Could South Carolina's Dawn Staley be Retiring? A Comprehensive Guide

The South Carolina Gamecocks are fresh off of a national championship under head coach Dawn Staley this past season after defeating Caitlin Clark and the Iowa Hawkeyes. And Staley has been all buzz since.

Recently, South Carolina athletic director, Ray Tanner made headlines when asked about Dawn Staley’s contract status and future by The State. Tanner stated, “certainly we’ve had some conversations since the season ended – about her future too.”

Given these comments, some are speculating that a lifetime contract could be on the table for Staley. This would make sense as it would allow Staley to go out on her own terms.

How much does Dawn Staley make at South Carolina?

Currently, Staley’s salary is $3.1 million and is scheduled to increase to $3.5 million by 2027-2028. Despite Tanner’s comments about Staley’s salary, the comment about Staley’s future has some speculating and on edge about how long the coach will remain the head coach of the Gamecocks before deciding to hang it up.

While Staley has been in Columbia since she took over the program in 2008, it is also known that she does not want to coach into her 70’s like many others. Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski and North Carolina head coach Roy Williams each hung it up and were at least 70 years old.

So while you should not expect Staley to retired as soon as 2025, do not necessarily expect her to stay at the throne for the Gamecocks into her 70’s.

How does Dawn Staley rank among the top coaches in women’s college basketball?

Dawn Staley has a lifetime winning percentage 76,7% between her time with the Temple Owls and South Carolina Gamecocks. Even more impressive is during Staley’s time at power five South Carolina, her winning percentage is 80%.

Staley is also tied with Tara Vanderveer for fourth all-time amongst NCAA women’s college basketball coaches with three national championships. The only coaches that have more are LSU’s Kim Mulkey (4), former Tennessee Volunteers coach Pat Summit (8) and UConn’s Geno Auriemma (11). This past season, Staley also won the 2024 Naismith Award for Coach of the Year.

With little to prove still and presumably set financially at the age of 54 years old, I would expect Staley to maybe coach until she is 60 at the latest, but time will tell.