If Alabama athletics director Greg Byrne is considering firing men's basketball head coach Avery Johnson, he might wait until mid-April to make the move.
Alabama lost to Norfolk State on Wednesday in the first round of the NIT, dropping Johnson to 75-62 in four seasons as head coach, including 18-16 this year, their lowest win total in three years. That's not a great look for a head coach who's making nearly $3 million per season and has whiffed on the NCAA Tournament in three of his four years.
In 2015, Johnson signed a six-year deal (through 2021) with an annual salary of $2.8 million. It included a clause that allowed for renegotiation after two seasons, which the two sides did. In 2017, he signed a two-year contract extension that bumped his annual salary to $2.9 million and buyout to $9 million.
Two years later, that buyout has, obviously, come down, though it's still $8 million if Johnson is fired between April 16, 2018, and April 15, 2019. If fired between April 16, 2019, and April 15, 2020, the buyout is $6 million.
Conventional wisdom says if Byrne plans to fire Johnson, he'll wait three weeks to save $2 million.
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