The contract terms for Louisiana State University’s new football coach promise an unusually enormous payout for mediocrity: If the Tigers win just half of their regular-season games, de rigueur for a program with three national championships since 2003, Brian Kelly will receive $500,000 — on top of at least $9 million a year in other compensation.
And every July, no matter his record, Kelly will earn a $500,000 “longevity” bonus if he remains in charge in Baton Rouge.
The line items for middling achievements are helping to mark the pathway for college football’s era of $10-million-a-year coaches.