South Carolina football: Shane Beamer’s contract approved
By Jacob Elsey
South Carolina football has approved its new head coach’s contract terms.
South Carolina’s Board of Trustees met this week to approve the terms of new head coach Shane Beamer’s contract. The BOT agreed to the five-year contract that guarantees its new leader an annual salary of $2.75 million.
The contract will run from December 6, 2020 to December 31, 2025, with a base salary of $1.1 million, with outside compensation (tv deals, apparel contracts, etc.) accounting for the other $1.65 million.
The contract also includes an incentive package that awards pay raises for championship game appearances, bowl invites, and individual coaching honors.
Should the Gamecocks win the national title, Beamer would receive $1 million. An SEC title would result in a $250,000 pay bump, while SEC and national coach of the year honors could end in a $200,000 raise.
Contract negotiations have been a bit of a talking point in South Carolina football news following the firing of Will Muschamp, as reports broke last week regarding the former head coach’s buyout terms. The school agreed to a 75% payout of Muschamp’s remaining salary, which at the time of his firing, was around $13 million. And without certain mitigating language in the agreement, the university could be on the hook for the full amount, regardless of whether or not Muschamp finds a job next season.
The Gamecocks seem to have learned from that mistake, and have taken measures to ensure the buyout amount would be much lower should they be in this same situation with their new head coach.
Beamer’s deal states that he’d be paid 65% of his remaining contract should he be terminated prior to its end. It also says that Beamer would be liable $7 million should he break the contract agreement in his first season, with that number decreasing with each year following.
Beamer became the 36th head coach in program history this December, and though he’s set to remain on the Oklahoma staff through the Big XII championship game, he could have an opportunity to spend some practice time with the team should the Gamecocks receive a bowl invite.