Amendment to Protect College Sports Act aims to bring $5 million cap to coaching salaries

The Protect College Sports Act is grinding its way through the US Senate this week, and one of the amendments now attached to the debate would hit coaches directly in the wallet.

Senator Cory Booker (Dem - NJ), joined by Senator Chris Murphy (Dem - CT), have filed an amendment that would cap coaching salaries at $5 million per year, per a copy obtained by Yahoo Sports.

The proposed Section 114A, titled "Salary Cap for Coaches," states that "an institution may not provide compensation to a coach of a varsity sports team that exceeds $5,000,000 per year." 

The cap would apply to any coaching agreement entered into on or after the date the bill is enacted, so existing contracts would not be touched.

The amendment is written to amend No. 6776, the version of the bill proposed by Senator Ted Cruz (Rep - TX) with Senator Maria Cantwell (Dem - WA), Eric Schmitt (Rep - MO) and Chris Coons (Dem - DE.).

It is one of more than 35 amendments filed, and Yahoo Sports noted most of them have very little chance of being accepted.

Every one of the 10 highest-paid coaches in college football is set to make more than double the proposed $5 million cap in 2026. Indiana's Curt Cignetti leads the way at $13.02 million, followed by Georgia's Kirby Smart and LSU's Lane Kiffin at $13 million apiece. Ohio State's Ryan Day and Alabama's Kalen DeBoer are at $12.5 million, with USC's Lincoln Riley and Clemson's Dabo Swinney at $11.5 million. Texas' Steve Sarkisian ($11.05 million), Texas A&M's Mike Elko ($10.75 million) and Oregon's Dan Lanning ($10.6 million) round out the top 10 that would see their pay cut in half if the amendment were to pass.

The amendment also says "varsity sports team," not football, so men's basketball coaches would fall under the same cap.

Booker and Murphy have been pushing reform to college athlete rights for years. In August 2020, the two unveiled a College Athletes Bill of Rights that called for fair compensation, health and safety standards, and an athlete-led oversight commission. 

As reported by Yahoo Sports, the underlying bill would do a number of things to impose some much-needed guardrails on college sports including raise the annual revenue-share cap per school from roughly $21 million to about $48 million, cap agent fees at 5 percent, reinstate a one-time transfer exception, set a five-year eligibility standard, and prevent coaches from leaving in the middle of a season.

The bill cleared its first procedural hurdle on Sept. 15 with a 74-24 cloture vote and passed its latest procedural vote on Tuesday. Several more remain before a final Senate vote. From there, it heads to the House, where Speaker Mike Johnson has said consideration would wait until after the November midterm elections.

Whether the Booker amendment even gets a vote is an open question. Either way, a $5 million cap on coaching pay is now in the Senate record while lawmakers debate what athletes should be allowed to earn.

Stay tuned to The Scoop for the latest.