Per the Oregonian, the University has decided to officially extend and raise head football coach Mario Cristobal’s contract to January 2024. The university previously decided to extend several assistants in conjunction with Coach Cristobal as you can read here.
The old terms of his previous contract:
$2.5 million per year
Maximum of $1,475,000 in performance incentives
$100,000 for nine or 10 win regular seasons
$200,000 for 11 win regular seasons
$250,000 for 12 win regular seasons
Oregon buyout: 50% of remaining salary owed to Cristobal
Cristobal buyout: $8 million before 1.14.2020, $6 million before 1.14.2021, $4 million before 1.14.2022, $2 million before 1.14.2023
Here are the NEW terms of his contract:
$2.6 million per year with annual $100,000 increases for four consecutive years
Maximum of $2,175,000 in performance incentives
$150,000 for reaching a bowl with an eight win season
$250,000 for eight, nine, ten win regular seasons.
$300,000 for 11 or 12 win seasons
Oregon buyout: 60% of remaining salary owed to Cristobal
Cristobal buyout: $9 million before 1.14.2020, $8 million before 1.14.2021, $5 million before 1.14.2022, $3 million before 1.14.2023, and $2 million before 2024.
Contract Breakdown
The most important part of any contract are the out clauses. It appears that both sides reached a compromise in which Oregon increased its buyout money owed to at least $1.6 million+ at any given point of the contract. Cristobal increased his liabilities to the university by $1 million per year in the new deal. The university did well to protect itself from what happened with the current head coach of Florida State University. I won't rehash that story here.
The max salary that Cristobal can earn if everything breaks correctly is $4.5 million per annum. It's not Nick Saban or Dabo Swinney money but still a liveable wage. He still ranks in the lower half of coaching salaries even with the raise.
I'm sure that Coach Cristobal has outside income built into his contract such as free cars, flights, shoes, gear, and other ancillary benefits like any other head coach.
Congratulations on the raise, Coach! Keep up the good work!