Carla Williams, the athletics director at the University of Virginia, still hasn’t signed an extension or a new contract that would tether her to the school beyond May 31, 2025.
I learned this Tuesday morning, after the UVA FOIA office got back to me in a record-setting manner.
I’d just filed the latest Freedom of Information Act request for a copy of her current employment contract on Monday afternoon.
I’m appreciative of the quick response.
Williams, who was hired for the AD job at UVA in 2017, is still working under the terms of the extension that she signed on May 27, 2021, which pays her $590,000 a year in base salary, $350,000 a year in supplemental compensation, and $150,000 a year in deferred compensation, for a total annual pay package of $1.09 million.
The contract spells out that Williams was due to meet with University of Virginia President Jim Ryan “for the purpose of discussing renewal or nonrenewal of this Agreement no later than six (6) months before the expiration of the Term.”
The deadline for that meeting to have occurred was Nov. 30, so, this past weekend, the day of the UVA-Virginia Tech football game.
ICYMI
- UVA Athletics: Carla Williams still hasn’t signed a contract extension, despite rumors
- UVA Athletics: Stuck in neutral waiting for clarity on Carla Williams
- UVA Basketball: Why Carla Williams is intent on a national search for a new coach
- UVA Football: The empty seats in Scott Stadium are a Carla Williams problem
The uncertainty around Williams’s status is a cloud hanging over UVA Athletics, with the men’s basketball program currently being run by an interim coach, Ron Sanchez, following the surprise October retirement of 15-year head coach Tony Bennett, and the football program very much being in flux.
Head coach Tony Elliott just wrapped his third season with the Cavaliers losing six of their final seven games to finish with a 5-7 record, and in three seasons at the helm, Elliott is 11-23.
Each of the last three UVA head coaches with similar three-year runs – Don Lawrence (11-22 from 1971-1973), Dick Bestwick (11-22 from 1979-1981) and Mike London (11-25 from 2013-2015) – were fired after the third year of those stretches.
Lawrence was 4-7 in his final season, in 1973. Bestwick was 1-10 in 1981, but would be credited later for recruiting players who would form the foundation of the early success in the George Welsh era.
London was 4-8 in 2015, after a 5-7 record in 2014 that included several near-misses.
Elliott, heading into the 2025 season, will need to restock a program that had 20 seniors and 23 grad students on the 2024 roster, and is set to lose the sophomore starting QB, Anthony Colandrea, who announced on Sunday that he will be entering the transfer portal next week.
The timing for making a move with Elliott, which would have to be wrapped with a new coach in place in the next couple of weeks, is complicated by the lack of certainty surrounding Williams and her future with the department.
It’s further complicated by the coach-friendly contract negotiated by Williams that entitles Elliott to the full value of the remaining money on his deal, which runs through May 31, 2028, with $14.4 million still due to him if he were to be let go at this point.
Williams, meanwhile, is leading a search for a full-time replacement for Bennett that she announced would begin after the long-time basketball coach stepped down on Oct. 18, with Sanchez, Bennett’s top assistant dating back to their days together at Washington State, ostensibly among the top candidates.
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Chris Graham
