Mike Scully – Managing Director at Baycrest Consultants Helps Colleges Turn Coach Salaries into Long-Term Assets

Fort Myers, FL

Baycrest Consultants Program Lets Colleges Turn Coach Salaries into Long-Term Assets  

By Mike Scully – Managing Director at Baycrest Consultants

Faced with ever rising coaching salaries and tightening athletic budgets, university sports departments are exploring new ways to manage compensation costs without sacrificing their competitive edge. Baycrest Consultants, a Fort Myers-based consultant firm, have unveiled the Endless Money Loop, a proprietary strategy designed to convert deferred portions of coach pay into growth assets for the athletic department.

“If you think of coach compensation purely as an expense, you’re missing an opportunity,” says Mike Scully, Managing Director with Baycrest. “The Endless Money Loop allows an employee to recharacterize a portion of their salary or bonus into a loan.  Because it is a loan and the loan eventually gets repaid, the athletic department has turned an expense into a future asset.  

How It Works  

Under the Endless Money Loop, a coach agrees to defer part of their guaranteed salary or incentive bonus. That deferred amount is treated as a loan from the university to the coach, avoiding immediate income tax. The athletic department then uses those dollars to purchase and fund a split dollar life insurance policy on the coach. The death benefit is split between the coach and the athletic department.  Because cash value within such policies grows on a tax-deferred basis, the department builds an asset over time rather than simply incurring another line-item expense.

Coaches gain access to a portion of the policy’s cash value—tax-free—after just 90 days. They can tap the funds for personal liquidity or allow them to accumulate for retirement planning. Meanwhile, the university stands to recoup its full investment after roughly 15 years or upon the coach’s passing, at which point the policy’s death benefit settles back to the institution’s balance sheet.

Benefits and Impacts  

Proponents say the Endless Money Loop offers a classic win-win. Coaches reduce their taxable income in high-earning years while preserving take-home pay and optional liquidity. Athletic departments transform deferred payroll charges into a financial asset, potentially boosting net revenues and offsetting excise taxes on high-paid employees. Early adopters also hope it will enhance recruitment and retention, positioning their institutions more favorably in the so-called “arms race” for top coaching talent.  

“Athletic directors are under enormous pressure to keep pace with escalating compensation packages,” notes Dr. Ellen Chang, a sports finance researcher at Midwest State University. “If this method proves reliable, it could reshape how colleges budget for marquee hires.”

Baycrest officials acknowledge the need for tailored analysis but stress that the Endless Money Loop design includes built-in safeguards—such as guaranteed minimum interest credits and flexible loan terms—to protect both coach and the school. They estimate that a typical Power Five department deferring 20% of a $4 million coach’s total compensation over 5 years could generate more than $4 million in net asset value over 15 years.  

As collegiate athletics grapples with ballooning budgets and revenue uncertainties, innovative structures like the Endless Money Loop may offer one path toward sustainable growth. For now, schools in the plan are weighing the promise of a more strategic—and potentially lucrative—approach to paying their marquee personnel.  If you’d like to help your university keep up in the financial arms race of intercollegiate athletics, contact us for a free consultation at mscully@baycrestconsultants.com.