Details on UGA coach's new deal after program's best season in more than 25 years

Georgia gave volleyball coach Tom Black a boost in pay when it extended his contract last month after the program made its deepest postseason run in more than a quarter of a century.

Black’s annual salary rose $10,000 to $235,000 annually, according to information obtained by the Athens Banner-Herald in an open records request, and his contract was extended through 2027.

Black was named the SEC Coach of the Year in 2022. The Bulldogs went 23-8 this past fall, reaching the NCAA tournament second round for the first time in 27 years.

“His teams have achieved remarkable success, and we are excited to watch this program continue to excel under his leadership,” athletic director Josh Brooks said.

In a 2021 salary survey by the American Volleyball Coaches Association, the average base salary for seven SEC women’s volleyball head coaches was $212,857. Those coaches were not named.

In Black’s sixth season at Georgia, the program set a program record with 13 SEC wins and its best finish in the league — third — since 1995. The Bulldogs also reached the NCAA tournament under Black in 2019, but then came COVID.

“We had to do a rebuild of a rebuild which I’ve never been a part of before,” Black said before the NCAA tournament. “It was a really turbulent year and a half.”

Black came to Georgia after going 242-115 at Loyola Marymount and Division II UC San Diego with hopes of building a nationally elite program.

Georgia went 32-80 in the SEC in the six seasons before Black was hired.

“The thing that resonates with me is this school means so much for the whole state,” Black said. “I do believe in my core that we’re going to continue to build this, and I believe we can be as good as anywhere. When that day comes, it’s going to be real exciting.”

Georgia associate head coach Felicia Turner was hired as UNC-Greensboro’s head coach in December.

Erin Johnson, who played on an Illinois team that reached the NCAA championship match in 2011, was hired to the staff last month, joining assistant Aaron Benning. Johnson was an assistant on the UC Irvine men’s volleyball program.