Louisville athletic director Tom Jurich sat beside Bobby Petrino during a press conference on April, 14, 2016, during which the pair announced Petrino's new seven-year contract. Jurich said he'd do "everything in [his] power" to ensure Petrino stays at Louisville. Everything in Jurich's power included giving Petrino one of the friendliest contracts in coaching history.
While the new seven-year deal included a pay raise, the 29-percent bump wasn't outrageous for a guy who became the second head coach in program history to win at least 15 games in his first two seasons (the first was also Petrino during his first stint at head coach). The outrageous part was a buyout provision that increased throughout the first four years of the contract.
If Petrino — who's leading the program's worst start (2-4) since 2009 (2-5) — is fired without cause, Louisville owes him the remaining balance of that year's salary plus the salary of the next three years. (If fired prior to the end of the year, he is owed a $500,000 bonus for an APR score of at least 900 for that year.)
First, here's the base salary breakdown:
July 1, 2016 – June, 30, 2017: $3.875 million
July 1, 2017 – June 30, 2018: $3.925 million
July 1, 2018 – June 30, 2019: $3.975 million
July 1, 2019 – June 30, 2020: $4.025 million
July 1, 2020 – June 30, 2021: $4.075 million
July 1, 2021 – June 30, 2022: $4.125 million
July 1, 2022 – June 30, 2023: $4.175 million
For example, if Petrino were fired on June 30, 2019 (for simplicity's sake to avoid remaining balance calculations and APR bonuses because we don't know what day he'd be fired), he'd be owed no remaining money on his 2018-19 salary but would be owed his base salary for the next three years:
July 1, 2019 – June 30, 2020: $4.025 million
July 1, 2020 – June 30, 2021: $4.075 million
July 1, 2021 – June 30, 2022: $4.125 million
Total: $12.225 million
If Petrino is retained for another season and begins the fourth year of his contract (2019-2020), the three-year rolling buyout would include the final three years of his contract: 2020-2021, 2021-2022, 2022-23. And because his base salary increases by $50,000 per year, his buyout would be larger next year.
MORE: Year-by-Year Buyouts for Malzahn
If Petrino were fired on June 30, 2020 (again, for simplicity's sake), he'd be owed no remaining money on his 2019-20 salary but would be owed his base salary for the next three years, which is higher than the previous three years:
July 1, 2020 – June 30, 2021: $4.075 million
July 1, 2021 – June 30, 2022: $4.125 million
July 1, 2022 – June 30, 2023: $4.175 million
Total: $12.375 million
The buyout would finally begin decreasing if Petrino makes it to the fifth year of his contract (2020-21). If Petrino were fired on June 30, 2021, he'd be owed no remaining money on his 2020-21 salary but would be owed the base salary for the remainder of the contract, which would be two years, or, finally, a lower than the buyout for the first time during his seven-year deal:
July 1, 2021 – June 30, 2022: $4.125 million
July 1, 2022 – June 30, 2023: $4.175 million
Total: $8.3 million
And if he were fired on June 30, 2022, he'd be owed only his salary for 2022-23:
July 1, 2022 – June 30, 2023: $4.175 million
Total: $4.175 million
On Monday, Tom Meeker, a member of the University of Louisville Athletic Association, said Louisville "is not in a position" to pay Petrino's buyout. While Meeker expressed confidence in Petrino and the program and did not say Petrino would be fired if his buyout was lower, it's still telling that he'd be willing to address the buyout.
If Louisville can't pay the buyout now, could they pay a larger buyout next year given their financial issues?
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