Brent Key contract details

[RonJohn]

Nothing for a natty or a playoff?

The AJC article said $700k for a CFP championship.

 

[roedeo]

Look, remember, we are engineers.
There are optimists that see the glass as half full.
There are pessimists that see the glass as half empty.
Then there are engineers who see the glass is twice the size it needs to be.

Still other engineers take the low valued contents in the glass and convert it into higher valued products.

 

[BainbridgeJacket]

For all the griping about the good ole boys club, they put $1M/yr into that assistant pool.

 

[stinger 1957]

27 of the current 65 P5 coaches had no prior head coaching experience.

I too thank you for that.

 

[Buzzbomb]

 

[ibeattetris]

"The contract does offer Key a chance to add to his income through a variety of incentives. They include $100,000 for an eight-win season and another $100,000 for a 10-win season. If the Jackets win six regular-season games and go to a bowl game (outside of the College Football Playoff), Key will earn $50,000 and an extra $50,000 if Tech wins the bowl game.

Similarly, Key will receive $50,000 for leading Tech into the ACC title game and another $50,000 for winning it."

Brent Key’s deal with Georgia Tech: 5 years, $15 million

New Georgia Tech coach Brent Key won’t receive the salary that most of his peers in the ACC are receiving. But his potential for success – and seeing more generous extensions – has been augmented with a larger salary pool for his staff.

www.ajc.com

Those are incredibly small incentives.

 

[AUFC]

Those are incredibly small incentives.

How badly HFC wants to win an ACC title probably does not change much whether he would get $0k, $50k, or $500k for it.

 

[Heisman's Ghost]

I’d have included 200k just for beating Ugag.

Drop the zeroes and put million after the 2. That seems reasonable to me.

 

[forensicbuzz]

27 of the current 65 P5 coaches had no prior head coaching experience.

Can we refine that to include never been a coordinator at the P5 level (was an OC for 1 year at G5)? I love the hire, but there is a reason he was willing to take a lower salary to get his chance with the big boys. I wish him all the luck and am squarely in his corner.

 

[85Escape]

Can we refine that to include never been a coordinator at the P5 level (was an OC for 1 year at G5)? I love the hire, but there is a reason he was willing to take a lower salary to get his chance with the big boys. I wish him all the luck and am squarely in his corner.

Yep. What I like to see. Looks like someone who is willing to bet on themselves instead of trying to get paid before they actually perform.

 

[roadkill]

The contract terms don't prove this by any means, but they do support the notion that we may have been unable to meet the salary demands of some of our other choices who had HC experience.

 

[billga99]

The contract terms don't prove this by any means, but they do support the notion that we may have been unable to meet the salary demands of some of our other choices who had HC experience.

Agree with this but my guess is money for a combo of higher priced head coach and more money for assistants. But I do suspect Key was always in the mix going 4-4.

 

[iopjacket]

The AJC article said $700k for a CFP championship.

Should have made it $5 Mil. Got to give a man some incentive.

 

[HurricaneJacket]

Nothing for a natty or a playoff?

700,000k to win the CFP

 

[HurricaneJacket]

My only current concern after reading the AJC article is that the first year buyout drops on Dec 31 2023. I thought we learned the lesson of putting contact end dates at the end of the season, not the end of the calendar year.
Also for those wondering, if Key leaves he owes us 4MM in 2023, 3MM in 2024, 2MM in 2025, and 1MM in2026. If we fire him we owe 100% remaining 2023, 70% in 2024, 60% in 2025, and 50% the rest of the contract.

I'm looking forward to the contract being published and real details being seen.

 

[lv20gt]

My only current concern after reading the AJC article is that the first year buyout drops on Dec 31 2023. I thought we learned the lesson of putting contact end dates at the end of the season, not the end of the calendar year.

That language is common and it doesn't entail what people pretended it did.

 

[yeti92]

The contract terms don't prove this by any means, but they do support the notion that we may have been unable to meet the salary demands of some of our other choices who had HC experience.

I think our total pool for coaching staff amd head coach was probably competitive, but we probably wanted to use more of that on staff and not burn it all on the HC. Chadwell is making 4m/yr for 5 years at Liberty, do we know how much he has for support staff? If the rumor that he would be bringing his whole staff is true, it wouldn't take anywhere close to 7.5m to pay them all with a decent raise from their current salaries at CCU. Fritz I think just wanted too much of it guaranteed since he'll be retiring soon. BOB may have wanted too much, thinking 6m +-1m. What openings is he currently being linked to? Not sure who else we would have interviewed that would be unaffordable.

 

[RamblinRed]

Ken's article is very helpful.

It is clear GT didn't have a huge pool of money, but maximized what they could. The fact that the incentives were largely in line with what I believe the incentives were for Collins suggest this isn't a result of decreasing the guaranteed and increasing the incentives. More, this is what GT could make work with the budget constraints.

According to the AJC article Collins staff was paid $5.7MM last season.
The $10.3MM combined number (Key + staff) is the highest GT has ever paid out.
GT came into this season with $12.1MM fund deficit and then has to pay out $11.4MM to Collins.

According to the USA Today database the total paid to the 10 on field assistants in 2022 was $3.9MM. That was eighth out of eighth among the 8 ACC Schools required to report numbers (the public schools).
If you assume the same 32% increase for both on field and off field support than the new contract would move GT to sixth among the eighth (assuming none of them increase their numbers as well).

 

[Techster]

IMO, this is a "prove it" contract. Key gets a shot at being GT's HFC, and Batt/GTAA take on a very low risk contract that if it doesn't work out in 3-4 years, GT will be on better footing the next coaching merry go round. Donors stepped up with funding for certain areas, and got they guy they pushed for on very reasonable terms for GTAA.

Make no mistake, the "temperature in the clubhouse" has been lowered a lot, and the feeling is Key will at worst will be a Chan Gailey type coach that gets 6-8ish wins, and by the time the contract comes to an end GT will be on better financial footing to make a bigger move if GT needs to. Key and Batt understand each other: If Key does well, he will be rewarded in 2-3 years, and Key is doing Batt and GT a favor with this contract to help stabilize the program.

This can be a win/win for Key and GT. Key's salary is at the low end of the spectrum for P5 HFCs, but GT and donors have given him more support than any GT coach has ever had. If Key takes that support and makes wise hires for his staff, he'll be rewarded once the on the field product meets the expectations the administration thinks is possible.

 

[takethepoints]

He will be the lowest paid HC in the ACC and one of the lowest in the P5. That is both good and bad. It is good in the short term as it is likely about all we could afford and gives us a chance to start making the buyouts we have to make. On the other hand, if he does not do well it may be very difficult to attract any future coaches when they see how much GT is paying.

And if he does well, he may very well leave Tech for a higher salary. But I'm assuming that the incentives in the contract - and, of course, a renegotiation if he wins consistently - will make Brent's situation more competitive. Besides the obvious love for Tech he has, I think Brent's affordability is what got him the job in the end. If he does well, then Tech will step up too the plate with more cash. I don't see any reason that won't happen, though it might take a year or two.

This situation reminds me a bit of when Rich Brooks took over at Oregon. Same scenario. Let's hope it leads to the same results.