Bonus linked to athletes’ conduct

Maryland football coach Ralph Friedgen is eligible to receive a $50,000 bonus each year if the entire football program avoids any trouble with law enforcement and the NCAA.

The citizenship-incentive clause, thought to be unprecedented in big-time college sports, highlighted yesterday’s release of detailed compensation contracts for Friedgen and Maryland men’s basketball coach Gary Williams. It also represents an attempt by Athletic Director Debbie Yow to improve the overall image of her department, particularly as Maryland’s recent run of high-profile athletic success has coupled with nasty bouts of student rioting and profane chanting at games.

The clause rewards Friedgen when there are no violations of the university code of conduct, no arrests or indictments for criminal activity and no violation of National Collegiate Athletic Association bylaws through neglect or willful conduct. It is so tightly worded, however, that Friedgen never has earned the bonus. Something as minor as a residence-hall noise violation by a football player voids the bonus. Williams does not have such a clause in his contract.

“Ralph and I joke it’s a sucker bet, it’s so tightly woven. We’ll probably need to revise it,” Ms. Yow said. “But the principle behind it is very important. We clearly want high levels of ethical conduct, and this is a way to reward that. These things sort of evolve, and I think we’ll have more of these sorts of incentives as more contract situations come up.”

The contracts revealed both coaches to be among the highest paid in major college sports. Friedgen is guaranteed $1.113 million for Maryland’s 2003-04 fiscal year, with another $356,000 a year in incentives and outside bonuses written into his contract, which extends through the 2011 season.

Friedgen’s total potential compensation package, worth $1.469 million, is thought to trail only Florida State’s Bobby Bowden and Frank Beamer of Virginia Tech in the Atlantic Coast Conference. Just $200,000 of that total sum is in base salary, another $441,000 comes from radio and television appearances. Several coaches, including Bowden and Bob Stoops of Oklahoma, earn more than $2 million a year in total compensation.

Earlier this year, Friedgen and Ms. Yow amended his contract to allow him to receive the bulk of money from a five-year, $2.65 million sponsorship with Under Armour, a Baltimore-based producer of athletic apparel. The Under Armour money provided a significant raise for Friedgen, who led the Terrapins to three straight bowl games and received job inquiries from several NFL clubs.

Williams, meanwhile, will receive $1.296 million in guaranteed money for the 2003-04 fiscal year. His total potential compensation, including performance and academic incentives and speaking engagements, is $1.87 million. Only Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski and North Carolina’s Roy Williams are thought to earn more in the conference than Williams. His Maryland contract runs until June 2009.

“We’re proud of what both Ralph and Gary have achieved and how we’ve been able to reward them,” Ms. Yow said.

Friedgen declined to comment, and Williams could not be reached.

Most striking about Williams’ contract is how little money he receives from Nike. A seven-year contract with the athletic shoe giant, signed in September 2001, pays him $225,000 a year. He earns a $50,000 bonus if Maryland wins the NCAA national title, which it did in 2002. Other major college basketball coaches, however, typically receive between $500,000 and $1 million a year from their shoe deals.

Though Williams and Friedgen work at a public institution, none of their money comes from taxpayer funds. Their salaries and bonuses are paid through revenue generated by the athletic department and outside contracts such as the Under Armour and Nike pacts.

Friedgen and Williams are each eligible to receive far more money in on-field performance bonuses than by graduating most of their players. If Friedgen graduates 75 percent or more of his players, a mark he has achieved, he receives a $75,000 bonus. A berth to a bowl in the Bowl Championship Series, however, nets a $225,000 bonus.

Williams’ contract, similarly, calls for a $150,000 bonus for a graduation rate of 75 percent or higher. That $150,000 increases at a 5 percent annual rate beginning last year. Williams has graduated 61 percent of his players in his 15-year run at College Park, Ms. Yow said. A clean sweep of the ACC regular season, ACC tournament and NCAA titles in a given year reaps a $250,000 bonus, a sum subject to a 5 percent annual increase. A trip to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA tournament, something Williams has done seven times at Maryland, nets a $25,000 bonus.

“You look at the proportional size of each bonus, and it’s not very hard to see where, over the long term, the priority and focus are going to be,” said Andrew Zimbalist, Smith College economics professor and a frequent author on the financing of college sports.

The contracts were released yesterday after a two-year legal fight led by the Baltimore Sun, a battle that ended earlier this month with a ruling by the state Court of Appeals.

Despite Friedgen’s record of success and a nationally lauded no-nonsense approach, there have been some conduct issues within the football program. Maryland last admitted breaking NCAA recruiting rules in February 2003 when assistant coach Rod Sharpless gave heralded prospect Victor Abiamiri money to buy a video-game machine. Another coach, Al Seamonson, gave a player a T-shirt and hat worth $20. The program forced Sharpless to resign and escaped serious NCAA penalties, but is now on probation.

• Rick Snider, Barker Davis and Jon Siegel contributed to this report.