Arizona has proposed a three-year contract extension for athletic director Desireé Reed-Francois that does not offer additional raises beyond those already scheduled but does include accelerated retention bonuses and extra performance incentives.
Under the terms of her initial contract approved after her 2024 hiring, Reed-Francois is earning $1.35 million in 2026-27, including $250,000 from the UA Foundation, and has been receiving $50,000 annual escalators.
The “first amendment” to Reed-Francois' contract will carry her through March 3, 2032, if approved by the Arizona Board of Regents in a meeting Thursday in Flagstaff.
Reed-Francois was scheduled to earn $1.4 million in 2027-28, and will remain at that level if the new deal is approved. However, the new deal will extend the $50,000 annual escalators, pushing her to $1.6 million in 2031-32.
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The Arizona Board of Regents unanimously approved a three-year contract extension Thursday Desireé Reed-Francois, the University of Arizona's athletic director.
Additionally, the new deal would give Reed-Francois 50% vesting in an $800,000 retention bonus if she is still at UA on March 15, 2027, while the extra 50% would be vested on July 1, 2027. Reed-Francois’ initial deal called for the entire $800,000 to vest on Feb. 1, 2028.
Similarly, an extra retention bonus of $200,000 that was initially scheduled to vest on Feb. 1, 2029, would be fully vested instead on July 1, 2028 under the newly proposed deal.
Meanwhile, the new deal more firmly ties both sides together financially. While Reed-Francois' initial buyout was $1 million, it was scheduled to be reduced to just $250,000 for the 2027-28 year, but under the new deal would be $800,000 for that period, drop to $500,000 in 2028-29, and reduce to just $125,000 by 2030-31.
In turn, UA would owe Reed-Francois more base salary (her compensation less the $250,000 annual UA Foundation pay) if the school fired her without cause. Those terms did not change: If UA dismisses her without cause, UA is required to pay Reed-Francois all base salary owed through the end of the contract plus any incentives earned to the date of her departure.
The new proposal caps Reed-Francois’ performance bonuses at $250,000, but adds the potential to earn up to $10,000 per team for those other than football, men’s basketball, women’s basketball, baseball or softball that appear in the NCAA postseason. She already was scheduled to earn $50,000 for a national title or $25,000 for a top eight finish by any of what UA called “emerging sports” teams.
Reed-Francois can also earn a $10,000 bonus if UA wins the Big 12 Commissioner’s Cup during any athletic year under the new deal. UA won the 2025-26 Commissioner’s Cup, which uses a points system to rate a school’s athletic and academic success.
Her intact performance bonuses include $50,000 for a football bowl game appearance (or $125,000 if in the College Football Playoff) and $125,000 per team for any appearances by men’s basketball, women’s basketball, baseball or softball teams in a national championship game.
In its proposal to the Arizona Board of Regents, UA cited successes by the men’s basketball, football, baseball and men’s tennis and golf programs, as well as the Big 12 Commissioner Cup award in 2025-26 and the “record revenue, fundraising and academic outcomes” during Reed-Francois’ term so far.
According to UA, its athletic department is now operating with a balanced budget after carrying a deficit of $39 million when Reed-Francois was hired.
“The athletic department has increased outreach and strategic investment and expanded revenue generation in a manner that has significantly strengthened the department's long-term financial position while adapting to the evolving landscape of college athletics,” UA said in its proposal to the Regents.
Among other moves, Reed-Francois created and serves on the Board of Directors for Arizona Sports Enterprises, which secured and privately holds contracts that include a $60 million, 20-year naming rights deal for its football stadium.
