Report: FSU HC Mike Norvell, WMU HC Tim Lester Take 25% Pay Cuts Amid COVID-19

Florida State coach Mike Norvell and Western Michigan coach Tim Lester are taking 25 percent pay cuts for the 2020 season, the highest among FBS coaches.

Brett McMurphy of Stadium reported Norvell took a cut to help out the Florida State athletic department, which is slashing its budget by 20 percent amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Norvell signed a six-year, $26.5 million contract with Florida State in December after a four-year stint at Memphis. Despite taking the 25 percent pay cut, Norvell will still rank among the highest-paid public employees in Florida.

Lester, who has been the coach at Western Michigan since 2017, makes $800,000 per season. He is under contract through the 2023 season.

The 2020 college football season is considered in significant jeopardy because of the coronavirus pandemic. The Big Ten and Pac-12 are already among the conferences to announce they will not be playing non-conference games in 2020, and both conferences left open the possibility of the season being canceled altogether.

"One thing we have to realize that this is not a fait accompli that we're gonna have sports in the fall," Big Ten commissioner Kevin Warren said last week on Big Ten Network. "We may not have sports in the fall. We may not have a college football season in the Big Ten."

College football is overwhelmingly the highest revenue-generating sport for universities, so a cancellation of the 2020 season would likely result in significant cuts across the nation.