Florida reportedly negotiated a lower buyout with fired head coach Jim McElwain but the Gators are still paying him and his predecessor Will Muschamp a lot of money not to coach.
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The mess started in mid-November 2014 when Florida announced Muschamp would not return for a fifth season. The two sides agreed to a $6.3 million buyout that would be paid in eight installments over the next four years. Three weeks weeks later, they hired Colorado State head coach Jim McElwain, who signed a six-year deal worth up to $3.5 million per year. He signed a new six-year deal in January worth $4.5 million per year.
McElwain was fired at the end of October, and while the buyout was lower than expected — and frankly, an absolute bargain for Florida — his dismissal ensured the school will be paying three head coaches at the same time.
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They'll make the seventh and second-to-last payment to Muschamp — now in his second season as South Carolina head coach — next week of $787,500 and will begin paying off McElwain's $4 million soon. The Gators will hire a new head coach at the end of November or beginning of December, whom they'll sign to a contract that will have, at bare minimum, a comparable length and annual salary of McElwain's first deal.
Florida better pray they nail their next coaching hire.
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