Anonymous
By UC Santa Barbara
UC Santa Barbara Director of Athletics Kelly Barsky announced on Saturday evening that head men’s basketball coach Joe Pasternack accepted a five-year contract extension, effective immediately.
“Coach Pasternack’s relentless energy, commitment to student athletes as well as the Gaucho campus and community and pursuit of basketball excellence have propelled the program onto the national stage,” Barsky said. “He has assembled an incredibly talented group of student athletes and staff while creating an energy in the Thunderdome that has ignited enthusiasm and shared Gaucho experiences. We value Joe’s contributions to our campus and community, and are thrilled that he, his wife Lindsay and family will remain in Santa Barbara and we will continue to build upon the momentum gained and shared vision of service and connection.”
“I am very excited to continue to build the UC Santa Barbara Basketball program to compete for championships,” Coach Pasternack said. “My family and I love Santa Barbara, our players, and the amazing community. I am extremely grateful to Kelly Barsky and Chancellor Yang for believing in our program.”
Pasternack has had an impressive career since coming to UC Santa Barbara. Over the last six seasons, he has accumulated a 132-53 record, which translates to a .714 winning percentage, the third-best in the state of California behind San Diego State and Saint Mary’s.
Along with that, Pasternack has led his team to two Big West Championships in three seasons, making two trips to March Madness in that time. He had his best season to date, breaking the record of the most wins in a season set in 1971 that he tied during his first season with the team.
The Gauchos finished the 2022-23 season with an overall 27-8 record, earning a share of The Big West Regular Season title while winning The Big West Championships and earning a bid to March Madness.
Joe Pasternack’s total pay + benefits for 2021: $573,679.
https://transparentcalifornia.com/salaries/2021/university-of-california/joe-pasternack/
I’m not knowledgeable of the economic forces that drive university employee salaries, so can’t speak to whether this compensation is reasonable. I think it’s pretty standard, actually. But as a UCSB alum, seeing that the basketball coach is paid nearly twice what my former professors are making, it sure makes me less likely to donate when UCSB comes asking.
The highest paid university personnel at many universities are the athletic coaches. Totally ridiculous.
College athletics brings in the $$$$. Right or wrong, UCSB can, or cannot afford not to, pay their coaches big salaries. Joe’s UCSB salary is pretty small potatoes in the big picture. Chip Kelly, UCLA football coach is making $5,750,000 per YEAR, on a four year contract, guaranteed money whether he gets fired or not. Not justifying, just the facts.
College athletics brings in money only for the top tier fan base schools. UCLA, cited above, lost something like $28M in their athletic department last year (four year negative of $131M) and was only saved further damage because they sued their athletic gear supplier and got a nice settlement. A worse story for Cal. I doubt that UCSB athletics are profitable. But why would any “academic” institution think it should fund a for profit endeavor involving non-academic efforts at all. Let the pro teams pay for their minor leagues. Let the “fans” pay the cost of this commercial enterprise.
One would have to assume that Joe received a good bump in is salary and that this amount is not out-of-line for a mid-tier D1 program in California or in the conference that UCSB plays in. To Uptown’s point: there have to be professors on campus whose contribution to student success or innovation in their fields command a salary much higher than what they are currently getting paid. While coaches command salaries based on market forces, professors do not.