Miami credits Mario Cristobal with $22.7 million in total pay for 2022 calendar year

Miami credited Mario Cristobal with over $20 million in total pay for the 2022 calendar year, according to Brent Schrotenboer of USA Today.

It was a massive amount of money that included nearly $8 million in his base pay. The rest of the money was “other reportable compensation,” according to the report.

Want to know how big this is for Cristobal? It’s the largest single year amount in history.

“The University of Miami (Fla.) paid football coach Mario Cristobal $22.7 million in 2022, including $7.7 million in base pay and $14.9 million in ‘other reportable compensation,’ according to a federal tax form released by the university Tuesday to USA TODAY sports,” Schrotenboer wrote.

“This is the largest-ever, single-year amount for an athletics department employee on a tax form by a private university, according to USA TODAY Sports research. The university did not go into further detail about why he was paid that much except that it paid ‘gross-up payments’ to Cristobal and others — payments that cover income taxes so that the recipient receives a set amount of pay.”

According to Schrotenboer, the $14.9 million in “other pay” is believed to cover the $9 million in buyout money owed to Oregon when Cristobal came to the east coast.

“By comparison, the highest single year of pay for a private university president was only slightly more — $22.8 million for former University of Pennsylvania president Amy Gutmann in 2021, according to data from the Chronicle of Higher Education,” Schrotenboer wrote. “But about 89% of that came from deferred compensation set aside over the course of her 18-year tenure, the Chronicle reported.”

Private universities are not required to disclose employment contracts, such as Cristobal’s deal, under public record laws. But they must file a tax return as a non-profit.

“The high pay also means the university will take a tax hit in the form of a 21% excise tax on compensation above $1 million that goes to any of a private non-profit universities five highest-paid employees in a year,” Schrotenboer wrote.

“The same form lists university president Julio Frenk’s pay at $1.3 million in 2022. Men’s basketball coach Jim Larranaga earned $2.6 million that year and athletic director Dan Radakovich got $1.9 million. That includes ‘gross-up’ payments to help them with taxes, according to the form.”

Cristobal goes into the 2024 season with a 12-13 record at Miami. The Hurricanes went 7-6 last season, losing the Pinstripe Bowl to Rutgers.