"Long Beach State men’s basketball coach Dan Monson was fired on March 11 by the University after 17 seasons, but was allowed to coach the team’s remaining games in the Big West tournament. But after several upsets, Long Beach won the conference tournament, and was granted an automatic bid into the NCAA March Madness tournament.
So he’ll now coach in the tournament without getting paid.
“I couldn’t care less that I don’t have a job,” Monson told The Athletic. “I’m working for free. There’s nothing I’d rather do than coach in the NCAA Tournament. I bet if you asked every coach if he’d coach for free just to play in the tourney, they’d all say the same thing.”
Technically speaking, Monson, 62, isn’t working for free. Despite not having a job next year, Monson has already been paid for his work this season, and earned a $20,000 bonus for winning his conference, according to Sportico. He earned a base salary of $283,560 this season, and is eligible to earn an additional bonus (up to $250,000) depending on how many wins his team gets in the tournament.
Speaking of his salary this season, he earned quite a bit less than coaches at the powerhouse basketball schools."