116 3rd St SE
Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52401
Home / Sports / Iowa Hawkeyes Sports / Iowa Football
Former Iowa football strength coach Chris Doyle to receive over $200,000 in benefits
John Steppe
Jun. 19, 2020 9:29 am, Updated: Jun. 19, 2020 2:32 pm
Former Iowa Hawkeyes strength and conditioning coach Chris Doyle is set to receive another $211,344.49 in benefits from the University of Iowa, information obtained by The Gazette through public record requests shows.
This is in addition to the $1.1 million buyout from a separation agreement reported earlier, bumping the total cost of his departure to over $1.3 million for the UI.
Doyle and the UI agreed to the separation deal this week. He has been on paid leave while the UI investigated allegations of him bullying black football players.
As part of the deal, Doyle received 15 months of his salary, 15 months of health insurance for his family and compensation for any leftover vacation time. In exchange, Doyle agreed to voluntarily resign and not sue the UI.
While Doyle's contract appeared to allow the UI to cancel its renewal with three months of pay instead of 15, a sports law expert told The Gazette a lawsuit 'could embarrass both sides” through open discovery.
Doyle had 480 hours of leftover vacation time from his 21 years with the Hawkeyes. He will receive compensation for that time at the rate of about $384.62 an hour - his most recent annual salary - resulting in a total of $184,615.39.
His family will receive UI health insurance for the next 15 months, which the UI estimated to cost $26,729.10.
Doyle also accumulated 2,714.43 hours of sick time - almost 68 weeks or more than $1 million in salary - while at Iowa, but he will not receive any compensation for that.
Doyle needed to be at least 55 years old to receive compensation for sick pay. He's 51. UI policy says he would've only been able to receive $2,000 of the sick leave, though.
These costs will come out of the UI athletic department's budget, spokesperson Steve Roe said. The athletic department operates on a self-sufficient budget, so taxpayer money will not go to covering these costs.
Comments: (319) 398-8394; john.steppe@thegazette.com
Strength and conditioning coach Chris Doyle speaks to reporters Aug. 9, 2019, during a University of Iowa Football Media Day in Iowa City. (The Gazette)