Williams, 10 Other Coaches Get Contract Extensions

Posted on Dec. 19, 2018

Three-time national champion and Hall of Fame basketball coach Roy Williams ’72 has signed an eight-year contract extension with the University.

Williams led Carolina to NCAA titles in 2005, 2009 and 2017. In 16 seasons as head coach, Williams has a 432-128 record. He has led UNC to five Final Fours, won the ACC regular season title eight times and finished in the top 10 in the final Associated Press poll 10 times, including each of the past three seasons. The court at the Smith Center recently was named Roy Williams Court.

“I’m grateful and humbled in the University’s continued faith in my leadership of the basketball program,” Williams said. “When I coached at Kansas, my contracts with Nike and our media partner were private, and UNC respected and honored that for 15 years. However, times have changed, and understanding the environment that college basketball faces now,” he said, it was proper to disclose the terms.

Williams is one of five UNC head coaches who have or will have personal service contracts with Nike. Williams, women’s soccer coach Anson Dorrance ’74, baseball coach Mike Fox ’78 and women’s basketball coach Sylvia Hatchell have signed contracts with Nike. New football coach Mack Brown also will sign a personal service contract with Nike. (In addition to their undergraduate degrees from UNC, Williams and Fox also have master’s degrees from Carolina in teaching, Williams from 1973 and Fox from ’79.)

The University’s contracts with Brown, Fox, Hatchell and Williams also include compensation that originated from Learfield Communications for work with Carolina’s multimedia rights holder.

Also receiving contract extensions are Dorrance, Fox, Jenny Levy (women’s lacrosse), Brian Kalbas (women’s tennis), Sam Paul (men’s tennis) and Carlos Somoano (men’s soccer), who each re-signed through 2023; and Coleman Scott (wrestling), who re-signed through 2021.

Also, Joe Breschi ’90 (men’s lacrosse), Donna Papa (softball) and Joe Sagula (volleyball) signed multiyear contracts for the first time; each signed five-year contracts through 2023.

The 11 coaches who signed new contracts or extensions have a combined 239 years of experience as head coaches at Carolina.

Carolina’s 10-year contract with Nike calls for it to remain the Tar Heels’ exclusive supplier of athletic footwear and apparel through June 2028. It is the third extension of a partnership that began in 1993.

As part of the contract, a minimum of $600,000 per year — at least $6 million over the life of the contract — is guaranteed for licensing, which the University directs for need- and merit-based scholarships. That is more than double the licensing guarantee of the previous contract with Nike. In addition, the University will receive $200,000 per year in retail products for nonathletics department use, and Nike will hire four student interns each year.

In an accompanying agreement, the University and Nike also have again affirmed their commitment to fair labor practices.

Carolina also extended its multimedia rights partnership with Learfield through June 2029. The Jefferson City, Mo.-based company has managed UNC’s radio broadcasts, coaches’ shows, digital media productions and venue signage since 1999. The 12-year contract has an average guaranteed value of $12.6 million per year.

All of the contracts, and a licensing agreement and labor standards agreements with Nike, are available at goheels.com.

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