Penn State clearly doesn’t want to see its coach of the year go away anytime soon. Thursday, the university announced it is amending Bill O’Brien’s contract. O’Brien will be paid almost $3.3 million in 2013.
“Dave and I had talked about revising Coach O’Brien’s contract at the end of the season, and these discussions moved forward with my blessing and involvement,” said Penn State President Rodney Erickson in a news release.
“In the face of great adversity, Bill did a tremendous job with all facets of the Penn State football program,” Penn State athletic director Dave Joyner said. “This rightly recognizes Bill’s outstanding achievements in guiding our student-athletes on and off the field.”
While the majority of the contractual details remain the same, O’Brien’s new contract does include a raise that brings the base salary for the 2013-14 season up to $1,932,779 from $950,000 the year before.
Before the modified contract was released today, O’Brien’s total payout included a base salary of $950,000 per year, plus $1 million for TV and radio appearances along with $350,000 for a Nike apparel deal. This brought O’Brien’s total yearly earnings to $2.3 million with an annual base salary raise of 5 percent.
In the new contract, O’Brien’s base salary increases to $1,932,779. Including the apparel and TV/radio portions of his contract, all of which stay the same, O’Brien’s total contract equals $3,282,779 in earnings for the 2013-14 season starting on July 1.
For now, the pay hike is a one-year deal. In 2014, O’Brien’s base salary will drop down to $1,137,096. His total compensation will be around $2.5 million. In 2015 the base salary will rise to $1.65 million. O’Brien’s contract will be renegotiated starting in January of 2016 prior to the conclusion of his contract at the end of that season.
O’Brien will also receive up to a $200,000 bonus yearly, based on what bowl game the Nittany Lions would have played in, had the NCAA not sanctioned the program.
Penn State fans will be pleased to hear that O’Brien is getting what he wants, but unfortunately that includes a new buyout clause that specifically addresses O’Brien leaving for the NFL. The contract, in laymen’s terms requires that O’Brien pay his base salary for that year multiplied by the years remaining on his current contract.
Given the base salary and length of contract as reported by Penn State, O’Brien’s buyout now sits significantly lower than it did in his previous contract.
