After winning UCLA baseball’s first-ever national championship, head coach John Savage was rewarded with a contract extension that pays him up to $1.025 million annually, plus a $100,000 signing bonus. His previous contract maxed out at $501,000.
The UC regents officially approved the contract on Sept. 18. USC reportedly offered Savage over $1 million after he won the College World Series in June.
The terms make Savage, who also won multiple national coach of the year honors this summer, among the highest-paid college baseball coaches in the country. LSU’s Paul Mainieri earns $750,000 in annual guaranteed salary.
The particulars from Savage’s contract, which runs through 2025:
— Savage now earns $300,000 each year in base pay, plus an additional $300,000 talent fee. His previous contract, which ran through 2017, paid him $270,000 annually, with no talent fee.
— Performance bonuses can add up to another $110,000: Pac-12 regular season championship ($5,000); NCAA Regional champion ($10,000); NCAA Super Regional champion ($15,000); College World Series berth ($30,000); national championship ($50,000).
If any postseasons are vacated due to NCAA violations he “directly involved” in or “facilitated, condoned or knowingly ignored,” Savage must return the affected performance bonuses.
— A Pac-12 Coach of the Year earns Savage $10,000, while national Coach of the Year title adds another $30,000. The latter includes awards from one or more of the following: American Baseball Coaches’ Association, Baseball America, Collegiate Baseball, National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association, CollegeBaseballInsider.com.
— He can earn up to $200,000 annually for running camps and clinics.
— His annual retention bonus is $75,000, which vests in full on June 30 of each contract year.
— He receives a one-time signing bonus of $100,000, which he must return if he terminates his contract before June 30, 2014.
— If Savage terminates his contract and accepts another Division I coaching job within a year, he will owe UCLA up to a $675,000 buyout. That figure holds if he leaves between July 1, 2014 and June 30, 2015, decreasing by $75,000 each successive year until it reaches $0 in 2023.
He must pay an additional $250,000 buyout if he leaves for another Pac-12 team.