(What's happening with the Arkansas Razorbacks? Make sure you're in the loop --- take five seconds to Sign up for our FREE Razorbacks newsletter now!)

FAYETTEVILLE – Arkansas’ assistant coaches will make more than $4.3 million in 2018, according to documents obtained by Hawgs247 late Friday night.

That is $400,000 more than the Razorbacks’ previous coaching staff, an increase of 10.1 percent. However, the NCAA approved the addition of a 10th assistant coach for this season. Accounting for that, the average salary actually had a slight dip from last year, dropping by 0.9 percent.

The University of Arkansas released full contracts for five of the assistant coaches and the salary amounts for the other five, whose contracts are not yet finalized, after a Freedom of Information request by Hawgs247.

Defensive coordinator John Chavis is the highest paid assistant coach. He is on a one-year deal that will pay him $995,000, but he has the option to agree to a two-year extension by Dec. 1 that would increase his salary to $1.5 million in 2019 and $1.6 million in 2020.

The total he is set to make in 2020 would match his salary at Texas A&M for this past season, when he was the third-highest paid assistant coach in college football, according to a database compiled by USA Today.

Using that database, which based on last year’s numbers, Chavis’ salary would rank 15th nationally and ninth in the SEC.

If Chavis is terminated for convenience before Feb. 28, 2019, he will be owed the entire remaining amount on his one-year deal. However, his buyout drops to 70 percent after that date if he agrees to the extension.

Here is a table with the 2018 base salary for all 10 assistants:

Name

Position

2018 salary

John Chavis

Defensive coordinator/Linebackers

$995,000

Joe Craddock

Offensive coordinator/Quarterbacks

$600,000

Dustin Fry

Offensive line/Run game coordinator

$400,000

Jeff Traylor

Associate head coach/Running backs

$370,000

Steve Caldwell

Defensive line

$360,000

Ron Cooper

Secondary

$355,000

Barry Lunney Jr.

Tight ends

$350,000

Justin Stepp

Wide receivers

$350,000

John Scott Jr.

Defensive line

$340,000

Mark Smith

Secondary

$225,000

The other assistant coach contracts released by the UA were for Calwell, Scott, Smith and Traylor. All four are two-year deals that end Feb. 28, 2020 and include a buyout that would pay them 50 percent of their remaining salary if terminated for convenience.

Each coach is also eligible for a postseason bonus. A trip to the SEC Championship game is worth one-half month of salary and winning it increases that bonus to a full month’s salary. There is also a non-cumulative scale for bonuses based on bowl games:

Postseason achievement

Incentive compensation

Win national championship game

3 months salary

Appear in national championship game

2 months salary

Appear in semifinal playoff game

1.75 months salary

Appear in Sugar Bowl or Orange Bowl (when not a playoff game)

1.5 months salary

Appear in Cotton, Fiesta, Peach or Citrus Bowl

1.25 months salary

Appear in Outback, Texas, Taxslayer, Belk, Music City or Liberty Bowl

1 months salary

Appear in any other bowl game

0.5 month salary

Lunney and Scott, the only holdovers from the previous staff, are making the same amount they did in 2017, while Caldwell and Cooper each received a raise. Caldwell’s salary is 44 percent higher than what he made at Boise State and Cooper’s is 9.2 percent higher than what he made at Texas A&M.

Because it is a private institution, SMU’s coaching salaries were not released to USA Today for inclusion in its database, so it is unclear how the salaries for the other five assistants compare to last year.

Hawgs247 also obtained the contract for strength and conditioning coach Trumain Carroll. He has a three-year deal that ends Feb. 28, 2021 and includes an annual salary of $290,000. Like the assistant coaches, his buyout is 50 percent of his remaining salary and he is eligible for the same bonuses.

Carroll’s salary is 17.1 percent less than what Arkansas paid former strength and conditioning coach Ben Herbert last season, but would still rank 22nd nationally, according to a USA Today database.

Be sure to enjoy VIP access to Hawgs247 with our 7-day free trial promotional offer.