Loyal readers of the blog --- going back to v1.0 --- remember a story from December about assistant basketball coach salaries in the ACC (the link is provided as a sign of good faith, not as encouragement to to actually click on it and give a former employer a page view).
In any case, assistant coach contracts were far from the only thing requested in that blitz of public records requests sent to each of the eight public schools in the ACC.
The contracts of football and men's and women's basketball head coaches were requested, as well as those of all the athletic directors.
Eventually, all could prove useful in some way or another. And with Maryland athletic director Debbie Yow leaving for the same post at N.C. State, those AD deals are certainly of some interest now.
There are, admittedly, some holes in this. The contracts are also interpreted in a fairly literal manner. Some of the base salaries aren't necessarily reflective of pay for the last school year, but it's far better to take the numbers secured through the records request (or, in the case of Yow at Maryland, via the Diamondback's salary guide --- check out the top left of page 20) than through any sort of assumptions utilized during calculations.
Some contract clauses are considered add-ons that are virtually assured of being paid. These include supplemental pay (Yow will get $100,000 of that at N.C. State) or radio/TV money.
There's also the matter of some incidentals that are included in terms of dollars in some deals and not in others. Pretty much every AD gets an auto allowance; some get money, others get a courtesy car that wouldn't pop up in an analysis like this.
Nonetheless, this chart is a reasonable reflection, based on an examination of the contracts, of what the ACC's athletic directors are hauling in. Yow's contracts at both Maryland and N.C. State are included, as is the deal of former N.C. State athletic director Lee Fowler. Some explainers follow (EDIT: There was a little confusion on Radakovich's supplemental income. His total reflects 2009-10 now, not 2010-11):
AD |
Base |
Base + Add-Ons
|
Max Bonus
|
Signed/Through
|
Dan Radakovich, GT
|
$300,000 |
$587,800 |
--- |
2008/2013 |
Debbie Yow, NCSU
|
$350,000 |
$457,500 |
$398,000
|
2010/2015 |
Debbie Yow, Md.
|
$382,574 |
$448,374 |
$90,000 |
2007/2013 |
Terry Don Phillips, CU
|
$200,000 |
$418,000 |
--- |
2007/2013 |
Jim Weaver, VT
|
$362,472 |
$387,472 |
$95,412 |
2006/2012 |
Randy Spetman, FSU
|
$350,000 |
$350,000 |
$190,000 |
2008/2013 |
Dick Baddour, UNC
|
$295,000 |
$325,000 |
$147,500 |
2009/2012 |
Craig Littlepage, UVa
|
$320,000 |
$320,000 |
$50,000 |
2001/????
|
Lee Fowler, NCSU
|
$280,000
|
$280,000 |
---
|
2007/2013 |
* These numbers do not account for retirement packages and deferred compensation. Phillips received $160,000 in retirement plan money, while Weaver collected $25,000 for a university retirement plan. With that taken into account, Phillips obviously skyrockets in compensation.
* Yow's N.C. State max bonus is perhaps the most glaring example of a literal interpretation. In this case, it would take all 23 of the Wolfpack's varsity sports winning a national title to make that happen.
Here's a more realistic scenario: N.C. State finishes fourth in the ACC in football, both basketball teams reach the NCAA tournament (but don't win the ACC), a total of eight teams reach the NCAA tournament and the department meets its APR, graduation rate and Director's Cup benchmarks. That bonus would come out to $153,000. Clearly, her new deal has a generous bonus package, but it's not as outlandish as the chart would suggest.
* Yow's move pretty clearly isn't about money; the compensation will turn out to be similar. While the cost of living is more tolerable in the Triangle, the extra cash is far from the top of the list of explanations as to why she would switch jobs.
* Phillips' base salary information is from 2007, so it might have jumped some since then. The base numbers for Radakovich and Spetman come from 2008. The numbers for the rest were all accurate for the 2009-10 school year (except, obviously, Yow's new deal at N.C. State).
* Phillips' deal has a clause that is extremely relevant this week. From his 2007 contract amendment:
3. Article 3.3 is hereby amended to read as follows:
"Unless written notice of non-extension of this Employment Agreement is provided to Employee by the President not less than sixty (60) calendar days in advance, at the conclusion of the eighth year of this Employment Agreement (July 1, 2010), the term of this Employment Agreement shall be automatically extended for five additional years making the expiration date July 1, 2018. If the President decides not to extend this Employment Agreement as provided herein, the written communication from the President to the Employee will include the reason for that decision. ..."
* Baddour receives a month's salary for each of the following occurrences: Football plays in a bowl game; men's basketball reaches the NCAA tournament; women's basketball reaches the NCAA tournament; baseball reaches the NCAA tournament; department's four-year APR exceeds 970; and North Carolina finishes in the top 10. His bonuses add up pretty quickly, and vault him much closer to the top of the list than the chart implies.
* Littlepage's contract is easily the least revealing of the bunch. The contract provided by Virginia was a couple pages in length and basically was Littlepage's appointment letter from nine years ago. Completely random and irrelevant --- but still kind of curious --- fact: Littlepage put his signature on it on Sept. 11, 2001.
* Poor Lee Fowler. Not only was he guaranteed the least amount among the conference's eight public school ADs, but he received no obvious bonuses, either.
* The fifth addendum to Fowler's contract (from April 2007) provided some of the most interesting language in all of these deals.
WHEREAS NC STATE desires to employ ATHLETICS DIRECTOR for an additional four (4) years beyond his current contract term, which ends on September 30, 2009, and ATHLETICS DIRECTOR desires to be employed for an additional two (2) years.
Apparently, Fowler (like most people) wasn't about to argue with being given more than he wanted. Who could blame him --- especially now that he'll get paid to do nothing for the final two years of his deal?
* One last Fowler item --- he had a non-compete clause in case he either left on his own accord or was fired without cause. Not that it was remotely likely in the first place, but those N.C. State fans hoping for a challenge trade of athletic directors will probably be disappointed:
"... ATHLETICS DIRECTOR agrees that he will not obtain employment with any ACC school for the time period remaining under this Agreement. The parties agree that money damages would be inadequate to remedy a breach of this covenant; therefore, the UNIVERSITY shall have the right to obtain from any court such equitable, injunctive, or other relief as may be appropriate, including a decree enjoining ATHLETICS DIRECTOR from violating this paragraph."
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