MORGANTOWN —
West Virginia University Director of Athletics Oliver Luck and Head Football Coach Dana Holgorsen have agreed to terms of a six-year contract that runs through the 2017 season.
Under the agreement, the second-year head coach will be paid an annualized salary of $2.3 million this season -- $250,000 in base pay and the remainder in supplemental pay -- all from revenue generated by the athletic department or private sources -- “very much in line with other Big 12 and major college coaches’ salaries,” according to Luck.
“This contract brings us closer to the salaries of other major university head coaches and those within our conference,” Luck said. “We have said all along we are going to pay our coach a competitive salary for a very valued and competitive position. I have full confidence in Coach Holgorsen and his staff and want them to be with us for a long time. He is the right man to lead our football program into the Big 12 and beyond.”
According to conference statistics, Texas Coach Mack Brown and Oklahoma’s Bob Stoops remain the highest paid coaches in the Big 12, followed by Oklahoma State, TCU and Kansas.
“I want to thank Oliver Luck and President Jim Clements for their confidence in and commitment to our football program. We have a lot of things that we want to accomplish, and we have a great administration supporting us,” Holgorsen said. “There is no question that joining the Big 12 Conference presents new challenges in competition, facility upgrades and overall growth. However, I am excited to be the head coach of the West Virginia University Mountaineers, I enjoy living in this state, and I look forward to many more successful years in Morgantown.”
Holgorsen’s contract calls for yearly raises -- $200,000 in year two and three; $100,000 in year four and five; and no increase in the final year. It also has retention payments, and there will continue to be performance-based incentives for team academic achievements, regular season victories, conference titles, postseason bowl appearances and other rankings and honors.
The contract also includes liquidated damages clauses which establish payments by the coach should he leave early and by WVU should it choose to end the contract.
Holgorsen’s previous contract was scheduled to pay him $1.725 million this season. The terms of the new agreement are effective immediately. The contract will be available online at www.wvusports.com later today.
WVU finished with a 10-3 record and a Big East championship in Holgorsen’s first season. The Mountaineers also defeated Clemson 70-33 in the Discover Orange Bowl, and will begin their inaugural Big 12 season when the team meets Baylor on Sept. 29 at Milan Puskar Stadium.
WVU remains one of only a dozen or more self-supporting athletic departments in the country.
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Holgorsen inks 6-year deal with WVU
Agrees to $2.3 million per year salary through 2017 season
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