South Carolina Approves $175,000 Base Salary for New Head Swim Coach Poppell

The University of South Carolina Board of Trustees has approved the contract terms of new head swimming & diving coach Jeff Poppell, who was announced for the role last week.

The top-line numbers are a 5-year contract through the 2025-2026 season with an annual guaranteed salary of $175,000, plus bonuses and either an automobile or a $400 per month automobile stipend.

That marks an increase from what he was being paid as the women’s team head coach at the University of Florida, where he earned a base salary of $155,000 per year.

Poppell’s new salary at South Carolina is a substantial raise over what his predecessor, McGee Moody, was making – just $130,000 according to public records.

The contract also has several bonuses baked in. Poppell can earn all three of these bonuses:

• National Coach of the Year: 10% of base salary ($17,500)
• SEC Coach of the Year:  5% of base salary ($8,750)
• NCAA Individual or Relay Team Champion:  5% of base salary per NCAA individual champion or relay team champion, not to exceed a maximum of $12,000

And a maximum of one of these each season (with men and women combined counting as one team, so he can’t collect for both men and women):

• SEC Champion: 25% of base salary ($43,750)
• SEC Coach of the Year: 5% of base salary ($8,750)
• Team Invited to NCAA Championship (minimum of 4 student-athletes from the Team invited): 6% of base salary ($10,500)
• Team Invited to NCAA Championship (minimum of 6 student-athletes from the Team invited): 8% of base salary ($14,000)
• NCAA Team Championship: 35% of base salary ($61,250)
• Team Ranked in Top 5 of NCAA Final Ranking: 25% of base salary ($43,750)
• Team ranked in Top 6-10 of NCAA Final Ranking: 20% of base salary ($35,000)
• Team ranked in Top 11-15 of NCAA Final Ranking: 15% of base salary ($26,250)
• Team Ranked in Top 16-25 of NCAA Final Ranking: 8% of base salary ($14,000)

Poppell is also being given additional incentives in the first two years of his contract for a rapid turnaround for the Gamecocks, who were at the bottom of the conference in 2021. He can collect one of the following bonuses too:

• Top 8 SEC Men’s Team Finish: 2% of base salary ($3,500)
• Top 6 SEC Men’s Team Finish: 4% of base salary ($7,000)
• Top 4 SEC Men’s Team Finish: 6% of base salary ($10,500)
• Top 9 SEC Women’s Team Finish: 2% of base salary ($3,500)
• Top 6 SEC Women’s Team Finish: 4% of base salary ($7,000)
• Top 4 SEC Women’s Team Finish: 6% of base salary ($10,500)

The South Carolina women finished 11th out of 12 teams at the 2021 SEC Championship meet with 276 points. Auburn placed 9th with 510 points. On the men’s side, the South Carolina men, who had a short-handed roster because of COVID, placed 10th with 232 points. Auburn was again the target at 8th with 671 points.

The Florida women, led by Poppell, finished 2nd at the SEC Championships in 2021 with 1,071 points.