Since Liberty is a private entity, the school does not have to publicly release information and is not subject to FOIA laws as other schools are. Because of this, salary information of coaches is never released, and we can only go off public tax documents.
Liberty’s tax documents for the tax year beginning July 1, 2017 and ending June 30, 2018, were just recently published. Included within these tax documents is compensation information for several key university employees as well as a handful of athletic employees.
Liberty Athletic Director Ian McCaw had base compensation of $458,279 with other reportable compensation of $17,797, retirement and other deferred compensation of $22,500, and nontaxable benefits of $27,197 for a total of $525,773.
Former Liberty head football coach Turner Gill had base compensation of $739,126 with bonus & incentive compensation of $16,000, retirement and other deferred compensation of $24,000, and nontaxable benefits of $29,946 for a total of $809,072.
Liberty head basketball coach Ritchie McKay had base compensation of $564,194 with bonus & incentive compensation of $25,000, retirement and other deferred compensation of $22,137, and nontaxable benefits of $29,102 for a total of $640,433.
Liberty women’s head basketball coach Carey Green had base compensation of $243,906 with bonus & incentive compensation of $15,000, retirement and other deferred compensation of $11,844, and nontaxable benefits of $21,392 for a total of $292,142.
Former Liberty Athletic Director Jeff Barber had base compensation of $321,350 with retirement and other deferred compensation of $15,583 and nontaxable benefits of $22,711 for a total of $359,644.
McCaw was hired in late November 2016 shortly after Barber had resigned.
McKay and Liberty agreed to a multi-year contract extension through the 2024-25 season in April 2019 after he led the team to a program record 29 wins and the first ever NCAA Tournament win a year ago, and again had a contract extension signed following the 2020 season.
Gill retired in December 2018 and Hugh Freeze was hired shortly thereafter. Following his first season at Liberty, when he guided the Flames to an 8-5 record and the program’s first ever bowl game appearance and win, Freeze was awarded with a five year contract extension that reportedly makes him among the highest paid coaches in the Group of Five at an average of $2 million per year.
