A look at two contracts

It seems like the past 2 days, when it comes to discussing WVU football outside of recruiting, everyone seems to be discussing the contracts of Coach Bill Stewart, and Offensive Coordinator/Head-Coach-In-Waiting Dana Holgorsen.

Coach Stew’s contract was amended on November 17, 2010… November 17th also happens to be my birthday… BEST BIRTHDAY PRESENT EVER!!! It was around a full month before sh*t really hit the fan with all the coaching rumors.

Coach Holgorsen’s term sheet (a full contract has not been hammered out yet) calls for him to make a lot of money, capped off with incentives including a couple that Stewart didn’t get. After the jump are the numbers on both coaches…

Click here for Coach Stewart’s Amended Contract (PDF)

On 17 November 2010 (which was my birthday), Athletic Director Oliver Luck and Coach Bill Stewart re-hashed the current contract.

The new contract called for the following…

*Either resign at the end of the 2010 season, or be brought back for the 2011 season, when he would work with a successor and then resign at the end of that season – or face the possibility he could be terminated with cause because of the ongoing NCAA case.

*If Stewart had resigned after this past season, he would have been given some type of cushy job in the Athletic Department (probably named “Consultant” or something like that) complete with a very nice 6-figure salary ($375K/year for the remainder of his contract) along with a Courtesy Car from the Wheels Club, and 4 “Premium” tickets to every football game, every men’s basketball game, and any subsequent post-season game they participate in.

Since Stewart will be the lame-duck Head Coach in 2011, he’ll be making 950K this season, along with all his perks and benefits… and, yes, most likely the same courtesy car from the Wheels Club. (Who wants to bet it’s Northside Automotive?)

Coach Dana Holgorsen’s contract calls for the following… (click here for the term sheet – a PDF document)

*$50,000 signing bonus due to Holgorsen within 10 days of signing.

*Offensive Coordinator Salary of $750K for the upcoming season. However, if he were to become Head Coach at any point between now and the end of the 2011 Season, he would be paid a “pro-rated” sum of $1.4 million for that season, and his compensation would jump $250K every year while he’s at WVU.

Some of the incentives of the contract are:

*The more season tickets WVU Football sells, the more money he gets. (Example: WVU sells 38,000 season tickets, he gets $40K)

*Win 9 regular season games, that’s an extra $25K; 10 games, $100K; 11 games, $125K; 12 games, $200K.

*Share of Big East title or runner-up: $50K. Outright Big East Championship: $100K.

*Non-BCS Bowl appearance: $25K. If he wins that bowl, an additional $25K

*BCS Bowl appearance: $75K. Win a BCS Bowl, an additional $50K

*BCS Title Game appearance: $100K. Win the National Title (and make sure I die a happy man)- an additional $150K.

*Top 25 in ESPN/USA Today or AP polls: $25K. If the team finishes in the Top 10: $50K

*Offense in the Top 5: $25K. #1 Offense in the Country- $50K.

All of these incentives, plus a few I did not mention (such as team’s overall academic performance), are capped at $600K.

Holgorsen also gets 2 courtesy cars, a country club membership, 4 seats on the team plane (probably to prop his feet up and put his Sugar-Free Red Bull), tickets to men’s and women’s basketball games, etc.

So, if things go according to plan, Coach Holgorsen will be GETTIN PAID for bringing a National Championship to Morgantown.