Matt Painter vs Dan Hurley – Salary Comparison, NCAA Careers and 2024 March Madness Journeys

All the players are fired up for the final game of the season, with their head coaches, Matt Painter and Dan Hurley, standing in anticipation on the sidelines. Leading the Boilermakers through the Final Four, Matt Painter is now in the process of creating history, but that will be justified only once they win this game. And if they do, it will also be their first.

Meanwhile, the Huskies have been here before, and this win can make them back-to-back champions of the national title. With stakes this high, let’s hammer out some details about the two coaches with the game only a few hours away.

How much do Matt Painter and Dan Hurley get paid?

According to USA Today, Matt Painter gets a total salary of $3,580,000, besides a maximum bonus of $854,425. For 2023, Painter’s school pay included monthly supplemental retirement contributions, bearing a total cost of $300,000. This bonus amount will be given to Painter when the team makes it through the Elite 8 in the NCAA Tournament. Notably, the bonus amount has been determined by the university president, with further consultation from the director of athletics.

Moving on to 2024, Painter’s total pay will see an increase, reaching $3,680,000 this year. Moreover, the same amount of maximum bonus is to be received by Painter, given the team must get through the round of eight in the NCAA Tournament.

This brings us to Dan Hurley’s total pay of $5,000,000 and a maximum bonus of $2,000,000. In terms of salary, Hurley ranks at #7 on the NCAA’s men’s head coaches salaries list, while Painter’s salary has positioned him at #24 on the list. After winning last year’s championship, Hurley agreed to a six-year deal worth $32.1 million.

This contract will last until 2029 and has been paying Hurley an average of $5.35 million per season. Additionally, the effects of this contract replaced the previous package signed by Hurley at the time he was hired by the institution in 2018.

Hurley and Painter’s NCAA careers

A fan of the Indiana Hoosiers, Matt Painter always dreamt of playing for the legendary coach Bobby Knight, aka ‘The General’; however, he never got that chance. He played for four seasons as the Boilermakers point guard from 1989 to 1993. It was something god had planned for him as he received distinguished guidance from Purdue’s former head coach, Gene Keady.

With Painter present on the roster, the team made 3 NCAA Tournament appearances and one in the NIT. Starting 50 out of 109 games, Painter’s contribution led the Boilermakers to an overall record of 75-45 in his collegiate career. He was made the team’s captain in his senior season and was named the All-Big Ten honorable mention, finishing his college basketball career and garnering a total of 109 points, with a career average of 4.5 points, 1.7 rebounds, and 2.5 assists per game.

On the other hand, Dan Hurley’s college basketball journey started in 1991, when he played as a point guard at Seton Hall, which ironically has been UConn’s biggest rival in the Big East Conference to date. For three seasons, Hurley played under the guidance of the then-head coach, P.J. Carlesimo. As a freshman, Hurley and the Pirates made it to the Sweet 16, until they lost to Duke in the 1992 NCAA national title tournament run.

READ MORE: Is UConn No. 20 Coach Dan Hurley’s Son? Explore the Basketball Family of 51 YO NCAA Legend

In the four years and an additional redshirt year at Seton Hall, Hurley amassed a career total of 125 points and his senior season’s average of 14.3 points, 2.7 rebounds, and 5.2 assists per game, while he shot with 39.1% from the field.

Their journey in the 2024 March Madness

The Boilermakers had a dominant season with Zach Edey’s presence and Painter’s strategic techniques. One by one they kept knocking down their opponents and garnering amazing scores on the side. Painter, in his 19-season career at Purdue, has seen very highs and lows, with the team’s 2019 Elite 8 being the last closest appearance in the tournament. But the victory was shortlived, as they were defeated by Virginia and faced an 80-75 OT Final Four loss.

Posing a strong defense, Purdue took over, the Grambling Tigers (78-50), Utah State (106-67), Gonzaga (80-68), Tennessee (72-66), and NC State (63-50), and has reached the last obstacle in their way of winning their first championship title. According to ESPN, Painter does have some thoughts about the upcoming opponent, “What they do a great job of is when blood is in the water. When you show weakness or you turn your back on pressure, you dribble in place, you leave your feet, you don’t play on two feet, those guys are the best in the business. They will make you pay. … That’s our challenge, is (to) handle pressure, take care of the basketball, make good decisions. They’ll get into you. They’re solid. But they’re just waiting for you to do something stupid. Don’t do something stupid.”

“They understand what we’re up against. They understand we haven’t played anybody like UConn. They’re not fools. We have cable where we’re from. We’re very familiar,” Painter added.

Looking at Dan Hurley’s March Madness run, his sharp and brutal notches led UConn to smash its opponents straight from the first round till the Final Four, namely Stetson with a 91-52, handing Northwestern a 75-58 second-round defeat. Then, the Huskies showed San Diego their way out of the tournament with an 82-52 Sweet 16 win. Moving up, the Huskies grabbed a 77-52 Elite 8 victory, advancing to an 86-72 Final Four win over Alabama. Now, both coaches are one step away from the national title. Game, set, match!