Ed Orgeron’s LSU Tigers took the College Football world by storm with their historic journey to winning the National Championship. Their performance led Orgeron to sign a new contract with the university in January 2020. Let’s look at what he earned during the season via his old contract and the new one’s changes to see how much the team’s miraculous season benefitted his bank account.
Ed Orgeron’s Contract for 2019-2020 Season
Total Guaranteed Compensation
The first thing to know is Orgeron’s total salary’s broken down into two figures:
- Base Salary: $500,000
- Supplemental Compensation: $3,000,000
As a result, he earned $3,500,000/per year in salary under his previous contract, which he signed before the 2019 season.
Additional Income
His contract also included several performance-based incentive compensations for regular-season wins, postseason achievements, winning awards, and the team’s academic performance:
Regular Season Incentives
- Ten victories = $250, 000
- Eleven victories = $350,000
- Twelve victories = $500,000
LSU had twelve regular-season wins during their undefeated season. These incentives aren’t cumulative, which means he earned an additional $500,000 from their regular-season performance.
Post-Season Incentives
- Participation in the SEC Championship Game = $100,000
- Win SEC Championship Game = $200,000
- Appearance in a Non-CFP Bowl Game = $25,000
- CFP Bowl Participant = $150,000
- CFP Semifinal Game Participant = $150,000
- CFP Final Game Participant = $150,000
- CFP Champion = $500,000
LSU hit all of these incentives besides appearing in a Non-CFB Bowl Game, which was fine by them. These postseason incentives gave Orgeron another $1,100,000 to put onto his yearly earnings.
Coaching Recognition Incentives
- Receives the Home Depot Award, Paul Bryant Award, Associated Press Coach of the Year Award, Bobby Dodd Trophy, or American Football Coaches Association National Coach of the Year Award= $50,000
- Named SEC Coach of the Year by Associated Press or SEC coaches = $25,000
Orgeron won all of these besides the Bobby Dodd Trophy, but the compensation can only be activated for one in each section. The maximum amount of money he could receive from winning these awards is $75,000.
Academic Incentives
- Team cumulative GPA of 2.75 or higher = $75,000
- Team cumulative GPA of 3.00 or higher = $50,000
- Single year of APR of 960 or higher = $75,000
LSU’s team APR was 951, failing to hit the incentive mark. The school doesn’t release GPA records for their sports, making it impossible to determine whether Orgeron got those incentives. However, the APR score makes me think it’s unlikely.
Total Earnings
Ed Orgeron pulled in a whopping $5,175,000 during his team title-winning season. It’s a nice haul, but wouldn’t be anything close to what he’d earn with his new contract. It’s time to dive into the lucrative changes Orgeron gets to enjoy starting in the 2020-21 season.
Notable Contract Changes in 2020 Contract
Total Guaranteed Compensation
As mentioned earlier, Orgeron’s base salary was $500,000/per year, which isn’t much compared with other coaches. But he also got paid an additional $3,000,000/per year for agreeing to do other coaching duties, such as promotional events, radio appearances, and TV segments. This made his total salary come out to 3,500,000/per year.
But LSU decided to increase this total salary by another $2,500,000/per year with his new contract, making it $6,000,000/per year for the upcoming season and beyond. It’s a considerable, but well-earned bump up for Coach Orgeron.
Additional Income
His incentive compensation will stay consistent with the previous contract, except for one difference. The team’s GPA incentives were eliminated. He can now earn the entire $200,000 based on his players getting an APR of 960 or higher. Orgeron also receives an extra $187,500/per year to use for air travel and legal fees.
In the end, Coach Orgeron’s National Championship made him a lot more money than his initial total salary intended. He came out of the season, earning an additional $1,675,000 based on hitting almost every incentive. His new contract featuring a $2,500,000/per year bump and some other nice additions is a cherry on top of this vastly successful year.