Contract buyouts don’t all work the same way, and the structure can matter just as much as the dollar figure. That’s the lesson in a year that already saw Florida State move on from Mike Norvell and absorb roughly $47 million after Saturday’s loss to Clemson.
He was still the Seminoles’ coach around 1:00 pm yesterday, but the decision came down around 4 pm. Money talks and losing coaches walk.
Closer to home, the Rutgers situation keeps looking worse in hindsight. Former athletic director Pat Hobbs clearly didn’t want to bring back Greg Schiano after Chris Ash was fired, but he still extended Schiano’s deal beginning March 1, 2024, and running through February 28, 2030. That means if Schiano were let go without cause at the end of the 2026 season, Rutgers would still owe him for the next three seasons. #smh
The extension is loaded with incentive bonuses, though almost none of them look realistic. Schiano did pick up $100,000 for getting Rutgers to the Rate Bowl in 2024 against Kansas State.
Beyond that, the bigger postseason triggers are the kind of numbers that read like fantasy football for a program that hasn’t been anywhere near them: $200,000 for a CFP First Round Game Appearance, $250,000 for a CFP Quarterfinal Game Appearance, $300,000 for a CFP Semifinal Game Appearance, $350,000 for a CFP National Championship Game Appearance, and $500,000 for a CFP National Championship Title. He also won’t be collecting the $100,000 bonuses for Big Ten Coach of the Year or National Coach of the Year.
There’s also a season-ticket clause that could pay out, at least in theory. The contract lists a “Confirmed and Verified Number of Annual Season Tickets sold” bonus worth up to $200,000, with $50,000 attached to each benchmark above 20,000, 24,000, 28,000, and 32,000.
And the buyout itself is not a one-time check for the full salary. The contract says that if the university terminates him without cause, Rutgers would continue paying him bi-weekly, in line with regular payroll, at 76.875% of his remaining annual base salary.
That works out to $5,573,437.50 for March 1, 2027-February 29, 2028, $5,765,625 for March 1, 2028-February 28, 2029, and $5,957,812.50 for March 1, 2029-February 28, 2030. The last three years total $17,296,875, paid bi-weekly.
Other recent firings show different ways schools structure these deals.
At Maryland, Mike Locksley’s buyout is set at $9.94 million, a little more than half of what Rutgers would owe Schiano. The Terrapins must pay half of that - $4.97 million - in a lump sum within 60 days of termination.
Locksley is owed 65% of his total remaining compensation, and after the upfront payment, the rest would be paid in equal installments through the end of his contract in 2028. His 2022 five-year extension automatically picked up extra years because Maryland reached at least seven wins in 2022 and 2023.
Had the school waited until the end of the season, the buyout would have fallen to $8.9 million, then to $4.5 million after the 2027 season, and to $0 after the 2028 season.
NC State’s Dave Doeren is another reminder that wins don’t always buy time forever. He leaves as the winningest coach in school history with 98 wins, though the note here is that you’d think they’d at least keep him around until 100.
Instead, the buyout math is the story. His base salary for 2026 is listed at $3.25 million, but his buyout is nearly $10 million.
Total annual compensation for 2026 was roughly $6.375 million, yet the buyout is calculated strictly from his base salary. The remaining three seasons on the deal account for $9.75 million, and the remaining pro-rated months of the 2026 calendar year push the total obligation to $10.3 million.
Baylor’s Dave Aranda is harder to pin down because Baylor is a private school and doesn’t have to release contract details or respond to requests. Still, sources have worked to figure it out.
Then there are the coaches some people think should be bought out right now. Maybe that “now” is already past tense.
Lincoln Riley is one of them. Beating Ohio State can fix a lot and quiet a lot of noise, but Riley has spent the last few years trying to restore the glory of Troy in L.A.
The results have been good on paper, but not good enough. He has not won the big games, has not made the CFP, and after four Big XII titles and five bowl games in five years at Oklahoma, the expectations were enormous.
Through this past weekend, he is 42-20 at USC, but the pressure has grown after losses like the one to Wisconsin a couple weeks ago. And yes, thanks, Wisky, for that recent flop against the Hawkeyes.
CBS Sports’ Brad Crawford said, “Enough”. It is time for Riley to go.
Ohio State says, “You sure about that?” As for the price tag, USC doesn’t have to disclose it, but major outlets like CBS and Bleacher Report estimate the school would owe him somewhere around $70 million, which is believed to be what remains on his original $110 million contract.
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