LOGAN — According to reports from CBS and The Field of 68, Utah State men’s basketball head coach Jerrod Calhoun will remain with the Aggies and will sign a new contract that will make Calhoun the second-highest paid coach in the Mountain West. The new deal with USU comes after Calhoun reportedly interviewed with West Virginia for its coaching vacancy and being the reported front-runner for the job.
This past season, Calhoun led the Aggies to a 26-8 record, a third-place finish in the Mountain West (after being predicted sixth in the preseason poll) and to their third straight 26-win season and a third consecutive appearance in the NCAA Tournament. That wound up making Calhoun a possible target for high-major schools with bigger budgets, namely West Virginia, a program with which Calhoun has significant ties. He spent six years with West Virginia as an assistant coach under its long-time head coach Bob Huggins. The Mountaineers made runs to the Sweet 16 and Final Four while Calhoun was an assistant and this year he has repeatedly referenced those successes as valuable experiences that have helped him as a head coach with Utah State.
Online rumors raged late last week and into Monday, with many West Virginia and national outlets claiming Calhoun was the top choice for the Mountaineers. Those have now been quashed as Utah State will have a second-year coach for the first time since 2022.
The move has not yet been made official by Utah State.
Details of the new contract for Calhoun have not been publicly released, though Cache Valley Daily has submitted a records request with the university. The initial details were reported by USU radio play-by-play voice Scott Garrard, which describe the deal as an extension in the years of Calhoun’s contract (which runs through the end of the 2028-29 season), but a raise that would make Calhoun the second-highest paid coach in the conference. San Diego State’s Brian Dutcher is currently the highest paid head coach, with a 2024-25 salary of $2.3 million. At the time of Garrard’s reporting, Niko Medved was the second-highest paid coach in the Mountain West at $1.7 million. Medved has since been hired as the head coach at Minnesota, but the reference gives a range in which Calhoun’s new salary lies. Nevada’s Steve Alford made $1.3 million this past season.
Calhoun’s salary with Utah State prior to this deal was $925,000 with a total of $900,000 allotted for assistant coaches and basketball operations.
At multiple points throughout the year, Calhoun has referenced his contract opportunities, noting that an extension had been discussed in December. Calhoun seemingly reference the addendum reported by Garrard after Utah State’s loss to UCLA, calling it a “tremendous opportunity.” He also spoke about the growth of USU’s basketball program, in particular its NIL funds, which Calhoun is now putting his faith in.
“One thing that has changed is the NIL,” Calhoun said last Thursday. “You’re looking at Big Ten teams now upwards of nine, 10 million dollars. You’re looking at the SEC spending between five and eight and 10 million dollars for rosters. So I think one thing that we’ve done a tremendous job of, and if Diana was not the athletic director and our staff and Nick (Eliason) and Eric Laub and the support we have, we wouldn’t make those jumps and those gains in NIL.”
