The Illinois Board of Trustees approved the contracts of several Illinois football assistant coaches including offensive coordinator Barry Lunney Jr. and new defensive coordinator Bobby Hauck.

CHAMPAIGN — After agreeing to a new three-year deal, Barry Lunney Jr. is the highest paid football assistant coach in Illinois program history.

The Illini offensive coordinator, who is entering his fifth season on Bret Bielema’s coaching staff in Champaign, had his new contract, along with several other football assistant coach contracts finalized this February, approved by the University of Illinois Board of Trustees during its March 19 meeting in Springfield.

Just over a year ago, Lunney Jr., 51, signed a three-year extension with Illinois that put his average annual salary regardless of raises and performance bonuses at $1.15 million per year with annual raises of $100,00 in each of the three seasons. In Lunney’s new three-year, $4.35 million deal, his 2026 salary will be $1.4 million with a $50,000 annual increase in each of the next two seasons.

A $1.45 million annual salary would’ve put Lunney Jr. among the top 10 salaries for coordinators in the Big Ten Conference last season matching the pay of then-Oregon offensive coordinator Will Stein, who agreed this offseason to become the new head coach at Kentucky.

Lunney has led one of the Big Ten's best offenses through his first four seasons in Champaign, helping the Illini to 32 victories, two bowl wins, and back-to-back seasons of at least nine wins for the first time in program history.

Since Lunney's arrival for the 2022 season, Illinois ranks fifth in the Big Ten in points (1,359), fifth in passing touchdowns (83), and fifth in passing yards (11,739) among the 14 teams that have been in the league all four seasons. Lunney has coached four of the top five individual passer rating seasons in Illinois history, including each of the top three, that have helped the Illini rank second in the Big Ten in completion percentage (65.1) and fourth in passer rating (143.9) over the last four years.

With his 2025 contract extension, Lunney became the program’s second-ever coordinator to obtain a seven-figure salary after Ryan Walters agreed to a three-year contract extension in Nov. 2021 that would’ve paid him a total of $4.2 million. However, months after agreeing to those terms with Illinois athletics director Josh Whiman, the then-Illini defensive boss agreed to become the new head coach at Purdue.

The March 19 Board of Trustees meeting also included the approval of the two-year contract of new Illinois defensive coordinator Bobby Hauck. The 61-year-old former Montana head coach has agreed to significant pay cut from the Illini administration was set to pay Aaron Henry over the same two-year period. If Henry had stayed at Illinois and not elected to join Marcus Freeman’s coaching staff at Notre Dame as the defensive backs coach and passing game coordinator, Henry was slated to be paid $1 million in the 2026 season and $1.1 million in the 2027 season. Sources close to the situation have confirmed to IlliniGuys.com that Notre Dame has matched Henry’s compensation at Illinois for the 2025 season. Notre Dame, as a private institution, is not legally required to share compensation agreements and therefore, is not legally subjected to public access laws in the United States of America.

Hauck has agreed to a two-year deal worth a total of $1.45 million dollars. Hauck’s salary for the 2026 season, $700,000, would’ve made him the lowest-paid coordinators on either side of the football in the Big Ten Conference last season. However, Hauck’s two-year guaranteed salary at Illinois is a significant increase from the $265,000 base he was paid by the University of Montana to be the head coach during this past season.

The Illinois BOT also approved several of the contracts of the assistants on Hauck’s former staff at Montana to Bielema’s operation this offseason as they transition into Hauck’s 3-3-5 defensive scheme. Hauck brought over former Montana defensive coordinator Ronnie Bradford as the new secondary coach along with former Montana assistant coaches Roger Cooper (new Illini inside linebackers coach) and Mike Linehan (new Illini defensive ends coach). Each of these hires from Montana’s coaching staff were significant salary reductions from the Illini assistant coach in that spot during the 2025 season.

The Illinois BOT also approved the salaries of new offensive assistant hires Jared Elliot (tight ends coach) and Tyrone Wheatley (running backs coach) along with raises and extensions for returnees such as wide receivers coach Justin Stepp, quarterbacks coach Art Sitkowski and strength coach Tenarius “Tank” Wright.

ILLINI ASSISTANT COACH - TITLE - NEW APPROVED CONTRACTS
Barry Lunney Jr. - Offensive Coordinator - 3 yr./$1.45 million AAV
Bobby Hauck - Defensive Coordinator - 3 yr./$725,00 AAV
Tenarius ‘Tank’ Wright. - Strength and Conditioning Coach - 1 yr./$750,000
Justin Stepp - Wide Receivers Coach - 2 yr./$637,500 AAV
Jordan Thomas - Defensive Line Coach/Run Game Coordinator - 2 yr./$475,000 AAV
Tyrone Wheatley - Running Backs Coach - 2 yr./$412,500 AAV
Mike Neu - Passing Game Coordinator - 2 yr./$312,500 AAV
Art Sitkowski - Quarterbacks Coach - 2 yr./$312,500 AAV
Ronnie Bradford - Secondary Coach - 2 yr./$312,500 AAV
Roger Cooper - Inside Linebackers Coach - 2 yr./$275,000 AAV
Jared Elliot - Tight Ends Coach - 2 yr./$262,500 AAV
Mike Linehan - Defensive Ends Coach - 2 yr./$200,000 AAV