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IU INSIDER

Behind the numbers: Kevin Wilson's new contract

Zach Osterman
zach.osterman@indystar.com

BLOOMINGTON – The terms of Kevin Wilson's new contract, signed last month, will see him paid in excess of $2 million this year, the highest salary ever awarded to an Indiana football coach.

Wilson's official salary this year will land somewhere in excess of $2.15 million, escalating over the life of his six-year deal, according to documents obtained by IndyStar via records request.

Most of the terms and conditions of Wilson's original contract, signed in 2010, have not changed. The amendment released by university council largely covers financial questions – pay scale, buyout, etc. – and that's what we'll cover here.

About to get paid

Wilson really is. His reported total compensation last season landed at $1,312,277, according to USA Today, so this will guarantee an immediate raise of more than $800,000.

Base salary won't see a significant increase, up from $500,000 to $542,000. Where Wilson's big raise will come is what the contract terms "outside, marketing and promotional income."

Kevin Wilson's new 6-year IU deal nearly doubles pay

Under the terms of Wilson's original deal, that number came to $600,000 every season, which, when combined with base pay and various built-in bonuses, is how Wilson arrived at the above-reported figure of a little more than $1.3 million.

This contract will pay Wilson $1,608,000 in outside, marketing and promotional income this calendar year, and it won't stop there. That number keeps rising over the following five years, starting effective Dec. 1, 2016. It will increase by $100,000 each of the next two years, then by $200,000 the year after that, and then by $100,000 in the final two years of the six-year deal. To break it down more plainly, between base pay and outside, marketing and promotional income, Wilson will make approximately:

• $2.15 million in 2016.

• $2.25 million in 2017.

• $2.35 million in 2018.

• $2.55 million in 2019.

• $2.65 million in 2020.

• and $2.75 million in 2021.

IndyStar obtained the details to Indiana coach Kevin Wilson's new six-year contract.
What about the rest of it?

That comes to about $14.7 million over six years. Given that the original contract announcement stated Wilson would make $15.3 million over the life of the contract, where does the other $600,000 come from?

Much of it will come from deferred compensation. That's a third listed form of compensation, and a holdover from Wilson's original contract. The university will invest $60,000 into a separate account each year of the six Wilson sees out, and if he reaches the end of the contract, then the entirety of the account will be paid out to him, including, according to the amendment, "university contributions and any investment earnings."

Should Wilson be fired without cause at some point in the next six years, he would get whatever is in that account as part of his severance.

(Note: A similar provision was written into Wilson's original contract, and per the terms of this amendment, that deferred compensation account was paid to him at the renewal of his deal. So Wilson essentially got a built-in bonus of at least $300,000 for re-upping with Indiana.)

There are also brief mentions of bowl bonuses. Wilson will be paid a $100,000 bonus for any bowl game not in the New Year's Six that pay out less than $2 million per school. For any such bowl games that pay out $2 million or more, Wilson will receive a $200,000 bonus.

Kevin Wilson says IU on 'solid ground' after 6-year contract

Buyout

This is pretty straightforward: If IU fires Wilson without cause at any point during the life of the six-year deal, it will owe him $540,000 in base compensation for each year left on the contract. If for any reason Wilson were to be fired during the season, IU would also owe him whatever remained of that year's promotional income.

There is also a mitigation clause in the amendment, which essentially states that, should Wilson get another job in college or professional football, either as a coach or commentator, his earnings from that job would offset, dollar for dollar, what remaining base compensation IU owed him. If Wilson, for example, took a job as an offensive coordinator making more than $540,000 per year, then the university would not owe him anything further.

He would still receive the deferred compensation.

So what does this mean?

Two things. One, Kevin Wilson is being paid handsomely. Using last year's figures is an unreliable gauge because of coaching changes and pay increases, but this salary will probably make him something in the range of the eighth-  to 10th-highest paid coach in the league in 2016.

Two, it's the financial step forward for Indiana football that we expected when the contract was first announced. Should Wilson make it to year three of this deal, he will be paid $1 million more per year than he was in the last year of his old contract. That's a big jump.

Here's a good reference point: When IU hired Tom Crean in 2008, his base salary plus promotional compensation came to $2 million per year. In 2009, then-football coach Bill Lynch's total reported compensation was $658,750.

Obviously, the financials of college athletics have changed significantly in the past eight years, but this contract illustrates how much those changes have benefited a department like Indiana's, which can now afford to invest in football in a much more meaningful way.

Follow IndyStar reporter Zach Osterman on Twitter: @ZachOsterman.