Mack Brown has been an institution within College Football for a long time. His absence was felt when he left Texas in 2013. Honestly, it felt like something was missing in the sport during those five years. It’s no surprise that most people were thrilled when North Carolina gave him their head coaching job in 2018. He was returning to where his head coaching journey began back in 1988. it became one of the more heart-warming stories in College Football over these last few years.
But no matter how sentimental a story happens to be, the results matter more. One of the primary criticisms about this hire was that some experts were worried about how he would mesh with the younger generation. Brown had been out of the head coaching game for five whole years, which is a long time when it comes to coaching. It was more worrying when the numbers came out about the investment North Carolina was making in hiring him. His salary would put him near the top earners in the ACC. It’s a lot of money to spend on someone who’s been sitting in an ESPN studio for five years.
We’re going to provide better context into the investment North Carolina’s making by breaking down his contract and examining what he will earn during this upcoming season. You should get a better idea about the type of risk North Carolina’s making with Brown as their coach.
Mack Brown’s 2020-2021 Contract Details
Total Guaranteed Compensation
Mack Brown’s guaranteed compensation is one of the more interesting parts of his contract. His annual wage is broken into five sections: base salary, supplemental compensation, manufacturer agreement money, expenses, and multimedia rights agreement money.
The base salary consists of what North Carolina has to pay Brown annually during his contract. He could miss an entire season because of sickness, and Carolina would still need to pay him this amount. It’s what he can count on in salary, no matter what happens during the year.
Brown’s supplemental compensation is what he gets paid for performing the duties of a head coach. In other words, this amount of money he earns for running practices, doing recruiting, coaching on game days, etc.
Meanwhile, his manufacturer agreement money comes from the team’s sponsor. North Carolina deals with Nike to make their jerseys, equipment, and other football-related items. Brown benefits from this deal, as he becomes a rather vital marketing cog for Nike.
The expenses section can be used on any entertainment meant to advance the North Carolina football program. As a result, he can’t use it for his own devices, but it’s still a nice chunk of change to set up a special team bonding event.
Lastly, the multimedia rights agreement money comes from Learfield. This amount of money is what he gets paid for all TV appearances, radio interviews, and other similar events; any public situation that’s not located on a College Football sideline.
- Base Salary: $750,000
- Supplemental Compensation: $2,000,000
- Manufacturer Agreement Money (Nike): $200,000
- Expenses: $50,000
- Multimedia Rights Agreement Money (Learfield): $500,000
These five sections add up to an impressive $3,500,000 per year. It’s a rather remarkable figure that comes in line with what most top ACC football coaches get paid. But it’s still way behind what Dabo Swinney gets paid at Clemson.
However, Brown can add to this amount by obtaining several bonuses: performance incentives, coaching recognition incentives, and academic incentives. If he gets many of them, Brown could add a nice amount of extra money (maximum of $1,000,000) onto his guaranteed compensation.
Additional Income
Brown’s additional income is capped out at a substantial $1,000,000. He could spread this out among the three different sections. It doesn’t have to be all performance incentives, as he could sprinkle in academic and coaching award incentives. In most cases, these performance bonuses come together rather than separately: a coach who’s won a National Championship has an excellent chance of winning National Coach of the Year.
Performance Incentives
- College Football Playoff (Cumulative)
- CFP Participant: $100,000
- CFP Championship Game Participant: $200,000
- CFP Championship Game Winner: $200,000
- Conference Championship
- Wins ACC Conference Championship: $250,000
- Coastal Division
- Wins ACC Coastal Division: $200,000
- Bowl Games (not cumulative)
- Invited to a New Year’s Six Game: $200,000
- Invited to Any other Bowl Game: $75,000
- Final CFP Poll (not cumulative)
- Finish Top 25: $50,000
- Finishes Top 15: $100,000
Performance incentives are all about what happens on the field during 2020-2021. Brown could see $1,050,000 from this section alone with a perfect season if there wasn’t any bonus cap. He loses out on $50,000, but it’s doubtful he’ll care much when lifting that National Championship trophy.
Coaching Recognition Incentives
- Coaching Awards
- Wins National Coach of the Year: $100,000
- Conference Coach of the Year: $50,000
If Mack Brown manages to win the 2020-2021 ACC Conference Championship, there’s little doubt he would be a frontrunner for National Coach of the Year. His team ending Clemson’s run would probably result in him earning an extra $150,000 (depending on how close he’s to the bonus limit).
Academic Incentives
- Annual Progress Rate
- Team’s APR equal or over 975: $50,000
Academic incentives have very little to do with Brown, but North Carolina saw it fit to award him $50,000 for stellar team grades anyway. It makes sense considering the basketball team’s cheating scandal a few years back.
Maximum Earnings for 2020-2021
Figuring out Mack Brown’s maximum earnings is simple due to North Carolina capping his additional income bonuses. He’d get a sizable $4,500,000 for having a season where he’s able to obtain $1,000,000 in performance, coaching recognition, and academic incentives. You’d imagine these achievements would require having an almost perfect season and a National Championship win. North Carolina is much-improved thanks to Brown’s tutelage, but their team isn’t there yet. However, it’s not out of the realm of possibility that they could reach these heights in the upcoming years based on their steady progress and Sophomore star quarterback. The sizable investment Carolina made seems to be working out.