Ron Barnett

rbarnett@greenvillenews.com

Clemson University’s Board of Trustees rewarded head football coach Dabo Swinney on Tuesday for taking the Tigers to the brink of a national championship, giving him a raise of more than $1 million that pushes him into the ranks of the top 10 highest-paid coaches in the nation.

The board’s Compensation Committee approved a new salary of $4.55 million, increasing each year until 2021 to $5.65 million.

His current salary, including a raise he got for winning the ACC championship last season, was $3.5 million.

“We performed incredibly well since 2014. That’s the No. 1 reason,” Athletic Director Dan Radakovich told reporters after the meeting.

“And as we look at coach Swinney and all the things he and his staff have done that has allowed us as an organization to grow, he has been an integral part in that. And we wanted to make sure we were rewarding him and making him in the elite level of head college football coaches in the country.

“And I think this contract does that.”

Swinney will be the second-highest paid coach in the ACC, behind Florida State’s Jimbo Fisher.

The length of the contract remained the same.

The contract has a base salary – the amount paid by the state – of $245,000 and a licensing paycheck of $800,000 for each of the next six years.

But the supplemental pay, which comes primarily from IPTAY supporters, jumps by $250,000 each year for the first two years, then by $200,000 each year until 2021, bringing Swinney’s total compensation – not counting bonuses -- to $30.75 million over six years.

He earns a $275,000 signing bonus plus retention bonuses of $600,000 in 2019 and 2021.

“This past year was special, and I don’t want it to be unique -- and neither does Coach Swinney,” Radakovich said. “This is something we want to be built for a long time.”

Success on the field also will have its rewards for Swinney.

He will get a $100,000 bonus for 10 regular season wins, or $150,000 for 11 wins or $200,000 for 12 wins.

If the Tigers finish in the top five of the USA Today or AP Top 25 poll, he’ll get $200,000, or $100,000 for a top 10 final ranking, or $50,000 for ending up within the top 15.

An appearance in the ACC Championship Game will yield a $75,000 paycheck for Swinney, with another $75,000 for winning the conference title.

A bowl appearance nets him another $75,000, unless it’s a College Football Playoff game, which could earn him bonuses of up to $400,000, plus another $100,000 for winning the national championship.

National Coach of the Year awards are worth up to $50,000 each to him.

An early buyout, other than for “cause” would cost the university $20 million this year or next, $18 million in 2018, $14 million in 2019, dropping down to $9 million and $5 million for the final two years of the contract.

Swinney would have to pay $6 million to get out of his contract this year and take another college head coaching job, with the amount declining by $1 million for each successive year. He wouldn't owe anything if he left for an NFL job.

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