Penn State head coach Bill O’Brien will be making about $1 million more in 2013 than he did in 2012, according to an amended contract agreed to with the university. O’Brien’s base salary jumps from $950,000 in 2012 to just over $1.9 million in 2013, which should bring his total compensation to approximately $3.3 million, per the USA Today coaching salary database.
Penn State and Bill O’Brien agree to $1 million raise
O’Brien will receive a bump in pay after guiding the Nittany Lions to a surprisingly good year in 2012.
Rich Barnes-US PRESSWIRE
O’Brien is eligible to receive a bonus up to $200,000 in performance incentives, even though most of the incentive benchmarks are based on things the Nittany Lions won’t be eligible for until 2016. It also reportedly boosts the terms of his buyout, but I was not able to find those terms within the contract itself:
The O'Brien contract also decreases the likelihood he goes to the NFL soon. His buyout price will be $.7.7 million after 2013, $3.4 after 14
— Onward State (@OnwardState) June 20, 2013
This new deal makes O’Brien the third-highest paid coach in the Big Ten, behind only Ohio State’s Urban Meyer and Iowa’s Kirk Ferentz (!). It also makes him the 11th-highest paid head coach in the country, just ahead of Oklahoma State’s Mike Gundy and Michigan’s Brady Hoke.
O’Brien guided the Nittany Lions to an 8-4 record in his first season in State College, a record few thought he could achieve considering the scandal and NCAA sanctions surrounding the team. O’Brien spoke with NFL teams earlier in the offseason, but it’s unclear whether the interest was legitimate or if he was just trying to get a raise out of it. Either way, he’ll be well compensated for the massive task he has over the next several years.
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