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The Arizona, Oregon State and Washington football teams will all have a price on their heads in games against the University of Hawaii this season.
Not that he figures to lack for incentive, but for a victory over the Wildcats on Aug. 24 or the Beavers on Sept. 7 at Aloha Stadium, UH head football coach Nick Rolovich will earn a $7,500 bonus. If the Rainbow Warriors upset the Huskies in Seattle on Sept. 14, the bounty is $12,500.
The provisions, which award tiered bonuses for beating regular season opponents from elite Power Five conferences here, at neutral sites or on the road, are among the first-time additions contained in Rolovich’s latest, increasingly bonus-laden contract. For the postseason regardless of opponent, Rolovich can earn $10,000 if UH is bowl eligible but not selected for a bowl, $20,000 for appearing in a bowl and $40,000 for winning a lower-tier bowl.
The agreement, which had been announced Jan. 8 as a two-year extension through 2022 with 22 bonus provisions, was released in redacted form to the Star-Advertiser on Saturday after a long-pending request under the state’s open records act.
Rolovich is believed to be the first UH coach to have a Power Five provision in his contract. Its presence reflects the growing degree to which teams who are outside the Power Five, such as UH, have become significant underdogs against the more well-heeled elite, as well as a way to tie pay to performance.
UH is listed as an 11½-point underdog to Arizona in the season opener on a consensus of Las Vegas betting lines. The ‘Bows have lost 13 of their 15 games against Power Five foes since 2011.
It wasn’t always that lopsided. UH went 8-13 between 2004 and 2010, when Power Five conferences were known as Bowl Championship Series conferences.
But as television revenues have skyrocketed for Power Five members, outdistancing the non-marquee schools, the Power Five have invested heavily in facilities, athlete benefits, recruiting and coaching salaries, and it has shown in the widening gap between haves and have-nots.
For example, Pac-12 schools annually receive upwards of $30 million each in conference disbursements for media rights, bowls, NCAA Tournament shares, etc. The Big Ten and Southeastern Conference are in the $40 million-$50 million range. In the Mountain West Conference, which UH football calls home, $5 million is a good year for any member.
UH didn’t play any Power Five opponents last season but has three each in 2019 and 2020 and two each in the 2021 and ’22 seasons.
Under his previous contract, Rolovich’s base salary was $425,004 last season. It was the lowest in the 12-member Mountain West and one of the lowest among 130 NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision coaches. But it trails the current $547,704 base of Jerris Hedges, the dean and a professor at the John A. Burns School of Medicine, who had the highest salary among state employees.
A retention provision in Rolovich’s new deal, the amounts of which were redacted by UH, will likely place him second to Hedges and slightly improve his standing in the MWC and among FBS coaches, according to a person with knowledge of the deal.
Rolovich was due an undisclosed one-time lump-sum retention payment last month for 2019 and, beginning in January, will receive monthly retention bonuses for the 2020, ’21 and ’22 seasons. If he takes UH to a bowl in 2019 or ’20, Rolovich gets an additional year on his contract with accompanying retention bonuses for ’23.
All of which would no doubt be sweetened by a victory over a Power Five opponent.
POWERFUL INCENTIVE
(Bonuses for beating Power Five foes)
$7,500 — Each home game victory over a Power Five foe.
$10,000 — Each neutral site victory over a Power Five foe.
$12,500 — Each road victory over a Power Five foe.
Note: Regular seaon games only.
Source: UH-Rolovich contract
Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@staradvertiser.com or 529-4820.
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