Can an athletic director’s contract offer hints about where a university’s priorities lie?
It has been a few weeks since New Hampshire announced Ryan Colton as its next athletic director. Colton replaces Allison Rich, who stepped down in July after announcing her departure in April. A closer look at Colton’s contract offers some clues about what UNH values most in its next era of athletics leadership, and where Colton’s own priorities may align.
Colton’s five-year agreement is longer and more lucrative than the four-year deal Rich signed in 2022. More interestingly, however, UNH rewrote how its athletic director is rewarded for financial performance, placed significantly greater contractual emphasis on fundraising, strengthened the buyout language should he leave Durham, and inserted protections that appear designed to prevent Colton from being held responsible for certain problems he inherits.
None of those provisions independently proves a major strategic shift. Contracts are negotiated documents, and some changes may reflect four years of legal housekeeping. Collectively, though, they provide some clues about what UNH expects from its new athletics administration.
Here are five that stand out.
UNH Made a Bigger and Longer Commitment
Rich received a four-year contract running from July 2022 through June 2026 with an annual base salary of $255,000. Her agreement also included a $20,000 annual supplemental stipend.
Colton received a five-year term, running through June 30, 2031, with a base salary of $275,000 and a $25,000 stipend. That puts his stated annual compensation before bonuses at $300,000, compared to $275,000 under Rich’s original agreement. The base salary increase is roughly 8 percent. The additional year may be more meaningful.
At a time when UNH President Elizabeth Chilton described college athletics as being at a “pivotal moment,” the university gave its new AD a longer runway to manage it.
And UNH made that runway slightly more expensive for both parties to abandon.
The Bonus Plan Is All About Revenue Generation
This may be the most interesting change.
Rich could receive a financial performance bonus based on “Positive Net Revenue” from the athletics operating fund. The formula paid 3 percent of positive net revenue up to $250,000 and 5 percent above that level, with a maximum financial bonus of $25,000.
Colton’s agreement eliminates that formula and essentially creates two separate business-development incentives.
Beginning in FY2028, he can earn up to $25,000 for year-over-year growth in controllable revenue, excluding philanthropy, provided he stays within the approved expenditure budget. He can earn an additional $20,000 based on fundraising performance.
There is another subtle change … the targets aren’t locked into the contract.
Financial metrics will be established annually with UNH’s executive vice president for finance and administration, while philanthropy goals will be established with the vice president for advancement. The president has final approval of both.
That’s a much more flexible management tool.
Instead of simply rewarding an athletics operating surplus, UNH can annually tell its AD:
Here are the revenues we need you to grow.
Here is the fundraising target.
Here is the budget you have to live within.
That fits Colton’s background. UNH specifically highlighted his previous work in his introductory press conference when it came to revenue generation.
Championships Are Worth Less; Business Performance Is Worth More
The allocation of bonus dollars changed dramatically.
Rich’s academic incentive paid $8,000 for a Graduation Success Rate of at least 85, $10,000 for 90-94, and $12,000 for 95 or higher. Her competitive incentive generally paid $3,000 for a conference championship or NCAA tournament/playoff qualification and $7,500 for a national championship.
Colton receives just $3,000 for a GSR of 85, $4,000 for 90-94 and $10,000 for 95-plus. His entire competitive-success category is capped at $10,000 annually. A team conference championship or NCAA berth is worth $2,000, and a team national championship is worth $4,000.
UNH didn’t stop rewarding academics or championships.
It just simply shifted considerably more upside toward enterprise growth.
Colton can earn up to $45,000 annually from the new financial success and philanthropy categories alone. That makes the contract read less like a traditional AD incentive package centered primarily on winning and graduating athletes, and more like one written for the person responsible for running an increasingly complex Division I business … centered on the bottom line.
Colton Appears to Receive a Compliance “Clean Slate”
This is the most legally interesting addition, where I also believe Colton, who earned a Juris Doctor degree from New England Law Boston, shows his savviness.
Under Rich’s agreement, a major NCAA violation within the UNH athletics program could give the university grounds to terminate the contract, even apart from a finding that Rich personally committed the violation.
Colton’s language is more carefully limited, or strategically worded.
UNH can terminate him if he is personally involved in a major NCAA violation. But for a broader violation within the athletics program, the contract specifically references a major violation occurring after the beginning of Fiscal Year 2028 that Colton “knew or reasonably should have known” about.
The bonus language contains a similar firewall. Certain Level I and Level II violations only affect Colton’s bonus eligibility if they occurred after the beginning of FY2028, unless Colton himself was involved.
Colton begins work Aug. 17, 2026. The contract effectively gives the incoming AD substantial protection against being contractually punished for institutional conduct that predates his administration.
That is not me suggesting UNH is expecting an NCAA visit or two. What it does suggest is sophisticated risk allocation: Colton is responsible for the department he takes over, but his contract distinguishes between what he inherits and what happens on his watch.
For an attorney turned athletic administrator, that’s an interesting negotiated protection.
If Colton Leaves, Steeper Buyout
Rich had a declining liquidated damages schedule if she left for another Division I athletics job: 100 percent of base salary in Year 1, 75 percent in Year 2, 50 percent in Year 3, and 25 percent in Year 4. Her agreement also included a detailed process that required presidential permission to explore certain opportunities outside UNH’s conference.
Colton’s structure is different and much more financially challenging.
He must notify the president in writing (generally as a courtesy) before engaging in discussions or negotiations with another prospective employer. If he leaves for athletics-related employment, he owes 100 percent of his base salary during any of the first three contract years, 90 percent in Year 4 and 80 percent in Year 5.
At his initial $275,000 salary, that means the Year 5 exit price would still be $220,000.
UNH also added explicit anti-poaching language prohibiting Colton from assisting in recruiting current or prospective student-athletes or staff members to his new employer, with potential damages separate from his contractual buyout. For what it’s worth, that clause is found in many coaches’ contracts but is rarely, if ever, enforceable.
Bonus Insight:
Despite Colton receiving a five-year deal compared to Rich’s four-year agreement, UNH did not meaningfully increase its guaranteed exposure. Rich’s contract guaranteed one year of her then-current base salary if terminated without cause, which was $255,000 at signing, while Colton’s contract provided the same one-year protection, worth $275,000 at his initial salary. The extra contract year provides Colton with more long-term stability on paper without requiring UNH to guarantee the remaining value of a five-year deal (A bit of a Red Herring Clause). In other words, the commitment got longer, but the university’s financial risk if it decides to make another change barely moved.
What It May Tell Us About UNH
The easiest interpretation isn’t that UNH dramatically changed what an athletic director is. Much of the underlying governance remains intact. Colton still reports to the president or designee, receives a $5,000 departmental discretionary account, and can be terminated without cause in exchange for one year of base salary.
The larger change is what UNH appears to be asking its AD to focus on and produce.
Generate controllable revenue. Raise more money. Stay within budget. Work closely with advancement and finance. Build something over five years. And, if successful, it will be difficult for another school to pull you from Durham.
That makes President Chilton’s introductory comments about finding someone with the “vision, experience, and judgment” to navigate a changing Division I landscape feel more telling. UNH put some of that philosophy directly into the contract.
