Over these last couple of years, Kirby Smart’s Georgia Bulldogs have reestablished themselves as a College Football powerhouse. They’ve accomplished everything except winning the elusive National Championship. They were even minutes away from winning it during the 2017-2018 season. But the heroics of future Heisman winner Tua Tagovailoa ensured the Bulldogs would leave empty-handed.
Smart’s efforts weren’t all for nothing, though, as the university gave him a rich contract extension after the season. This extension laid the groundwork for Smart to remain the Bulldogs’ head coach through the 2024-2025 season. Let’s take a look at how much money this extension made Smart over this last calendar year.
Kirby Smart’s Contract for the 2019-2020 Season
Total Guaranteed Compensation
Most College Football coaches have their guaranteed salaries separated into multiple categories. In Kirby Smart’s case, his compensation is split up into three sections: base salary, coach’s media compensation, and coach’s equipment compensation. The base salary is what Georgia has to pay Smart, regardless of whether he does his coaching duties.
The coach’s media compensation is what he gets paid for doing what coaches are supposed to do: radio appearances, TV appearances, press conferences, leading practices, etc. It’s the figure Smart gets paid for doing his job.
His coach’s equipment compensation is a bit more interesting. This figure is what he gets paid for endorsing the companies, such as clothing brands, that Georgia selects. It’s an additional compensation only top-end College Football coaches obtain.
- Base Salary: $500,000
- Coach’s Media Compensation: $4,050,000
- Coach’s Equipment Compensation: $2,150,000
In the end, his total guaranteed compensation for 2019-2020 was around a respectable $6,700,000. But this figure isn’t everything that he earned during the season. There were several performance bonuses capable of being obtained, which we’ll discuss in our next section.
Additional Income
Most universities reward their coaches for regular-season victories with extra money incentives. But Georgia doesn’t care much about regular-season success. As a result, Smart’s performance bonuses for on-field success are based on what the team did in the postseason.
He can also earn bonuses for winning individual coaching awards and his team having success inside the classroom. If Smart meets most of these, he could add a nice chunk of change onto his already large guaranteed salary.
Postseason Incentives
1) Pre-Bowl Season Incentives (He can only earn one of these incentives)
- Plays in SEC Championship Game as SEC Eastern Division Champions: $100,000
- Wins the SEC Championship Game: $225,000
2) Bowl Season Incentives(He can only earn one of these incentives)
- Plays in the Independence or Birmingham Bowl: $50,000
- Plays in a Six-Pack Bowl (Taxslayer, Outback, Belk, Music City, Texas, or Liberty): $75,000
- Plays in Citrus Bowl Game: $100,000
- Plays in any CFP Bowl Game (Rose, Sugar, Cotton, Fiesta, Peach, or Orange): $175,000
- Advance to CFP Semifinal Game: $250,000
- Play in National Championship Game: $500,000
- Wins National Championship Game: $750,000
Georgia’s 2019-2020 season ended with a 12-2 record, including a loss in the SEC Championship and a win in the Sugar Bowl. As a result, he gained an additional $275,000 in postseason incentives due to these accomplishments.
Coaching Recognition Incentives
- Selected as SEC Coach of the Year: $50,000
- Selected as National Coach of the Year (Associated Press, American Football Coaches Association, Paul “Bear” Bryant, Water Camp, or Home Depot): $100,000
Ed Orgeron, LSU’s head coach, would sweep all these awards during 2019-2020. Due to this, Smart ended up seeing no extra money for any coaching recognition incentives. It’s a shame because he did lead Georgia to a widely successful campaign.
Academic Incentives
- Finishes in the top 33% of SEC Football Teams in GSR and APR rate: $75,000
Kirby Smart’s team finished near the bottom in both GSR and APR rates for SEC football teams during 2019-2020. If he wants this money incentive any time soon, he’ll need to do a much better job encouraging his team to hit the books.
Total 2019-2020 Earnings
Kirby Smart’s 2019-2020 total compensation adds up to an impressive $6,975.000. His SEC Championship loss against LSU did hold him back some. But honestly, nobody was stopping Joe Burrow and the LSU Tigers last year. Overall, Smart managed to have an extremely lucrative year, even though it didn’t entirely end how he wanted.
It’s worth noting that his contract will change a bit in the next couple of years. Smart stands to earn a significantly more considerable amount for every year he remains at Georgia. Let’s take a quick look at what changes are waiting for him during the rest of his extension.
Upcoming Changes in the Contract
Smart’s contract has two significant yearly changes that affect his overall income. These changes concern his coach’s media compensation and coach’s equipment compensation. Both will increase each year he remains employed by Georgia:
1) Coach’s media compensation:
- 2020 – 2021: $4,100,000
- 2021 – 2022: $4,200,000
- 2022 – 2023: $4,300,000
- 2023 – 2024: $4,350,000
- 2024 – 2025: $4,400,000
2) Coach’s Equipment Compensation:
- 2020 – 2021: $2,200,000
- 2021 – 2022: $2,300,000
- 2022 – 2023: $2,400,000
- 2023 – 2024: $2,450,000
- 2024 – 2025: $2,500,000
If Smart continues being successful on the field, these figures will likely be amended to even higher figures. But these increases alone should be enough to see why Kirby Smart would want to remain at the University of Georgia.