U of A donors on hook for up to $12.8 million between AD transition, new Tommy Lloyd deal

UA’s proposed deals for new athletic director Desireé Reed-Francois and Lloyd, which were posted to the Regents’ website late Tuesday, said donors will pay fully for the cumulative $6 million in extra compensation for Lloyd over the next five seasons while also supplementing Reed-Francois’ annual salary by $1.25 million over the course of her five-year deal.

UA also said donors will also cover up to $1 million in retention bonuses to Reed-Francois and up to $1.5 million of her reported $2.5 million buyout at Missouri although it said she is to “undertake best efforts to reduce or eliminate” that buyout.

“If any financial buyout is still owed following Reed-Francois’ best efforts, UArizona agrees it will contribute up to $1.5 million toward any remaining buyout obligation of Reed-Francois to the University of Missouri,” UA said in its proposal to the Regents, who are scheduled to vote on the contract proposals at their meeting Thursday in Tempe.

UA also said its buyout to former AD Dave Heeke, which totals $1.05 for his full contracted salary through March 2025, will also be paid by donor funds, along with a $2.0 million retention bonus due to Lloyd if he stays through April 1, 2028.

In its proposals, UA referred to the donated money as “donor funds” or “donor-based funding” except for the $250,000 annual salary supplements to Reed-Francois, which UA said would come from the University of Arizona Foundation.

Not part of the UA athletic department, the UA Foundation is a non-profit organization that says its mission is “advancing the University of Arizona by building relationships, securing philanthropic support and stewarding assets.”

Among the other terms spelled out in UA’s proposals were seven-figure buyouts for both Reed-Francois and Lloyd if they were to leave soon after their new contracts are approved, along with yearly salary totals.

Lloyd is scheduled to receive $4.85 million next season plus $200,000 each from Nike and IMG, for a total guaranteed package of $5.25 million. He had been guaranteed $4.2 million under the terms of his current deal that was finalized in April 2022, after Lloyd was named a consensus national coach of the year.

In 2025-26 and 2026-27, Lloyd is scheduled to receive $5.1 million from UA, then $5.35 million in 2027-28 and $5.6 million in 2028-29.

Lloyd’s current deal went only through 2026-27, with $100,000 salary escalators every season, meaning he would receive an extra $1.05 million next season under the terms of the new contract. He will also receive an extra $2.3 million for the following two seasons — and an extra $2.65 million over the final two years over what Lloyd would have made if the terms of his current deal were extended.

Asked if donors’ share for the final two years was based on an extrapolation of Lloyd’s current deal, Robbins said “whatever the difference is from what he was getting now versus what he’s going to get over the five years is the money we raised.”

Robbins told the UA Faculty Senate in December that, of UA’s roughly $100 million athletic department budget, about $30 million is from philanthropy and contracts.

When asked if the use of donor money for the AD and Lloyd situations could take away from that $30 million, or if the total pie could grow bigger, Robbins indicated he had faith in Reed-Francois.

“I think the answer is that she’s gonna be able to grow the overall fundraising amount,” he said.