A few years ago, the U.S. Soccer Federation made a concerted effort to close the pay gap between the men's and women's national team coaches. Though the global scales remain far apart, the women's unprecedented success made the case for greater balance.
Emma Hayes' hiring before the 2024 Olympics fulfilled that goal, putting her in the neighborhood of Gregg Berhalter's contract.
But when Berhalter was fired that summer and the USSF urgently turned to a high-profile coach for the2026 World Cupon home ground, the salary proportions reverted.
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According to theUSSF's most recent tax filing, posted this week, Mauricio Pochettino is making almost six times more than Hayes. Because both were hired months into 2024, the tax data does not show their salaries. Annualized, though, the numbers come out to $6,040,600 in base salary for Pochettino and $1,116,835 for Hayes.
Pochettino, whose contract runs through this summer's World Cup, is reportedly thethird-highest paid men's national team coach, behind England's Thomas Tuchel and Brazil's Carlo Ancelotti.
Not all the money covering Pochettino's salary is coming from the USSF's coffers, however. Hedge-fund billionaire Ken Griffin and other individuals and sponsors are helping bankroll the contract, though specific amounts have not been disclosed.
Hayes, whose deal runs through the 2027 World Cup, is believed to be the highest-paid women's national team coach in the sport. She earns more than twice her predecessor, Vlatko Andonovski.
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Because of Berhalter's firing and Pochettino's hiring, the non-profit USSF spent almost $7 million on men's head coaches in 2024.
Per the tax filing, Berhalter received almost $700,000 in base salary, $325,000 in unspecified "bonus and incentive compensation," plus about $750,000 in what's believed to be severance after being fired with two years left on his contract.
In his first national team job after guiding clubs such as Paris Saint-Germain, Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur, Pochettino made about $2.5 million in U.S. base salary for five months' work and received another $2.5 million in "bonus and incentive compensation" (believed to be a signing bonus).
Hayes made almost $750,000 in eight months of base salary, plus $725,000 in combined bonuses, incentives and other compensation. Within three months of taking the helm, Hayes guided the U.S. to the Olympic gold medal in Paris.
Twila Kilgore, interim head coach before Hayes' arrival and Olympic assistant, made almost $500,000 overall.
Proportionally, the Pochettino-Hayes gap is not the largest in USSF history: About 10 years ago, Jurgen Klinsmann made about 10 times more than Jill Ellis, who ended up winning two World Cup trophies.
The U.S. Olympic women's team also made out well for its success and other annual benchmarks. Per tax data, they took home about $900,000 apiece in 2024.
USSF sporting director Matt Crocker, who was hired in April 2023, and CEO JT Batson made $659,000 each in base salary and $1.017 million and $917,000 overall, respectively. David Wright, the chief commercial officer, received $469,000 base and $883,000 overall.
