Chip Kelly has signed a six-year contract extension to remain the head coach of the Oregon football team through the 2015 season, the University announced Tuesday.
The new agreement is valued at $20.5 million total.
The first year will guarantee Kelly a minimum $2.4 million salary in addition to the customary incentives tied to conference and national championship finishes, national rankings and his teams’ academic success.
After the 2011 season, the Manchester, N.H., native will see his pay gradually diminish with a greater share of his annual compensation being guaranteed. In his final two years of the contract, the only two remaining on-the-field incentives would be tied to an appearance in the BCS national championship game and winning 12 or more regular season games. The rest of his rewards will be based upon his team reaching set academic benchmarks.
All parties finalized the new agreement Tuesday afternoon, which went into effect June 15, 2010 and officially concludes June 14, 2016, after discussions were initiated last spring.
“The success of a football program at any university is a crucial component to the financial security of any collegiate athletics department at the Division I level, specifically those who are financially self-supporting,” Oregon athletic director Rob Mullens said in a press release.
“Chip Kelly’s track record in a short amount of time speaks volumes for his character, integrity and ability to lead this program to a new set of standards. It became clear before my arrival at Oregon that retaining him to head the University’s football program was a priority,” Mullens said in the release.
The money used to compensate Kelly comes from the athletic department’s funds and not from University general funds or state taxpayer dollars. The contract also calls for a substantial buyout on Kelly’s part should he leave the University to pursue any other coaching position. He would be required to reimburse the University $4 million should he decide to vacate his Oregon head coaching position following the first year of the agreement, with that buyout gradually reduced by $250,000 each subsequent year until bottoming out at $2 million for every season after the sixth.
“This is an investment in the future success of Oregon athletics and an investment in retaining one of the brightest college coaches in the country,” Mullens continued.
Since joining the Oregon coaching staff as offensive coordinator in 2007 following eight seasons as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at the New Hampshire, last year’s national coach-of-the-year honoree has been at the forefront of a Duck offense that has accounted for 50 points or more 13 times in less than four seasons. In 2009, Oregon finished sixth in the country in rushing offense (231.7 yards per game), eighth in scoring offense (36.1) and 25th nationally in pass efficiency defense.
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