Sign of the times: FSU’s Mike Norvell giving back $4.5 million in salary ahead of athlete revenue share era

Florida State head coach Mike Norvell is giving back big time.

Norvell is contributing $4.5 million of his salary this year to the university in a one-year restructured contract, sources tell Yahoo Sports — the third such public move from a college football coach in the last two weeks.

The contribution is part of the school’s new Vision of Excellence campaign intended to raise money as schools gear up to share revenue directly with athletes under the new House settlement agreement. The settlement permits each school in Division I to share at least $20.5 million with their athletes starting on July 1.

As a response to the settlement, coaches are forking over portions of their multi-million dollar salaries. Norvell, who drew interest during Alabama’s head coaching search, received a new contract in the spring that nearly doubled his salary to $9.9 million. By the end of the contract in 2031, the coach will make nearly $11 million annually.

LSU and coach Brian Kelly announced last week that he’d be matching donations to LSU’s collective of up to $1 million — a roundabout way to take a pay reduction in order to contribute to his team’s roster. In Stillwater, Okla., Oklahoma State reduced coach Mike Gundy’s salary to direct it to the athlete revenue-sharing efforts.

Starting last month with the basketball signing period and continuing during the football signing period in December, some schools have already started to distribute revenue-sharing agreements to high school prospects or college transfers that kick in once the settlement is implemented in July.

Other schools are handling this transition period — from NIL collective to direct school pay — differently. Their collectives are still striking deals with athletes. Those deals are then assigned to the university once the settlement is implemented in July. All of these contracts are contingent on the settlement’s final approval in April.

Schools, for years using football profits to subsidize non-revenue producing Olympic sports, gaudy facilities projects and multi-million-dollar coaching contracts, are furiously scrambling for cash to pay athletes in a competitive recruiting environment. Even some of the most lucrative and valuable football brands find themselves in a money-crunching position.

They’ve committed millions of dollars to coaching and staff salaries, must continue to operate dozens of money-losing sports programs to adhere to Title IX and find themselves, in some cases, with annual eight-figure debt service fees for facilities projects.

Administrators are working to uncover new revenue streams, some of them even seeking private-equity dollars and others striking naming rights and sponsorship deals.