January 6, 2023 5:43 am MT
Deion Sanders has been the head coach of the Colorado Buffaloes for a little more than a month. His contract was approved by the regents on Dec. 22. The high-level details such as length, terms and buyout have been known for a while. Still, we are here to review the nitty gritty.
Sean Keeler of the Denver Post did a great breakdown of the contract and the details within. Colorado has done a great job setting up Coach Prime and his staff to be successful from what we can see in the contract. The CU administration definitely put its money where its mouth was when it came to attracting the best coaches in the land and fans should be excited by this outcome.
Here are a few extra facts you should know about Sanders’ contract:
Coach Prime will wear Nike
We were wondering about this question in Decemberandnow have an answer. For now, Coach Prime will wear Nike during football functions (h/t Sean Keeler).
Included in the five-year contract approved late last month by CU’s Board of Regents and provided to The Denver Post on Tuesday was a clause that requires the new Buffs coach, who had a deal with competing apparel company Under Armour, to wear Nike-branded Buffs products, “as appropriate,” in his new role as CU football coach.
Keeler was quick to point out that both Coach Prime and Shedeur Sanders are signed to Under Armour and that Colorado’s current deal is set to run out on in 2025.
How Coach Prime will earn his money
Deion Sanders and the University of Colorado agreed to a five-year, $29.5 million deal that will earn him $5.5 million in the first yearthrough a variety of means (h/t Keeler):
Sanders is scheduled to earn $5.5 million in his first season, with a base pay of $500,000 supplemented by $1.75 million for radio, television and public appearances; another $1.75 million for promotion and fundraising; and another $1.5 million for “development of the student-athlete.”
The assistant pool has gotten bigger
The university stepped up by helping Coach Prime hire some top-tier assistants. Colorado has given Coach Prime a $5 million pool to hire assistants and support staff members. This is up from the $3.8 million given to Karl Dorrell during his time and the $3.2 that was given to Mel Tucker.
The buyout figures have gone way up
With Coach Prime coming on board, everything gets bigger. The terms of the contract, the recruiting and the buyout, which would come into play if he terminates his contract. Dorrell’s buyout from his first year started at $10 million and went down each year based on his annual salary. Coach Prime’s buyout starts at a whopping $15 million and drops at a slightly higher rate (h/t Keeler).
Those damages drop to $10 million if it’s after his second year; $8 million after the third; and $5 million if after his fourth or final years.
On the flip side, if Colorado buys out Sanders’ contract, the university will owe him 75% of his remaining base salary.
Incentives
Incentives include:
- $150,000 for winning the Pac-12 or being named national coach of the year
- $150,000 for winning six games in a season and $100,000 for winning each game after that
- $750,000 if Colorado wins a national championship
The contract could get bigger
Colorado is on a streak of handing out its biggest head coach contacts ever with Sanders’ deal exceeding Dorrell’s. Coach Prime’s contract could even grow bigger after his third year due to a renegotiation opportunity (h/t Keeler).
The contract features a clause that effectively opens a window for the renegotiation of salary and separation terms after the 2025 season, which would be Sanders’ third.
In the paragraph, CU and Sanders agree to “meet and confer in good faith” on a contract extension after Year 3 in which topics for discussion “must” include “base, supplemental and incentive salary … liquidated damages … and termination without cause and obligation to mitigate.
