How Arkansas football coach Sam Pittman's contract can make him even more than $5M a season
Arkansas football coach Sam Pittman's new contract was announced Thursday as a five-year, $25 million deal. But if Pittman and the Razorbacks have continued success, his new deal could see him make quite a bit more.
It starts with retention pay. Under his new contract, which is retroactive to Jan. 1, Pittman accrues annual retention payments for staying at Arkansas that start at a rate of $1 million for 2022 and increase by $100,000 in each of the contract’s remaining four years.
Pittman is not scheduled to receive his first retention payment until Dec. 31, 2024, when he would be entitled to a total of $3.3 million. However, if he is fired before that date for any reason — including a contract violation — or if he retires, he would be owed an amount based on the number of days he had worked under the new agreement.
In other words, Pittman is accruing retention pay every day at a rate that increases by $100,000 every year, and the only way he wouldn't receive it would be if he left for another coaching, recruiting or analyst job.
Factoring in retention pay, Pittman's new deal is worth $6 million this year. That makes him the No. 8 highest-paid SEC coach at a public university, up from No. 12 under his previous agreement.
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Outside of retention pay, Pittman's $5 million base annual compensation is eligible to increase each year based on performance. For a seven-win season, Pittman gets a $250,000 raise. For eight wins, he gets $500,000, and for nine or more, he gets $750,000.
Those win thresholds include postseason games, as long as they are against a Power Five team, Notre Dame, or an Associated Press or AFCA Coaches Poll Top 25 opponent.
Pittman also can receive performance-based extensions. If Arkansas wins seven or more games, including a postseason game, Pittman gets one year added to his deal. But he can only get that extension once during the initial five-year term.
By the end of his new deal, Pittman could be making a maximum of $10.25 million. That's if Arkansas were to win nine or more games in each year as well as the $1.5 million retention payment he would be scheduled to receive in 2027.
The $10.25 million maximum doesn't include one-time incentive payments, which he can earn for reaching certain postseason games or awards, or if the team meets particular academic thresholds.
But, of course, if Arkansas starts winning nine or more games every year, Pittman might prove worthy of another extension.
Christina Long covers the Arkansas Razorbacks. You can email her at clong@swtimes.com or follow her on Twitter @christinalong00.
This article originally appeared on Fort Smith Times Record: Sam Pittman contract: Breaking down Arkansas football coach's deal
