Recent coaching departures could net program payments

The recent departures of several Mississippi State football coaches could provide Mississippi State athletics with a little more income according to the coaches' most recent MSU contracts obtained Monday by the Starkville Daily News courtesy of a public records request.

Both former State defensive line coach Brian Baker and former running backs coach Charles Huff left MSU last month to join the coaching staff at Alabama. Though the Crimson Tide have yet to announce official positions for Baker and Huff, it's expected the two will maintain similar roles at Alabama that they held at MSU.

If that's the case, both Baker and Huff will owe Mississippi State 20 percent of the gross salary remaining on their MSU contracts. The caveat is that if Baker is given the title as Alabama's primary defensive coordinator or if Huff is given the title of the Crimson Tide's primary offensive coordinator, they would no longer owe Mississippi State anything.

Baker had just recently signed a new two-year deal with Mississippi State worth $500,000 annually, or $1 million over the life of the contract. That total does not include any private funds that could also be paid to Baker. MSU doesn't disclose amounts paid to coaches through private funding. That means that contractually, Baker could owe State approximately $200,000 based on the amount the university alone was slated to pay him.

Huff's MSU deal was similar to Baker's. He was slated to make approximately $350,000 through the university this year – the final year of a two-year deal. Like Baker, that total doesn't include any private funds that might have been scheduled to be paid to Huff. So Huff could owe MSU approximately $70,000 based solely on the amount the university was slated to pay him.

The departure of now-former MSU offensive coordinator Luke Getsy, who left to be the quarterbacks coach of the NFL'S Green Bay Packers, might also give State back some money. Getsy had a provision in his deal where he must pay 20 percent of his remaining contract should his departure be for anything other than a Division I head coaching position. Getsy was scheduled to make $600,000 for the coming year through university funds alone, so he'd owe about $120,000 based on his university-paid salary.

As for Mark Hudspeth, who left his post as Mississippi State's tight ends coach to become the head coach at Austin Peay, he doesn't owe MSU anything as his contract dictated he didn't have to pay State anything should he leave the Bulldogs to become a Division I head coach.