American touts plan to form Power 6

The American Athletic Conference has been lobbying for nearly a year to be considered one of the power conferences.

The AAC released a strategic plan Monday it hopes will aid the league’s push to be recognized as part of the Power 6, with the American joining the ACC, Big 12, Big Ten, Pac-12 and SEC as the nation’s top-paid college football leagues.

The American is currently generally considered a strong member of the Group of 5, which includes Conference USA, MidAmerican Conference, Mountain West Conference and Sun Belt Conference.

The AAC report was put together with the help of the Wasserman Media Group, which deals in sports marketing and management.

“This plan is designed to be a dynamic, working document which identifies a core philosophy and which will guide us over the next several critical years, where opportunities await,” AAC commissioner

stated in the report. “This plan will support and inform our mission to be and to remain a respected Power 6 Conference whose student-athletes compete at the highest level.”

The plan lists five pillars the league will emphasize during its push to move up: 1. athletes’ health and wellbeing, 2. academics, 3. athletic excellence, 4. branding and public relations and 5. revenue generation.

In the athletic excellence area, the plan includes a 52-point strategy for success in various sports. In football, the strategy includes scheduling the top teams in the country, striving for average attendance at 70 to 80 percent of stadium capacity, fielding a College Football Playoff contender, fielding one top 10 team, earning a spot in a New Year’s Six bowl and fielding two to four top 25 teams.

Alabama may have fallen just short of winning another national championship in January, but the school is still rewarding football coach with a three-year contract extension that includes a $4 million signing bonus.

The school’s board of trustees compensation committee approved the contract extension along with contracts of new athletic director and several of the Crimson Tide assistant coaches at a meeting Tuesday.

Saban is set to make $7.1 million and, along with the bonus for signing the deal, will be paid more than $11 million this upcoming season.

The extension differs from his previous contracts in that it is loaded with incentives. According to Al.com, Saban’s annual salary will decrease: from $6.9 million annually to $6.725 million. However he’ll make an additional $400,000 the next two seasons and $800,000 the two years after that. If he remains after the 2021 season, he’ll receive a $3.6 million bonus.

The new contract is set to expire in 2024.

Saban is the secondhighest paid college football coach in the country, behind Michigan’s

who makes more than $9 million annually and just ahead of Ohio State’s at $6 million.