CHICAGO –Late last month, DePaul announced a contract extension for men's basketball head coach Chris Holtmann . The deal will keep him with the Blue Demons through the 2030-31 season, but he confirmed it included an interesting wrinkle.
Holtmann took less money in his new contract, he confirmed to a group of reporters Tuesday at DePaul's media day. Those funds will instead go toward the Blue Demons' NIL efforts as they navigate the new college athletics landscape. Because DePaul is a private university, Holtmann's salary details are not publicly available.
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Conversations began shortly after last season between Holtmann and DePaul athletics director DeWayne Peevyabout a contract extension. They, effectively, had an agreement in place before it went through the process to become official, Holtmann said.
But over the summer, Holtmann went to Peevy and pitched the idea of taking some of that salary and instead putting it toward the roster. He cited DePaul's position in the ever-changing landscape, as well as how its NIL standing has shifted.
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"We're on board. We're in this thing together," Holtmann said. "We thought about it. It was a chunk. I think it was our way of saying this is such a different world we're in right now. We're a private school. I appreciate the fact that we're still climbing the ladder when it comes to this NIL thing.
"We're not, I don't think, where anybody wants to be, but we're still climbing the ladder. But the efforts that have been put in have been appreciated, and this is a tangible way for me to say, 'Hey, we're in this thing together and let's try to move it forward.'"
Holtmann isn't the first sitting head coach to divert money toward NIL. Florida State head football coach Mike Norvell agreed to a one-year restructured contract in December 2024 that included a $4.5 million contribution to revenue-sharing. Former Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy also accepted a $1 million pay cut as part of a restructured contract that same month.
Those coaches, however, were facing hot-seat pressure. Holtmann, entering Year 3 at DePaul, is not. The Blue Demons improved from a 4-16 record in Big East play in his first season in 2024-25 to 8-12 last year.
All told, Holtmann is 30-36 in two seasons with a 12-28 mark in conference play. The Blue Demons are looking to take another step forward this season with a number of fresh faces on the roster. Some of them took notice of how Holtmann approached his extension.
"That's big-time, especially in this age of NIL and everything," said senior guard Koree Cotton , a transfer from VMI . "If you want to have a shot in this type of league, you have to have the resources. I feel like Coach Holtmann is a great guy for doing that."
The NIL era arrived in college sports in 2021, while Chris Holtmann was at Ohio State . He was let go during the 2023-24 season, and on the day the transfer portal window opened in March 2024, DePaul introduced him as its next head coach.
From there, Holtmann and DeWayne Peevy built a connection and have worked closely to build DePaul's NIL standing. They're in constant communication, Holtmann said, and he called it a team effort while navigating the modern world.
"He's been such a partner in this, which has been very rewarding for me and [a] different experience for me," Holtmann said of Peevy. "That means so much to have somebody who's a partner in this with you.
"He's really in tune with what's going on around the NIL space, and he knows that we've got to keep growing. … This is a collaborative thing right now, when you're talking about everything that's going on in the NIL space."
Now, Holtmann also has stability with the contract extension in place and officially announced. As for his salary, he considers that decision about his salary as a way to, in a way, put his money where his mouth is.
"It's one thing for a coach to say, hey, listen, we're all in this together. I'm going to go have fundraising meals, sit down with donors, and attend the events," Holtmann said. "It's another thing to say, hey, I'm going to forfeit some of my salary that was already committed. It's completely different. I wanted to be as demonstrative, in terms of my actions, that I could be to show that we're in this together."
