The two teams that played in the NCAA national volleyball championship match have been noteworthy in the offseason.
Start with 23rd-year Texas coach Jerritt Elliott, who has won back-to-back NCAA national championships.
He recently set a new standard for volleyball coaching compensation.
Elliott, who won his first NCAA title at Texas in 2012, signed a new contract extension to keep him guiding the Longhorns through 2029. His total compensation of $800,000, excluding performance bonuses, makes him the highest-paid college volleyball coach. Previously, Nebraska coach John Cook was at the top of the sport with a base pay of $750,000 for 2024.
Elliott signed his contract, obtained through an open records request, on February 26 and was announced by Texas on March 11.
The new deal lowers his base pay from $557,500 to $500,000. However, Elliott will receive $300,000 in 2024 for “Professional Services Payments.” This includes sublicensing intellectual property as well as for personal and media appearances. These clauses are more common in football and basketball coaching contracts but are a novelty in the volleyball world. The payments increase annually to a maximum of $425,000 in 2029. The base pay does not change during the same time frame.
The contract also contains another wrinkle: The additional payments don’t go directly to Elliott but rather to DREJ, Inc., a corporate entity registered in the State of Texas. (The corporation was formed on February 23, three days before he signed the extension.) Elliott is listed as the corporation’s registered agent.
DREJ, Inc., is set up as an S-Corp, allowing it to pass its taxable income, credits, deductions, and losses directly to its shareholders. While they require more accounting paperwork, S-Corps are often set up as a tax planning vehicle, which allows individuals to lower their tax burden.
With the new contract, Elliott also received a new title of Director of Volleyball in addition to Head Volleyball Coach. Based on the contract language, he will serve as the head coach of Texas’ indoor team and oversee the second-year beach program and coach Stein Metzger.
Elliott will receive bonuses based on each program’s performance. He can receive a maximum performance bonus of 37 percent of his base salary for marks such as conference titles or advancing in the postseason. He can also receive up to a 30 percent…
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