Contract details for new Maryland AD Jim Smith, plus details on Joe LaBue and Diana Sabau

Ahmed Ghafir
Jul 15, 2025
2 min read

Two months after being named the new athletic director, the Jim Smith era has officially started, with today marking day one in his new role at the University of Maryland

Smith takes over after serving as the senior VP of business strategy for the Atlanta Braves, and he also arrives in College Park with a five-year contract that runs through June 30, 203,0 with a $1.2 million base salary and $300,000 in supplemental income annually. Smith is also able to earn a maximum of $45,000 through performance goals centered around increased booster donations, including:

$7,500 at the end of each contract year that the number of Terrapin Club memberships exceeds the previous year’s total by 10%
$7,500 at the end of each contract year that the “total contributions made for the benefit of the Department’s intercollegiate athletic programs (including donations to the University, the University of Maryland College Park Foundation, the University of Maryland Educational Foundation, and the Terrapin Club) exceed by 10% the total of such contributions made in the prior year”

Smith is also able to earn additional compensation contingent on Maryland’s standing in the Director’s Cup Competition, an annual award to the colleges/universities with the most success in collegiate athletics. But the big bonus for Smith comes at the end of his contract. Within 60 days of June 30, 2029, Smith could earn a full year’s base salary if the athletic department’s annual revenue increases by $50 million since the start of his tenure. Smith signed an amendment two days after inking the original terms of his agreement, which originally signaled a year’s base salary “if the total revenue of the Department of Athletics is 50% greater during the 2029-30 fiscal year than the total revenue during the 2024-25 fiscal year.”

It's a lofty but necessary goal for Maryland in the era of NIL and revenue sharing, an area that Maryland consistently struggled under the direction of Damon Evans. Still, the longtime former executive has proven successful during stints both in the pros and college. While at Ohio State, Smith led a shift in marketing and communications strategy, overseeing a 10% annual revenue growth in two years and 15% increase in alumni participation.

Smith’s contract with Maryland emphasized what was stressed during last month’s introductory press conference, where president Darryll Pines noted revenue sharing was “a major focus” during the AD search.

“What we can't share [are] the ideas that Jim shared with the search committee and me. Ideas I've never heard of that I think will be significant going forward. But Jim also really wanted this job,” Pines said during last month’s press conference.

Meanwhile, Maryland previously announced the hire of Diana Sabau and Joe LaBue with Sabau taking over as senior deputy AD and LaBue as deputy AD/chief revenue officer. Per an open records request, both Sabau and LaBue are “non-contractual employees, and therefore, do not have a contract” as Sabau earns a $650,000 base salary and LaBue a $450,000 base salary.

Sabau is set to arrive on Monday, July 28 with LaBue arriving days later on August 1.

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