Coach contracts nearing approval
AUSTIN — A new agenda book released by the University of Texas Board of Regents revealed it is set to approve more than $55.2 million in guaranteed contracts for new football coach Steve Sarkisian and 10 assistants.
Sarkisian will earn $5.2 million in base salary in Year 1. That base will escalate by $200,000 per year, up to $6.2 million in Year 6. He will also receive a $250,000 relocation and temporary housing allowance, two dealer cars and up to 20 hours of private aircraft flight time for personal use each year.
Sarkisian will also receive a onetime payment of $1.2 million if he is still employed by Texas on Dec. 31, 2024. He is also eligible to receive up to $825,000 in annual performance-based incentives:
• Team performance incentives: maximum of $675,000 annually
• National coach of the year: $100,000 annually
• Conference coach of the year: $50,000 annually
Offensive coordinator and offensive line coach Kyle Flood will receive a three-year, $3.3 million deal. Floord will earn $1.1 million in Year 1, about $600,000 less than former OC Mike Yurcich received in base pay last season.
Defensive coordinator and outside linebacker coach Pete Kwiatkowski will receive $1.7 million annually for three years. That’s more than double the $800,000 in base salary UT paid former DC Chris Ash last year.
Jeff Banks will become the highest-paid special teams coach in school history. The coordinator, who will also coach tight ends, will receive a three-year deal worth $3.15 million.
Defensive line coach Bo Davis will earn $875,000 in Year 1, $900,000 in Year 3 and $925,000 in Year 3. Safeties coach Blake Gideon will earn $400,000 in Year 1 and $425,000 in Year 2.
Pass game coordinator and secondary coach Terry Joseph will receive a two-year, $1.5 million deal. And co-defensive coordinator and inside linebackers coach Jeff Choate will receive a two-year, $1.08 million deal.
The board will also approve restated employment agreements for wide receivers coach Andre Coleman and running backs coach Stan Drayton, former Herman hires who Sarkisian retained.
Coleman’s new deal will pay out $450,000 this season and $500,000 next season. It also includes a one-time payment of $43,760 to offset a previous salary reduction. Drayton will receive $650,000 in base pay in each of the next two seasons.
“It wasn’t necessarily about hiring people that I knew or hiring people that I was close to,” Sarkisian said Jan. 22. “It was about trying to assemble the best staff I could hire. Some of those guys have worked with me in the past. Some of them I’ve competed against. Some of them I didn’t know, and I had to interview and get to know.
“You feel good about it now, and we’ve got work to do, but this first step of getting the staff hired has been a good one for us.”
The board will also approve a two-year contract for director of football performance and head strength coach Torre Becton. Becton will earn $500,000 in Year 1 and $525,000 in Year 2
All of Sarkisian’s assistants will also be eligible to receive bonus payouts if certain team performance incentives are met, up to a maximum of 19 percent of that year’s annual salary. They will also receive $29,000 for relocation and housing, one dealer car and a ticket allotment for UT athletic events.
The UT Board of Regents will meet to approve all of those contracts when it convenes Feb. 24-25.