When Southern Methodist University athletic director Rick Hart hired Andy Enfield as the school’s new men’s basketball coach in April 2024, he called him a “game changer.”
Though results have yet to match that billing, Enfield’s paycheck has.
According to SMU’s latest tax filing, Enfield received $7.54 million in total compensation during the calendar year 2024, after joining the private university that April. The figure, which has not been previously reported, made Enfield one of the highest-paid coaches in college basketball after coming off a disappointing, sub-.500 campaign at USC.
The school’s return breaks down his compensation into $370,139 in base pay, $3.45 million in bonus and incentive compensation, and $3.72 million in “other reportable compensation.”
SMU went 24-11 in Enfield’s first season, reaching the second round of the NIT, before finishing 20-14 last season and losing in the NCAA Tournament’s First Four. The results have drawn mounting criticism from fans and calls for his dismissal, after his predecessor Rob Lanier’s tenure was cut short after two seasons.
In addition to the costs associated with Enfield’s hire, SMU’s return shows the school paid a $4.27 million buyout to Lanier. Combined, the Mustangs spent roughly $12.2 million on head men’s basketball coaches in 2024—approximately $510,000 for each of the wins SMU recorded in Enfield’s inaugural campaign.
An SMU spokesperson declined to comment and Enfield’s agent did not respond to an email inquiry.
Enfield is hoping to turn things around in Year 3, after the departures of 10 players and his entire starting lineup from last season, though outside expectations are tempered.
Under IRS reporting rules, nonprofits generally disclose compensation for the calendar year in which their fiscal year begins. As a result, SMU’s most recent IRS Form 990, covering fiscal 2025, likely captures only the nine months Enfield worked for the university in 2024. Though the return explicitly says how much SMU paid to buy out Lanier, it does not specify what portion, if any, went to Enfield’s separation payment for USC. That burden reportedly dropped from $5 million to $2 million on the day Enfield officially accepted the SMU job.
On its own, the $7.54 compensation million figure would place Enfield fourth in USA Today’s current college basketball coaching salary rankings, though his current annual earnings could be substantially lower. A clearer picture of his pay will emerge when SMU files its next tax return, which will disclose his 2025 remuneration.
Enfield, who rose to national fame in 2013 as the coach of the “Dunk City” Florida Gulf Coast team, arrived at SMU after an 11-year term at USC. He guided the Trojans to five NCAA Tournaments and an Elite Eight bid in 2021. The 2023-24 season, Enfield’s final one in Los Angeles, arguably turned out to be his most disappointing. USC entered the campaign ranked No. 21 in the AP preseason poll, with high-profile freshmen Bronny James and Isaiah Collier drawing considerable hype. However, James suffered cardiac arrest during a preseason summer workout, causing him to miss USC’s first eight contests. He ultimately played in 25 games, averaging 4.8 points, as USC finished with a losing record and tied for ninth in the Pac-12.
USC paid Enfield $4.3 million in 2023, according to its tax filings, and he was due a $300,000 retention bonus had he stayed through 2024. Instead, he headed east.
Just days after Enfield departed for Dallas, the Trojans hired former Arkansas coach Eric Musselman, paying him $5.81 million in 2024, according to USC’s most recent tax filing. That amount included covering Musselman’s $2.5 million buyout with the Razorbacks.
Since taking over for Enfield, Musselman hasn’t fared much better, posting records of 17-18 and 18-14 and failing to make the NCAA tournament in his first two seasons at the helm.
Meanwhile, Enfield in March hired his former USC assistant, Jason Hart, from Kentucky to serve as SMU’s associate head coach. Earlier this month, Enfield landed his first Class of 2027 commitment in Malik Olajuwon, the son of former Houston Rockets star and Hall of Famer Hakeem Olajuwon.