TBJ: Gottfried’s contract comes to light

Mark Gottfried NCS Basketball19

Nothing of surprise in this article about new NC State Basketball coach, Mark Gottfried’s contract. Nonetheless, there are some interesting data points.

A copy of the coach’s new contract (download PDF), which was approved by N.C. State’s Board of Trustees on Friday, shows that Gottfried can earn up to $1 million in bonuses annually. That includes a maximum of $250,000 in bonuses for “academic team achievement” and up to $750,000 for what’s labeled as “competitive team achievement.”

Events that can trigger bonuses on the academic side include:
• the scholarship athletes on the team posting a cumulative grade point average of 3.0 or greater,
• the team’s graduation rate exceeding the national average for basketball and
• the team’s academic progress rate exceeding the national average for the sport of men’s basketball.

Gottfried also can earn bonuses on the court for accomplishments such as winning the regular season conference championship and/or the ACC Tournament title, and reaching various rounds of the NCAA Tournament, including winning the national title.

NCSU already had announced that Gottfried’s deal would pay him more than $1 million annually, including $750,000 in annual salary and $450,000 in supplemental compensation. The deal runs through April 4, 2016, but Gottfried can earn an automatic two-year extension if the team makes it to the Big Dance in the 2011-12 or 2012-13 seasons.

Coach Gottfried’s contract can be seen by clicking here.

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Mark Gottfried NCS Basketball

19 Responses to TBJ: Gottfried’s contract comes to light

  1. Hamlet 04/23/2011 at 5:11 AM #

    Realistically, if we are being honest with ourselves, these two areas of reward are probably mutually exclusive at N.C. State. So which should MG go for? The attainable $250,000 on the academic side, which will all but destroy his chances of athletic success, or the greater (hence, more important) $750,000 in athletic bonuses while neglecting benchmarks?

    Some of those academic marks could possibly be met without sacrificing success on the court, but some (the cumulative 3.0 GPA, for example) are almost in direct conflict with winning at a school like NCSU. I don’t have an issue with these bonuses, mind you. In the end, however, I just want MG to do 3 things: 1) Do not embarrass the university; 2) Approximate the national and university graduation rates; and most importantly, 3) Win BIG.

  2. Hamlet 04/23/2011 at 5:14 AM #

    ^Should read, “or the greater, (hence, more important) $750,000 in athletic bonuses while neglecting academic benchmarks.”

  3. buclark 04/23/2011 at 8:36 AM #

    Let’s just hope that earning the $250,000 doesn’t end up with a scheme to “game” the system. I think we all know that a winning basketball team is not going to have a 3.0 average in regular classes at NCSU even given the grade inflation since my time of 1969.

  4. WTNY 04/23/2011 at 9:56 AM #

    Looks like a good contract to me.

    Beyond all the legalese:
    * 5 year contract
    * Incentives for academic benchmarks
    * All the expected perks (State/University club, car allowance, etc.)
    * Incentives for competitive benchmarks

    What sticks out to me:
    * Making the NCAA tourney in either of the next two years extends the contract (one-time) for two more years.
    * If either party terminates the contract (we fire / he bolts) the penalty is the same: # of years remaining times base (750K) which is roughly $3 million if it happens at the end of a season.
    * There is a bonus for finishing 2nd regular season and also for being tourney winner-up.
    * The NCAA bonuses start at the Sweet 16 level

  5. packhammer 04/23/2011 at 10:48 AM #

    Will be interesting to see how this contract compares to what Miami is doing to get Larannega from GMU. I suppose there will be a round of discussions on whether we should have gone after him. My gut is that we did better to go with Gottfried. But time will tell.

  6. Rochester 04/23/2011 at 11:25 AM #

    I like Larranaga, but I’m happy with Gottfried. I think he’s got a higher upside at this point in his career.

  7. kyjelly 04/23/2011 at 12:38 PM #

    Honestly thought MG and Larranaga were both pretty weak choices.

  8. BJD95 04/23/2011 at 1:35 PM #

    All 3 ACC hires were meh, and the contracts will all reflect same.

  9. JSRy2k 04/23/2011 at 3:07 PM #

    These standards show DY is serious about national prominence: If we don’t place better than 3rd in the ACC and/or make it past the 2nd round of the NCAA’s, there is zero performance bonus. Good call!

    We have only 8 legit players on scholarship, plus two mediocre incoming freshmen for 2011. Assuming he can coach the season adequately, which his record seems to indicate, Gottfried’s make-or-break will most likely be luring a dynamite recruiting class for either 2012 or 2013.

  10. john of sparta 04/23/2011 at 3:37 PM #

    Miami doesn’t have to release.

  11. choppack1 04/23/2011 at 4:00 PM #

    It’s pretty generous for a coach who resigned from his last gig mid season under duress. Would have been much more excited with Marshall…but maybe he can recapture his magic. His kenpom #s were actually pretty solid.

  12. gcpack 04/23/2011 at 4:22 PM #

    On another subject baseball team beats #1 UVa in first game of series 6-2 Great start!

  13. PoppaJohn 04/23/2011 at 5:12 PM #

    On another subject … the cutoff for declaring for the NBA draft is midnight tomorrow (24th). CJL didn’t shine like we’d hoped last year, but I’d rather have him on the team with the possibility of some great games than watch him totally disappear in the NBA.

  14. john of sparta 04/23/2011 at 7:16 PM #

    well, the NBA lockout convinced HB/UNX.
    http://articles.nydailynews.com/2011-04-13/sports/29434298_1_nba-lockout-internship-program-training-camp
    there should be some great college ball next season.
    the association…not so much.

  15. camel77 04/24/2011 at 2:49 AM #

    I sense a lot of people not happy with the MG hire as basketball coach with people who post a lot not posting (or trying to act as it didn’t happen), people saying it was a bad hire. MG fits the guidelines DY set in the press conference after The announcement of Sydney Lowe not coming back.

    I think a lot of you are disappointed that our A-list wouldn’t be dying to give up their safety net where they are and come to NC State. MG’s resume is almost as good as some on the A-list (except Donovan who has won a natal championship). His resume sure is a lot better than Marshall. With Marshall it sounds good to have your team in the NCAA seven times, but all that means is that you are the best in your conference. He only won 1 game in the seven tries and with Wichita State no NCAA and just two NIT(was runner-up). It would have been nice to see what Smart could have done with what he did this year and NC State resources but he was high risk. Without getting someone on A-list, MG was the next best thing.

    With the three hires in the ACC this year, we came out on top. Larranaga may be just as good but his age comes into the equation. Miami will be looking for another coach in 8 to10 years and with MG 15 to 20 years.

  16. VaWolf82 04/24/2011 at 12:08 PM #

    I sense a lot of people not happy with the MG hire as basketball coach with people who post a lot not posting (or trying to act as it didn’t happen), people saying it was a bad hire.

    I’m not sure what this means exactly, but there are alot of positions between “disgusted” and “ectastic” that people might have with MG’s hiring. I don’t know why anyone assume that “a lot of people are not happy” just because there are not necessarily a lot of people gushing on message boards.

    I suspect that most people fall in between those two extremes and are waiting to see what happens in recruiting and more importantly on the court before passing judgement. That’s where I am and I really don’t understand why anyone would take any other position.

  17. Wolfy__79 04/24/2011 at 2:04 PM #

    i like the coach! i like the contract and all the details.. certainly this isn’t my area of expertise but it appears to have some proper motivators in there for him to get the ball rolling each year.

    here’s my question to you who have responded. do you think it is automatic to sacrifice grades for performance? …and if so, how do duke players perform in the classroom. i would think that they have good grades. …and how are our football players grades? i played one year in college and that year i actually had better grades than the following two years? i would argue that unless we are just recruiting absolute fools, that it’s not nearly impossible for a mg to reach either of these goals..

  18. BJD95 04/24/2011 at 4:34 PM #

    I didn’t say it was a bad hire, I said “meh.” Just doesn’t excite me. Neither do GT’s or Miami’s. Any of them could certainly work out, but certainly none would “blow away” an objective observer.

    What disgusted me was Yow’s “pity party” letter, the baffling team meeting she held, and then her press conference shenanigans. The more things, they more they remain the same (amateur hour).

    Hell, given all that – we are probably lucky she did have the personal relationship with MG. One can deduce that otherwise, her next step would have been picking names at random out of the phone book.

    So yeah, given how I feel, the best thing to do is generally what I have done – lay low on the hoops front and focus on football. I see no reason to delude myself into pretend excitement.

    I did and do give MG credit for walking back our relationship with the dumpster fire that is WOG and QJ. Thank God for that.

  19. 61Packer 04/24/2011 at 7:01 PM #

    Had Yow not had the “personal relationship” with Gottfried, she might’ve hired a better coach, either Larannega or Marshall. Not saying Gottfried’s a bad hire, just saying that athletic directors’ “personal relationships” don’t always pan out. Most Wake Forest fans would agree.

    Of the 3 ACC teams who made new hires, Miami probably got the best coach, although they would have been better off in the long run to have brought K-State’s Frank Martin back to South Florida. But the U has had a poor track record of coaching hires in the past few years.

    Some may like Gottfried, some may not. If I could’ve chosen Low’s successor from Gottfried, Marshall and Larannega, I would’ve taken Marshall, but Gott’s ok with me.

    What’s not ok with me, though, is some of the people who are running universities nowadays. If you think Wolfpack athletics have been bad in recent years, they would have been FUBAR had somebody like Donna Shalala been our president.

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