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December 21, 2011 in Sports
Mike Leach deal outlined in ‘letter of agreement’
New Washington State football coach Mike Leach has not officially signed a contract, but a letter of agreement does include much of what will be in his contract.
(Full-size photo)
PULLMAN – Mike Leach hasn’t officially signed a contract with Washington State, but the letter of agreement he entered into with athletic director Bill Moos in late November outlines what that contract will entail.
The letter (click on “Documents” at the top of this page to view), obtained by The Spokesman-Review through a public records request, “summarizes the terms of an offer and acceptance for the head football coach position” at Washington State and states they will be incorporated into a formal contract.
When that contract is signed, it will cover a five-year span, expiring at the end of December 2016. However, after two years, the contract rolls over into another five years and does so each ensuing year unless either party decides to stop the automatic extension.
If Leach is fired without cause, he receives 60 percent of the money remaining on the agreement.
As reported previously, Leach will receive a base salary of $2 million per year, with guaranteed supplemental income of $250,000 each year from product endorsement and media obligations.
There are also 10 incentives in the agreement, ranging from $200,000 for reaching the BCS title game to $25,000 for having the highest graduation rates for a Pac-12 public school.
Leach also will have access to one of WSU’s new 12-seat suites plus 20 other tickets, the use of two cars and a country club or health club membership.
The buyout in the agreement begins at $2.25 million, with it reducing by $450,000 each year until reaching zero in year five.
Kamiak boys capture State 4A boys golf 
Al_Loysius on December 21 at 4:04 p.m.
I am not blaming Mike Leach in particular, but paying a college coach 2 million bucks a year is lunacy. In the NFL maybe, but not college. This is going to increase pressure to pay student-athletes some actual money in the revenue producing sports. The concept of players being unionized is not really all that far-fetched.
Paying coaches at ANY school this kind of money makes the concept of “amateur athletics” and “student-athletes” even more of a farce. Don’t you think that it puts even more pressure on coaches to win at all costs, and take a chance that the NCAA won’t catch you?
This is all made possible by TV money. If the gravy train ever stops, these poor coaches will have to go back to scraping by for a couple of hundred thousand a year.
Loudin on December 21 at 5:52 p.m.
Meanwhile, Coach Leach just stole an ESPN 4* WR from OSU:
http://washingtonstate.scout.com/a.z?s=137&p=2&c=1141133&ssf=1&RequestedURL=http%3a%2f%2fwashingtonstate.scout.com%2f2%2f1141133.html
That wouldn’t have happened had Bill Moos not stepped up and utilized the FOX-PAC12 television revenue to hire Coach Leach. As a Coug alum, I’m completely fine with the contract and the new approach the university is taking with the football program.
It’s really quite simple: If you like college basketball, baseball, soccer, track, swimming and/or anything else, you need a strong football team to generate funds to cover the expenses of those sports. A great Wazzu football team helps the athletic department become self-sustaining…something which it currently isn’t. But thanks to Moos and President Floyd, it’s on the fast track to doing so.
Go Cougs!
Loudin
Al_Loysius on December 21 at 7:39 p.m.
Loudin,
Let me ask you a hypothetical. If you were king for a day and college football were just invented, would your really pay a guy 2 million dollars a year to coach? I am as big a sports fan as anybody else here, but is it not a screwed up world where we pay that much money? Are you really going to tell me with a straight face that a college coach has that much social contribution to make? Hey, I know that “everybody else is doing it” but does it not bother you on some basic level?
Upthewazzu on December 21 at 7:46 p.m.
Al, tell me how much mark Few makes to coach 12 basketball players?
Loudin on December 21 at 7:59 p.m.
I don’t begrudge any amount of money that any person makes…I’ve always figured that it’s generally jealousy that makes a person gripe. We typically compare ourselves (and we’re all underpaid and harder working than everyone else, right?) to situations that aren’t comparable…thus we get outraged and worked up and bitter. Yet none of that changes our own lot in life, does it? I think we’d be a far better off country if people worried about what they’re doing to succeed and not what others are doing…
Now let me ask you a hypothetical, Al: If you had a track record of being one of the best at what you do, don’t you believe you should be paid a wage based upon the aggregate data of what your peers earn? Or are you one of these “fall on the sword” types that would take far less out of altruism? You know…that sort of internet altruism that’s easy to have when the chances of that situation occurring are virtually nil?
If Coach Leach averages eight wins a season over the course of his contract, the revenue from bowls, merchandising, ticket sales and all the secondary revenue sources (ie, Pullman businesses) will be overwhelmingly worth it. He has a ten-year track record of producing very good teams…and that’s the reason he was hired. So, like I’ve said before, I support the Admin 100% on this hire and I hope that in five years we have another argument…when he’s being offered $3/M a year!
Loudin
Al_Loysius on December 21 at 8:21 p.m.
Upthewazzu,
Few makes about 650k on his package as nearly as I can tell. That is too high in a perfect world too, but according to my math, it ain’t anywhere near 2 million a year.
You guys miss my point. Don’t you think that something is wrong with the whole premise of college sports when we pay guys multi-million dollar contracts? Let me take another tack. In relative terms, Bear Bryant, Knute Rockne, John McKay, etc. did not make those kinds of bucks in their day and they were legends. I am sure that Alabama, Notre Dame and USC all liked winning games in those days too.
The real point in more blunt terms: don’t you fear the poisoning effect this much money has on college sports?
Upthewazzu on December 21 at 8:57 p.m.
If $650k is too high, how do you feel about $922k (he actually makes more if you include bonuses and non-university funds) to coach 12 players (Leach is responsible for 125, plus 15 coaches)? Your point is moot because of your bias. If you feel the need to preach, do it outside of GU’s athletic department.
Spokane_Citizen on December 21 at 9:11 p.m.
I completely agree with Loudin; if we’re stupid enough to pay a public employee that kind of money for negligible societal benefit, then said employee deserves such level of compensation. He’s not the fool….we are.
Al_Loysius on December 21 at 10:14 p.m.
At least somebody gets part of what I was trying to argue.
Spokane_Citizen on December 21 at 11:00 p.m.
Al…most people get it, but feel no necessity to argue about what is patently obvious to all except those that depend upon the success of some team as an integral part of their identity…..despite the fact that such success comes at the expense of taxpayers that do not share their pathological affinity. Their team must win at any cost….though ‘their team’, in fact, doesn’t even know they exist. It’s a truly pathetic situation.
Middleman on December 22 at 3:58 p.m.
Al….and other folks with tunnel vision,
The Cougars announced today that a $3 million gift from Greg Rankich, the CEO/President of Kirkland-based IT consulting firm Xtreme Consulting has been recieved. This is the largest donation to the WSU Football program in the history of the University.
The gift pushes the Cougar Football Project forward with stadium renovations underway and a football operations building planned. Rankich’s gift is also a nudge to Washington State fans and alums. Thursday’s announcement continues the wave of momentum and publicity that BEGAN with the hiring of MIKE LEACH, and serves as another reminder to fans that Washington State is working diligently to move forward and upwards.
Is Mike Leach and his solid (but not rediculous….maybe 5-6th in the PAC 12) salary a wise investment for the future of WSU Football and the University in general? I think you know the answer, even if you aren’t willing to admit it.
ericdx on December 23 at 12:04 a.m.
And Al,
Get off the Kool Aide! COACHES ARE PAID BY ATHLETIC DEPARTMENT FUNDS. those funds come from BOOSTERS AND CONTRIBUTORS. Not the university general fund. Heck, when the football team makes big money (liek some schools do) some of that money finds its way back into the university, and the publicity gets the university grants, and interested alumni, and professors that want to go there and make it better. So give it up.
I think your just still P!$$ED that Gonzaga got rid of football some 40 years ago, so you feel the need to b!tch about other schools having football, and football coaches.
Summed up another way, Western dropped its football program a couple of years ago. Heard of anything major happening there lately? Any major donations, or research grants? NO because in the end, FOOTBALL is what a school gets known for. Maybe Basketball in a few places, and Gonzaga is one of them, but the fact is, even a GREAT basketball team only brings in a fraction of what a good football team does for a college. Get over it.
Go COUGS!!! Go Mike Leach!!!!