Contract details revealed for new Clemson women's basketball coach Shawn Poppie

Clemson has officially hired Shawn Poppie as its new women’s basketball coach. Poppie is coming over from Chattanooga after leading the Mocs to the women’s NCAA Tournament each of the past two seasons.

Shawn Poppie had his contract approved by the Clemson Board of Trustees on Tuesday afternoon. His deal is a six-year deal worth $3.375 million. It is for an average of $562,500 per year.

He will make $500,000 in Year 1 of the contract and will receive a $25,000 increase each season. Poppie is also receiving a $435,000 signing bonus to be paid within 30 days of the start of employment.

Poppie is taking over for Amanda Butler, who was fired as the Clemson head coach earlier this month. He had interest from several other power conference programs, according to sources, but Clemson was able to land its top candidate.

In 2022-23, Poppie led Chattanooga to a 20-13 record, winning the Southern Conference, before falling to Virginia Tech in the NCAA Tournament.

This past season, Chattanooga had an even better year, finishing with a 28-5 record, including a victory over Mississippi State in the regular season.

The Mocs earned the No. 1 seed in the Southern Conference tournament, going 3-0 in the event to earn another NCAA Tournament bid. Chattanooga was the No. 14 seed and fell to No. 3 seed NC State in the first round of the women’s NCAA Tournament.

While Poppie has not been a power conference head coach before, he does have experience in the ACC. Prior to coming to Chattanooga, he was an assistant under Kenny Brooks at Virginia Tech. He helped build the Hokies program up after it had missed the NCAA Tournament for 15 straight years.

Poppie spent six seasons on staff at Virginia Tech and was the associate head coach for the final two. He also has experience in the Palmetto State, having attended Limestone College in Gaffney and working as an assistant coach in the Upstate at both Furman and USC Upstate.

As for Clemson, Poppie is taking over a Tigers program that finished 12-19 (5-13) in 2023-24. Clemson made the NCAA Tournament only once in Amanda Butler’s six seasons. She finished her six years at Clemson with an 81-106 record.

Clemson Athletics Director Graham Neff released a statement after deciding to part ways with Butler.

“I thank Amanda for her contributions to our basketball program as head coach for the past six seasons and wish her the best in the future,” Neff said in a statement. “We are committed to completing a national search for the next leader of the program as the sport continues to grow. We believe that we are resourced and supported in a way to make this one of the top teams in the nation every year.”  

Shawn Poppie certainly has an impressive resume and appears capable of getting the Clemson women’s basketball program back on track.