Okay, so I’ve been digging into this whole Bradley basketball coach salary thing. It’s a bit of a rabbit hole, but here’s what I found out.
First off, I started by just poking around online, you know, the usual Google search. I found out that the current head coach for the Bradley Braves is this guy Brian Wardle. Apparently, he’s been there since 2015, which is a pretty good stretch. Then I checked some news articles and saw that he got a contract extension in 2023, keeping him there for a while longer.
- I read that Wardle got a raise in his contract extension.
- They mentioned he’s making good money, but they weren’t super specific.
- Found an old article talking about a previous coach, Jim Les, who was making around $305,000 back in 2011. That’s some serious cash!
Then, I tried to find more specific numbers. I stumbled upon some official documents, like the university’s Form 990. That’s where they list the big earners.
The Real Deal
According to that form, in 2021, the president of the university was pulling in about $332,576. But guess what? Coach Wardle was the top earner, raking in a whopping $821,083! Yeah, you read that right, over 800 grand! That’s way more than I expected, but then again it must be nice to have such income!
I also compared that to some other coaches I read about. Like, this other coach, Calipari, he was making $8.5 million at Kentucky! But his new base salary at Arkansas is around $7 million, which is still insane. These guys are making bank!
So, yeah, that’s my deep dive into the Bradley basketball coach’s salary. It’s a lot more than I thought, but it seems like that’s just how it goes in the world of college sports. It’s wild to think about all the money involved, but hey, good for them, right?
Anyway, that is what I did today, checked a bunch of stuff. Hope you guys find this as interesting as I did!
