

Texas Longhorns pitcher Thomas Burns (45) pitches in the ninth inning as the Longhorns take on the Michigan State Spartans in the second game of a three-game series at UFCU Disch-Falk Field in Austin, Feb. 21, 2026.<\/p>\n

Sara Diggins\/Austin American-Statesman\"Texas<\/p>\n

Texas Longhorns pitcher Thomas Burns (45) pitches in the ninth inning as the Longhorns take on the Michigan State Spartans in the second game of a three-game series at UFCU Disch-Falk Field in Austin, Feb. 21, 2026.<\/p>\n

Sara Diggins\/Austin American-Statesman\"Texas<\/p>\n

Texas Longhorns pitcher Thomas Burns (45) celebrates after pitching in the ninth inning as the Longhorns take on the Michigan State Spartans in the second game of a three-game series at UFCU Disch-Falk Field in Austin, Feb. 21, 2026.<\/p>\n

Sara Diggins\/Austin American-Statesman\"Teammates<\/p>\n

Teammates embrace Texas Longhorns outfielder Aiden Robbins (43) after the Longhorns 3-1 win over the Michigan State Spartans in the second game of a three-game series at UFCU Disch-Falk Field in Austin, Feb. 21, 2026. Robbins hit a home run in the eighth inning to extend the Longhorns\u2019 lead to two points.<\/p>\n

Sara Diggins\/Austin American-Statesman\"Texas<\/p>\n

Texas Longhorns pitcher Thomas Burns (45) and catcher Carson Tinney (8) embrace after the Longhorns 3-1 win over the Michigan State Spartans in the second game of a three-game series at UFCU Disch-Falk Field in Austin, Feb. 21, 2026.<\/p>\n

Sara Diggins\/Austin American-Statesman\"Texas<\/p>\n

Texas Longhorns outfielder Aiden Robbins (43) smiles after the Longhorns 3-1 win over the Michigan State Spartans in the second game of a three-game series at UFCU Disch-Falk Field in Austin, Feb. 21, 2026. Robbins hit a home run in the eighth inning to extend the Longhorns\u2019 lead to two points.<\/p>\n

Sara Diggins\/Austin American-Statesman\"Texas<\/p>\n

Texas Longhorns head coach Jim Schlossnagle welcomes outfielder Aiden Robbins (43) back to the dugout after his home run in the eighth inning as the Longhorns take on the Michigan State Spartans in the second game of a three-game series at UFCU Disch-Falk Field in Austin, Feb. 21, 2026.<\/p>\n

Sara Diggins\/Austin American-Statesman<\/p>\n

Nationally, the college sports industry is booming. The\u00a0Aggies brought in $235.5 million as an athletic department in the 2025 fiscal year \u2014 their third-highest total under the current reporting system instituted in 2005. The Longhorns, receiving reduced SEC media revenue as part of a one-year financial haircut<\/a> they agreed to take upon joining the conference, still raked in $353 million.<\/p>\n

\"Members<\/p>\n

Members of the Texas Longhorns spirit squad carry flags across the field after a touchdown against\u00a0Baylor at Royal-Memorial Stadium this past season.<\/p>\n

Scott Wachter\/USA Today<\/p>\n

Roughly 3.4% of that combined income went toward compensating the bottom 50% of the Longhorns\u2019 and Aggies\u2019 payroll.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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\u201cIt\u2019s a lot different pay scale outside of college athletics and any other industry,\u201d said Kyle Stafford, who recently left his public relations job at Texas A&M for a similar role at NASCAR. \u201c…PR roles in any corporate setting, or really just in general, any other setting, any other company, any other business, are generally more well paid.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

These vial, but behind-the-scenes employees \u2014 many of whom are college-educated \u2014 are sometimes asked to work long hours for wages that, in Austin, fall almost 20% short of local averages.\u00a0<\/p>\n

This is the reality for support staffers in athletic departments across Texas. And recent shifts in the college sports ecosystem have created questions about the long-term employment viability for support staff members who help ensure their athletic departments run smoothly.<\/p>\n

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Changes put athletic departments under pressure<\/p>\n

Ambitious, top-level athletic departments like Texas and Texas A&M are sharing around $20 million in revenue with their athletes as a result of the 2024 House v. NCAA settlement<\/a>. The same legal outcome also offered schools the chance to fund more athletic scholarships. At Texas, that will require further investment of around $10 million each year, according to athletic director\u00a0Chris Del Conte.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Jason\u00a0Yaman, the executive director of College Sports Communicators, said the impact of that financial crunch is still pending among college sports\u2019 Everyday Joes. The\u00a0CSC represents the interests of communications employees, typically referred to as “sports information directors,” who work in athletic departments. These college-educated professionals often find themselves in the bottom half of athletic department payrolls in Texas.<\/p>\n

Tasked with writing news releases, organizing team events and promoting student-athletes, SIDs usually work night and weekend shifts. Their job rejects the five-day work week, often requiring them to devote well over 40 hours per week to their responsibilities.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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MORE: Texas baseball coach Jim Schlossnagle reaches 1,000 wins. Here’s what it took to get there<\/a><\/p>\n

In a 2025 CSC survey, 38.2% of members said they don\u2019t feel they earn enough compensation to meet their needs when factoring in the financial realities of the geographic area where they work. Another 11.8% felt ambiguous toward the question.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cSo many of the conversations that I hear, primarily amongst athletic directors and conference commissioners, are related to revenue, and how they\u2019re continuing to drive revenue and squeeze every dollar they can, largely to fund the rev share,\u201d Yaman told the Statesman.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In the same survey, less than 15% of those polled said they would recommend a career in college athletics.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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“I loved working in the college sports industry,” Stafford said. “The people are great, the time and the memories that you make, they’re priceless. But I just wanted to have more time to spend with family. The schedule is tough on people.”\u00a0<\/p>\n

Yaman is deriving that conclusion from discussions with administrators around the nation. So, what’s the future outlook of these jobs in modern college athletics?<\/p>\n

\u201cThe impact on communicators, and again, support staff in general, I think it\u2019s still evolving,” Yaman said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

How Texas universities compensate their rank-and-file workers\u00a0<\/p>\n

More locally, data in Texas indicates athletic departments generally haven\u2019t provided their employees with pay rises to offset the inflation rate, which sits at roughly 23% from January 2020 to January 2025, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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The Longhorns, quantitatively, pay their everyday employees the best among the 15 Texas universities researched for this story. But their compensation compares less favorably when\u00a0contextualized by community income. According to the most recent census data, the average non-family household income for Austin is $70,193.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

The graph shows how 15 different institutions in Texas compensate the bottom 15% of their payroll.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Sara Diggins<\/p>\n

The bottom faction of Texas athletics’ workforce in 2025, earned an average\u00a0of about $57,000. That number is up from about $45,000 six years ago.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had a lot of workers making $35,000, and we had a big push to get them to $50,000,\u201d Del Conte told the Statesman earlier this month. \u201cTo be at $57,000, we\u2019re making progress. We looked at that. But that was such a hard climb, because we were (paying) industry standard, not Austin standard.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Despite that jump, the Longhorns remain one of four schools surveyed that don\u2019t compensate their low-level employees to that community standard alongside\u00a0UTSA, UT-Arlington and North Texas.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Del Conte told the Statesman that the athletic department is back to dishing out annual merit-based raises in 2026. Texas declined to distribute those raises twice in\u00a0the last six years \u2014 once because of the COVID-19 pandemic, and once because of the short-term financial losses resulting from the institution\u2019s move to the SEC.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Even with the gap in pay relative to local standards,\u00a0Del Conte said Texas often receives between 500 and 1,000 applicants when it lists a job opening.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a lot of kids that are going to (Austin Community College) where they\u2019re getting an apprenticeship, and they\u2019re working here because they want to be in Texas Athletics,\u201d Del Conte said. \u201cWe\u2019re very fortunate that way, but I do think it\u2019s an ever-changing model.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Since 2020, only three of the 15 public Texas universities\u00a0surveyed by the Statesman escalated pay for the bottom half of their payroll at a rate that matched or exceeded inflation: Texas, Tarleton State and East Texas A&M. The Aggies, who fell shy of inflation rates by paying their bottom-half employees roughly 20% more in 2025 compared to 2020, did not respond to multiple interview requests from the Statesman for this story.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But Texas A&M employees benefit from geography.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Predictably, data shows it\u2019s easier for schools located in smaller Texas cities \u2014 often college towns, where students can factor more heavily into the Census\u2019 income data \u2014 to compensate their employees at a rate that compares favorably with their neighbors. For example, the median household income in College Station is $50,523. The average bottom-half Texas A&M employee earns over $54,000 annually. The Aggies, Stephen F. Austin and East Texas A&M are the only three schools of the 15 sampled where low-level employees take in more than the median household income. Not coincidentally, those universities are located in three of the five least-expensive towns among the 15 considered for this story.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

The graph shows how salaries for rank-and-file workers at Texas and Texas A&M match up with community cost-of-living standards.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Sara Diggins<\/p>\n

MORE: Where UT athletics stands in early 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

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Inside workforce changes at Texas schools small and large<\/p>\n

The data obtained by the Statesman also reflects substantial changes in workforce size.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Longhorns employed more people in 2025 than any of the 15 institutions surveyed by the Statesman by some distance. But Texas is also the only athletic department that trimmed its overall head count from 2020 to 2025.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Texas payroll included 430 people in 2020, while that number dropped to 419 in 2025. Houston and Texas A&M, comparatively, increased their department head counts by 25 and 26 employees over that span, respectively.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Del Conte attributed some of Texas\u2019 staff cuts to his efforts to restructure the athletic department. When he arrived in 2018, the Longhorns were the only school in the country with a women\u2019s athletic director and a men\u2019s athletic director. The two departments, Del Conte said, were \u201ccompletely different, separate athletic programs. Separate employees. Separate everything.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I got here\u2026we got to work through some efficiency,\u201d Del Conte said. \u201cThat\u2019s really what transpired. And then you had COVID. The unintentional consequence of COVID allowed us to really dive into how we\u2019re organizationally structured, moving into a one-unit system. There was nothing nefarious about it. This is just what happened.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Some smaller schools are experiencing more substantial growth when it comes to sheer numbers. UT Rio Grande Valley fielded a 59-person payroll in 2020. In 2025, the Vaqueros paid 100 employees. That change, according to athletic director Chasse Conque, was driven by the university\u2019s decision to add football as a varsity sport. The Vaqueros debuted on the gridiron in 2025. They\u2019ll be sharing revenue with their athletes under the terms of the House settlement, but nowhere close to the $20.5 million cap. And those efforts are entirely donor-funded,\u00a0Conque said, helping UTRGV retain its staff.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIn a day where there\u2019s a lot of really difficult decisions that are having to be made, we\u2019ve been really fortunate to grow,\u201d Conque told the Statesman in February. \u201cYou go back to 2021, that\u2019s when our students voted to pass and to support the student referendum for football, swimming and diving, marching band, our spirit squads. Since then, there\u2019s been just this tremendous awakening here in the Rio Grande Valley.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

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North Texas, Tarleton State, Sam Houston and Texas State each\u00a0also added at least 30 athletic department employees over the same span. Like\u00a0UTRGV, all of those institutions recently undertook dramatic changes to their athletic department.\u00a0<\/p>\n

North Texas jumped from Conference USA to the American Athletic Conference in 2023. Sam Houston joined Conference USA in the same year, elevating its football program from the FCS level to FBS. Tarleton State finalized its reclassification from Division II to Division I in 2024. Texas State<\/a> announced its intent to move from the Sun Belt to the Pac-12 in 2025.\u00a0<\/p>\n

College sports are constantly changing. And managing payroll is part of how institutions react to those changes. Unless the landscape shifts unexpectedly again, Del Conte said he doesn\u2019t anticipate making further staff cuts.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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\u201cBecause of where we\u2019re at, and if we can maintain success, we can do a lot of things,\u201d Del Conte said. \u201cYou don\u2019t ever know when another COVID\u2019s going to come. You never know when there\u2019s going to be a recession, all kinds of things. There\u2019s unknowns. But if it\u2019s status quo like it is now, we\u2019re in good shape.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Texas football coach Steve\u00a0Sarkisian is due over $11 million in 2026. Mike Elko, his counterpart at Texas A&M,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":813276,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[331,7,49,48,50339,1078,1079],"class_list":{"0":"post-813275","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-ncaa-football","8":"tag-college-football","9":"tag-football","10":"tag-ncaa","11":"tag-ncaa-football","12":"tag-texas-a-m-aggies-football","13":"tag-texas-longhorns","14":"tag-texas-longhorns-football"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/813275","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=813275"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/813275\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/813276"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=813275"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=813275"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=813275"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}