Coastal Carolina’s top-paid employee makes 10 times more than SC’s governor. See how much
.JPG "Students make their way between classes on the first day of the 2022 Fall semester at Coastal Carolina University on Wednesday.Aug. 24, 2022.")
Editor’s Note: This story was updated at 4:52 p.m. Feb. 2, 2025, to include that Matt Hogue is the former athletic director and to correct the reason why defensive coordinator Craig Naivar left CCU. His contract was not renewed after the 2024 season.
Coaches and athletic department staff at Coastal Carolina University are the five highest-paid university staffers.
Some of these coaches are no longer at CCU — having departed the program due to poor on-field performance — but each makes at least three times the salary of South Carolina’s governor. And one, the top paid, makes 10 times the amount of the state’s leader.
The coaches’ high salaries are not unusual for universities across the country. However, it does raise the question of where universities, including Coastal Carolina, are placing their priorities when it comes to spending and allocation of funding.
The South Carolina Department of Administration’s website keeps records of the employee salaries of public universities in the state, including Coastal Carolina University.
The database shows that CCU football coach Tim Beck is the highest-paid employee at CCU, receiving $1,124,750 in total compensation. Beck is Coastal’s only employee making at least a million dollars annually.
Beck receives more than four times what school President Michael Benson makes. Benson earns $254,800 in total compensation.
“Coastal Carolina University embraces a holistic approach to its academic and athletic offerings. This includes being fully committed to offering a highly competitive athletics program, which provides valuable opportunities for our students, student-athletes, and Chanticleer fans, generates University awareness, and enhances our brand,” said Jerry Rashid, director of university communication at CCU, by email. “Our athletic department salaries are comparable with other Sun Belt Conference schools and peer institutions in the region.”
For 2024-25, Coastal Carolina has a budget of more than $200 million, with close to $170 million allotted to paying its employees.
Beck’s compensation doesn’t compare to some of the best-paid coaches in the state. University of South Carolina head football coach Shane Beamer‘s new extension will give him $8.15 million next year, and Dabo Swinney’s 2022 10-year, $115 million extension with Clemson makes Beck’s salary seem small.
Yet, Beck’s salary is still large compared to other important officials across the state. Beck’s $1.12 million compensation overshadows Gov. Henry McMaster’s pay of $106,078.
Beck is also paid more than the Gamecocks former athletic director. The Associated Press reported in September 2024 that former South Carolina Athletic Director Ray Tanner had a $1.175 million salary. The state database lists the athletic director’s total compensation at $562,187.
Beck isn’t the only well-paid member of the CCU athletic department. The administration’s database shows that five of CCU’s 10 highest-paid employees work for sports. Here’s the list:
- Head coach of football Tim Beck: $1,124,750 in total compensation
- Athletic director Chance Miller: $400,000 in total compensation
- Men’s basketball head coach Justin Gray: $383,437 in total compensation
- Head coach of baseball Kevin Schnall: $375,768 in total compensation
- Defensive coordinator Craig Naivar: $348,928 in total compensation
Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs H. Gibbs Knotts: $275,000 in total compensation
Director, Center for Sports Broadcasting Matt Hogue: $269,613 in total compensation
President Michael Benson: $254,800 in total compensation
Vice President/Chief Financial Officer M. Alan West: $245,400 in total compensation
University Counsel Amanda Bailey: $235,175 in total compensation
Even highly compensated Coastal Carolina staffers not listed as part of the athletic department have a connection to the school’s competitive efforts. Former athletic director Matt Hogue, who now serves as the director of CCU’s Center for Sports Broadcasting, is listed in the South Carolina Department of Administration’s salary database as receiving the seventh-highest compensation, about $270,000. Hogue left his position with the athletic department in 2024 and was replaced by Chance Miller.
The database shows that Miller’s $400,000 yearly salary is the second highest at Coastal Carolina.
How has Coastal Carolina performed on the field during Tim Beck’s tenure
The debate regarding the efficacy of paying coaches and athletic personnel large salaries at academic institutions is nothing new to college sports. However, the explosion in college coach pay has led some to question whether granting such contracts leads to reciprocal benefits.
Famously, some schools have paid coaches to stay home and not lead their teams on the gridiron. In 2023, Texas A&M bought out Jimbo Fisher’s $75 million contract after the school fired him for inconsistent on-field performance
Like other coaches in college football, one’s comfort level regarding Beck’s compensation somewhat depends on CCU’s on-field production.
Before Beck arrived at Coastal Carolina, the Chants had won at least nine games a season between 2020-2022. Coastal hasn’t matched this pace during Beck’s tenure, and CCU amassed a 14-12 record in his two seasons at CCU.
Beck’s arrival was partially the work of Joe Moglia, the chair of athletics and executive director of football. The pair first met during their overlapping tenure at Nebraska, which played a role in Beck coming to the Conway school from his previous post as offensive coordinator at NC State.
According to the South Carolina Department of Administration’s salary database, Moglia receives just under $200,000 in compensation, the 23rd most at the university. CCU’s second-ever football coach, Moglia previously donated a “large” undisclosed amount to the university.
Despite the struggles on the field and dour faces within CCU’s athletic program wrapping up 2024, Coastal Carolina’s top assistants were well compensated. Defensive coordinator Craig Naivar had a salary of about $350,000 before his contract was not renewed after the 2024 season, according to the state salary database.
CCU fired offensive coordinator Travis Trickett during the 2024 season, but USA Today’s college assistant coach database shows he received about $350,000 in total pay. Based on USA Today’s database, Naivar and Trickett were the fourth and fifth highest-paid assistant coaches in the Sun Belt Conference during the 2024 college football season, and neither will be on CCU’s staff come the start of the 2025 campaign.
Coastal Carolina spends a lot on athletics. Is it a good investment?
A March 2024 report claimed that CCU students paid $3,634 during the 2023 fiscal year to subsidize athletics, the highest amount of any university at the FBS level of college football. CCU objected to the report’s findings, but the university has pushed to create a national brand of athletic success within the last few years.
With a College World Series win in 2016 and strong 2020 and 2021 football seasons, CCU has tried to forge a reputation for quality athletics. However, becoming a power within South Carolina has proved challenging partly due to the university’s lack of historic tradition compared to Clemson, the University of South Carolina, and schools in nearby North Carolina that hold considerable sway in the Grand Strand region that Coastal Carolina calls home.
Starting as a junior college in 1954 before becoming an independent university in 1993, CCU’s youth as an institution also provided challenges regarding paying players. The school’s first collective dedicated to compensating athletes for their name, image and likeness folded at the end of 2023, partly due to a lack of support.
This story was originally published February 2, 2025 at 6:00 AM.
