Gonzales’ contract has numerous incentives
But it’s among the lower ones in the conference
If University of New Mexico football coach Danny Gonzales is to build a championship program, he will be paid for reaching such lofty goals, per his five-year contract finalized July 24 and made public on Friday.
Gonzales, as previously reported, will make $400,000 per year in base salary and $300,000 more annually
— $150,000 for media obligations and $150,000 for promoting the program. Among the annual incentives listed:
■ Gonzales, a former UNM player and assistant who was hired in December, could receive a $25,000 bonus for the Lobos reaching the Mountain West Conference championship game, or a $30,000 bonus if UNM were to win it.
■ According to the contract, he can also be paid $10,000 for six regularseason wins, $10,000 more for seven regular-season wins and $10,000 more for eight regular-season wins.
■ He can also earn an additional $15,000 bonus based on APR scores.
The NCAA calls APR Academic Progress Rate, but the contract lists it as academic performance rating. The NCAA recognizes programs that retain athletes and keep them eligible but penalizes those that do not.
Importantly, the incentives in the first two years are “contingent upon sufficient appropriations being available to fund them.”
The contract also clears Gonzales, 44, to earn independent income by organizing and conducting camps, clinics, lessons or sports leagues. Gonzales said he doesn’t believe that to be very lucrative, but will help him build that winning program he wants, and also help pay assistant coaches accordingly for their work with the camps.
Gonzales is the third-lowest paid coach in the Mountain West Conference this year and the lowest paid among the league’s four new coaches.
He is also paid lower than UNM’s previous football coach, Bob Davie, who made $422,690 per year in base salary and an additional $400,000 per year for promoting the program and media obligations. Davie also received a buyout of $825,000 to be paid over 30 months.
“I don’t care if I’m the lowest paid coach in the MWC,” Gonzales said. “The best way to build a program is continuity. Paying the assistants.”
Gonzales said he negotiated his contract so that assistants could be paid more.
Gonzales also could receive a buyout, according to the contract, if UNM voluntarily terminates the contract. If that occurs in year one, the buyout is $2 million. In year two, $1.6 million. In year three, $900,000. In year four, $400,000. In year five, he will be paid the remainder owed on the contract.