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The Louisiana Tech football team has reworked the contract of head coach Sonny Cumbie. In doing so, it will receive a bump in NIL funding which it hopes translates to on-field success.
Cumbie accepted a significant pay cut in signing his new deal. He’s paying players with his own money.
The coach has been with the program since 2022, taking over after Skip Holtz’s nine-year tenure. He’s been able to boost his team’s win total in each of the last two seasons.
The Bulldogs went 3-9 in both of his first two years on the sidelines. They won five games in 2024 before an eight-win campaign in ’25.
Cumbie is putting his money where his mouth is in order to continue the upward trajectory.
Sonny Cumbie took a pay cut.
The head coach signed an initial five-year deal worth $4.85 million. He was set to make $1 million in the 2026 season; the same salary received in each of the last two years.
Instead, he’ll make around $755,000 in the coming campaign.
Cumbie’s contract was set to expire in January of ’27. He signed a three-year extension this week to remain with the program through the foreseeable future.
The terms of that extension are intriguing. He’s agreed to a lower salary with the extra money being reallocated “toward programmatic causes, including player-enhanced benefits,” which is a long-winded way of saying they’re giving it to the players.”
We needed to figure out an opportunity to reset the contract. I appreciate what Sonny has done and his willingness to have that conversation. I think that says a lot about his character; his willingness to take a pay cut and create an opportunity to help reinvest — reallocate — those funds back into the program…
“In this day and age, some coaches aren’t willing to do that.”
-Louisiana Tech AD Ryan Ivey
This practice is becoming more common.
Louisiana Tech announces a new 3-year contract for coach Sonny Cumbie with a paycut, down to $760,000 annually. The $155,000 decrease will instead go to “programmatic causes, including player-enhanced benefits.”
Coming off an 8-5 season, his deal was set to expire next year.
— Chris Vannini (@ChrisVannini) February 5, 2026
About 15% of Sonny Cumbie’s salary will now go to his players and other pursuits to help build the Louisiana Tech football program.
It’s something that’s become increasingly popular in the world of NIL.
Mike Norvell gave $4.5 million back to Florida State in 2025 with a one-year contract restructure. Brent Venables took a $1 million pay cut last year in a similar deal.
Just this week, Scotty Walden of UTSA announced an $80,000 donation to support the Roadrunners. Cumbie is now the latest.
The Louisiana Tech football team is coming off its best season since 2019. It will pay its coach less money in the years to come. That’s the price of success in the sport’s new landscape.