This isn’t really new news, but I recently acquired a copy of University of Texas head football coach Mack Brown’s first contract that he signed back in 2002.

In December of 2004, Mack Brown signed a new contract that boosts his annual salary by $100,000 in the first year, with additional $100,000 raises each year. He’d earn a little more than $3 million in 2014.

Click on the image or click here to open a PDF of Coach Mack Brown’s orignial contract (available via an open records request).

Here’s some of the highlights of Coach Brown’s compensation:

Annual Compensation

• Base salary — $480K
• Summer Football Camp — $80K — summer football camp for kids
• Coaches Show — $450K — for a once a week radio and television show about the UT Football program. I’ve lived in Austin for the entirety of Mack’s coaching gig at UT, and I’ve never once watched his television show or listened to his radio show.
• Endorsements — $580K — Coach Brown cannot enter into endorsement deals on his own. Instead he endorses items/products and deals on behalf of the University.
• Special Payment — $300K — I’m not sure why this is different than base salary, or where this money comes from. It’s simply listed as a “special annual payment”, and there is nothing “special” he has to do each year to earn it. NOTE TO SELF: negotiate a “special annual payment” during future salary negotiations.
• Annual Personal Expense Allowance — $60K — because a guy making over $2 million annually needs help with personal expenses.
• Annual Salary Supplement — $100K — An automatic $100K raise every year, guaranteed, for the next 10 years.

Total: $2.05 million

Performance Incentives/Bonuses

Performance Bonus — Up to $325K/year depending on the team’s Big VII conference finish, Bowl Game appearance, national ranking, and graduation rate of players. In last year’s National Championship run, Mack earned all $225K football performance-related incentives. I’m not sure what the team’s graduation rate was, so I don’t know if he received the entire $100K bonus for a meager 75% graduation rate.

The saddest part of the graduation rate bonus is that Mack gets a $20K bonus for having a 50% graduation rate. Which is just flat out pathetic, but only contributes to the joke that these football players are “student athletes”, when the fact is that most of them are merely “athletes”.

Birthday Bonus — The UTAUS paid Mack Brown $1.6 million on his birthday in 2004. This was written into his contract.

utomobile — two courtesy cars from a local dealership (in Mack’s case, it appears to be a Cadillac dealership) plus $7200/year car allowance for a third vehicle.

Perks Not Listed

Golf/Country Club Membership — Most big time college football coaches are given a free membership to the local exclusive private country club. Coach Brown doesn’t have any such perk listed in his contract. However, the University of Texas recenlty built and opened the exclusive University of Texas Golf Club out on Lake Travis, which is home to the University’s men’s and women’s golf programs.

One of my high school friends (Conroe High School, 1986), Steve Termeer, is the Director of Golf/General Manager of the UT Golf Club, which will cap membership to only 450 local members.

Rather than simply give Coach Brown a complimentary membership, they made him the “Chairman of the Board” for the UT Golf Club. Mack Brown reported $120,000 in outside income for his role as the chairman (not to mention the unlimited free golf).

Nice.

Housing — Many coaches get a generous housing allowance. Mack does not have this bonus listed in his contract. Coach Brown still makes do, though, living in a $1.72 million, 5,619 sq ft home near campus.

Well, at least we know what he’s spending his money on — after all, the guy doesn’t have to pay for a car, doesn’t have to pay for his own golf, probably hasn’t had to pay for his own dinner or drinks while out on the town since he’s arrived in Austin, and probably has so much complimentary Nike gear that he hasn’t had to buy his own clothing in a long time either.

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RELATED RESOURCES:

• USA Today — Contracts for college coaches cover more than salaries
• USA Today — College football coaching contracts filled with lucrative incentives
• Database — Compensation for NCAA Division I-A head football coaches