New University of Hawaii football coach Norm Chow could earn a $75,000 bonus before the Warriors play their first game if season-ticket sales jump by about 5,000 over 2011.
The provision is one of 15 performance incentives, perhaps the most extensive bonus offerings ever put before a UH football coach. The contract, signed Dec. 21, was obtained Tuesday by the Star-Advertiser under the state’s open records act.
Chow’s contract began Jan. 1 and runs through Dec. 31, 2016.
UH officials redacted the exact salary from the copy released to the Star-Advertiser, instead listing only a salary range of $392,142 to $935,544. But UH sources close to Chow have previously told the newspaper that his annual salary is $550,000.
Greg McMackin was paid $1.1 million a season and his contract included eight bonus benchmarks. In reducing by half the base salary for his successor, UH agreed to lay out more and increasingly lucrative bonus provisions.
"That was totally tied to the fact that Coach Chow agreed to a reasonable amount for a Division I head football coach," said athletic director Jim Donovan. "And, because Coach Chow agreed to a reasonable base, we’ve been able to go back and increase the total funding package for the assistant coaches."
Donovan said, "In general, we’re trying to tie all of our head coaches to reasonable base pay with performance incentives. That way, when a sport does well, so will the coach."
For the financially strapped Warriors, rebuilding ticket sales, especially season tickets, is key. UH announced a $50 deposit plan for new season-ticket orders the day Chow was hired.
Last season UH sold approximately 20,000 season tickets, a five-year low. If the enthusiasm over Chow’s hiring pushes sales to the 25,000 mark, even at the lowest pricing levels, UH would take in more than $500,000 in additional revenue.
Additional benchmarks at 27,500 and 30,000 call for cumulative $75,000 bonuses.
McMackin’s contract awarded a bonus of $15,000 if season-ticket sales reached 32,500 and an additional $15,000 if sales went to 40,000. The most UH sold during his tenure was 27,699 immediately after the Sugar Bowl.
Chow will be eligible for a $25,000 bonus for taking UH to a non-Bowl Championship Series bowl game or $100,000 for a BCS appearance. If he wins the BCS game, the total reaches $300,000.
Chow will qualify for a $25,000 bonus for every home victory on national TV and $40,000 for a road victory on national TV, according to the agreement. The contract does not define "national television" but the agreement with men’s basketball coach Gib Arnold specifies $6,000 for each win on "a U.S.-based network of 65 million or more U. S. households."
Chow’s eligibility for bonuses would "be forfeited in a contract year in which a major rules violation was reported or if the football team is on NCAA Academic Progress Rate probation," the contract says.
Previous head football coaches have not had that as a part of their agreements.
The contract may be terminated without cause upon 90 days notification, with UH paying an amount "equal to the total remaining base salary through year four" and $200,000 for the fifth year.
