Some coaching positions, such as the J. Stuart Francis ’74 Head Coach of Men’s Golf at Princeton University or the Anny Jenny Head Coach of Women’s Alpine Skiing at Dartmouth College, have multi-million dollar endowments covering the salaries of those with these highly coveted jobs across the Ivy League. They’re typically named after the very people who’ve donated. However, the naming rights are sometimes used to honor a loved one, famous athletes who graduated from the athletics program, or something else entirely. It seems like a harmless practice that helps cover the cost of athletics at elite schools, right? 

It’s a little more complicated than that.

Coaching Endowments Help Development Cases Get Into the Ivy League

It should not surprise regular readers of our college admissions blog that one way to get into an Ivy League school is to have wealthy parents who make major donations to your school of choice in the years leading up to your application. Endowed coaching positions are one way this back door for ’development’ cases is carved out. A report by The Boston Globe has found that coaching endowments at Yale function in precisely this manner, highlighting the significant influence of wealthy donors on college admissions: 

“A Globe review found that in at least a half-dozen cases at Yale, families endowed coaching positions or programs shortly before their children went on to attend the highly competitive Ivy League school.”

Endowed Coaching Positions at Each Ivy League School

However, Yale isn’t the only school that has endowed coaching positions. Here’s a comprehensive list of all coaching endowments across Ivy League athletics programs:

Ivy League School	Number of Endowed Coaching Positions	Sports with Endowed Coaching Positions
Brown University	>10	Water Polo, Women’s Soccer, Swimming and Diving, Wrestling, Track and Field, Men’s Lacrosse, Men’s Ice Hockey, Men’s Rugby, Women’s Rugby, and more
Columbia University	6	Wrestling, Men’s Tennis, Men’s Squash, Football
Cornell University	N/A	N/A
Dartmouth College	>13	Men’s Soccer, Women’s Tennis, Men’s Nordic Ski, Football, Men’s Track and Field, Women’s Track and Field, Men’s Squash, Women’s Squash, Men’s Heavyweight Crew, Women’s Alpine Ski, Men’s Hockey, Men’s Golf, Women’s Golf, Women’s Rowing
Harvard University	30	Baseball, Men’s Basketball, Women’s Basketball, Football, Men’s Golf, Women’s Golf, Men’s Ice Hockey, Women’s Ice Hockey, Men’s Lacrosse, Women’s Lacrosse, Men’s Heavyweight Rowing, Men’s Lightweight Rowing, Women’s Heavyweight Rowing, Women’s Lightweight Rowing, Men’s Alpine Ski, Women’s Alpine Ski, Men’s Nordic Ski, Women’s Nordic Ski, Men’s Soccer, Women’s Soccer, Men’s Squash, Women’s Squash, Men’s Swimming & Diving, Women’s Swimming & Diving, Men’s Tennis, Women’s Tennis, Track, Field, & Cross Country, Men’s Water Polo, Women’s Water Polo, Wrestilng
Princeton University	10	Baseball, Men’s Basketball, Football, Men’s Golf, Men’s Lacrosse, Women’s Lacrosse, Men’s Soccer, Men’s Squash, Men’s Track and Field
University of Pennsylvania	14	Baseball, Men’s Basketball, Men’s Heavyweight Crew, Men’s Lightweight Crew, Fencing, Football, Men’s Lacrosse, Men’s Soccer, Women’s Soccer, Men’s Tennis, Track & Field, Wrestling
Yale University	24	N/A

Muggsy Bogues is an Exception, Not the Rule

Again, we call for increased checks and balances. An outside reviewer for the athletic department should scrutinize the athletic profiles of the children of these donors (in addition to every recruited athlete). If the donor endowed the men’s swimming head coaching position and the donor’s child shows up two years later on the swimming recruiting list with a time of 00:59 in the 100-yard back, that independent reviewer won’t have to go through too many heat sheets to realize that a 00:59 100-yard back shouldn’t be impressive to any Ivy League swim coach. This underlines the urgent need for scrutiny in recruiting processes.

If a 5’6 point guard who happens to be the child of the donor who endowed the basketball coach’s position gets recruited the following year for basketball, that independent reviewer should scrutinize the player’s high school boxscores and game footage. Muggsy Bogues, Spud Webb, and Isaiah Thomas are exceptions — remarkable, big-hearted point guards who happen to be 5’8 or below. They are not the rule. In the world of college recruiting, exceptions should always raise red flags.