The expectations are always high at Kentucky. And so is the salary for second-year coach Mark Pope, who earned $5.25 million in total compensation during a 2025-26 season that saw the Wildcats ejected in the second round of the Men's NCAA tournament.
Pope’s contract ranks sixth in the SEC, behind two national championship-winning coaches — John Calipari of Arkansas and Todd Golden of Florida — and another two Final Four coaches — Tennessee’s Rick Barnes and Alabama’s Nate Oats.
But Pope might not have the worst contract in the conference. That title could also belong to Mississippi’s Chris Beard, who made $6 million this season as the Rebels slumped to the bottom rungs in the SEC standings.
USA TODAY Sports compiled pay information from each school in the Power Four conferences and from each school outside those conferences whose team has appeared in at least three of the past five NCAA tournaments.
The list of the sport’s most overpaid coaches begins with Pope and Beard:
Mark Pope, Kentucky
The former Brigham Young coach has not been a hit back in Lexington, compiling a combined 46-26 record with one trip to the tournament’s second weekend. This year’s team was lucky to get out of the opening round thanks to a miraculous buzzer-beater to force overtime against Santa Clara. Given his salary of more than $5 million this season and the amount of money put toward roster construction, Pope provided the worst return on investment of any major-conference coach and will top every coaching hot-seat list all offseason.
Chris Beard, Mississippi
Beard won 20 games in 2023-34, led the Rebels to 24 wins and into the Sweet 16 last March but tumbled all the way down to 15-20 overall and just 4-14 in conference play this season, one game out of last place. That marked his first losing season in 12 full seasons as a college coach across multiple levels. After three years, Beard’s 59-44 record is only slightly better than the 51-42 mark in the program’s first three seasons under his predecessor, Kermit Davis.
Buzz Williams, Maryland
Williams has built a reputation as a turnaround artist during stints at Marquette, Virginia Tech and Texas A&M. He may do the same at Maryland, which went 12-21 overall and 4-16 in the Big Ten in Williams’ debut. That's not unlike his first years with the Hokies and Aggies. But even if the Terrapins’ eventually rebound, the program should get more right off the bat from Williams’ $4.86 million in compensation for the 2025-26 season, which ranked fourth in the conference behind Michigan State’s Tom Izzo, Illinois’ Brad Underwood and Purdue’s Matt Painter.
Steve Pikiell, Rutgers
Pikiell earned an extension and raise in 2023 after leading Rutgers to four winning seasons in a row and a pair of NCAA Tournament appearances. But it’s been messy since. After going 15-17 in 2023-24, the Scarlet Knights again went 15-17 in 2024-25 despite two freshmen who were taken in the top five of the NBA draft and then dipped to 14-19 this season. Pikiell’s contract paid him $4.05 million in 2025-26 and runs through 2030-31 with annual $100,000 increases. The current cost to cut ties with him is approximately $20 million.
Jeff Capel, Pittsburgh
Capel will come back for another year with the Panthers after posting his second 20-loss season, which was just the fifth in program history. Since taking over in 2018, the former VCU and Oklahoma coach has gone an even 127-127 and a miserable 60-92 in the ACC, with one tournament berth and only two years with more than eight conference wins. For this, Capel ranked second among ACC public-school coaches at $3.95 million in compensation this season.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: College basketball overpaid coaches: Mark Pope, Chris Beard lead list