UCF football Coach George O'Leary could earn $1.1 million a year as a Knight.
Answering critics of the prior contract secrecy - including students, faculty and members of the media - the UCF Athletics Association released the details of O'Leary's unprecedented pay package last Wednesday, after O'Leary and Athletic Director Steve Orsini waived a confidentiality clause that had allowed the contract to be kept from public scrutiny.
O'Leary is guaranteed $700,000 a year in his five-year contract, but incentives - based in part on the Knights on-field performance - could propel that number to the higher figure. For example, O'Leary can boost his income if his team improves attendance at UCF's home games, which averaged 19,850 fans last season.
Off the field, the coach also will qualify for cash rewards if the graduation rate of his players improves - a significant goal, given that UCF currently is graduating only 33 percent of its football players.
The guaranteed income has three components. The former Minnesota Vikings defensive coordinator and Georgia Tech head coach will receive a base salary of $200,000. George O'Leary Enterprises Inc. will receive another $250,000 to compensate for radio and television appearances, plus $250,000 for services on behalf of UCF such as speaking engagements and wearing campus apparel.
George O'Leary Enterprises also will receive a kickback from the money earned from summer football camps. That figure will be determined by how successful the camps are.
As part of his basic package, O'Leary can also count on a luxury car, 12 season tickets and use of a Citrus Bowl skybox for home games.
Further incentives kick in depending on O'Leary's on-field performances.
Should O'Leary lead the Knights to either a Mid-American Conference East Division title in 2004 or a Conference USA divisional title in 2005, he will receive an extra $100,000. While the Knights have not been to a bowl game in their seven years of NCAA Division 1-A play, O'Leary will receive $25,000 in any year that he takes UCF to a bowl game. A victory in that same bowl game nets the former NCAA "Coach of the Year" another $25,000.
Athletic Director Steve Orsini also made it clear that he will not let O'Leary leave UCF before his contract is up without a hefty price tag. Should another school lure O'Leary away, it will cost him $500,000. On the other hand, if Orsini feels that O'Leary is not living up to his part of the deal, then both sides have agreed on a $500,000 buyout.
The Athletics Association will also assume another large expense as former Coach Mike Kruczek has opted for a lump-sum buyout of his contract.
Kruczek will receive close to $815,000 as the balance on the remaining four years of his five-year contract, from which he was fired on Nov. 10 with two games left in the season with the Knights' record at 3-7. The team went on to lose those final two games, capping a fall in which several players - including starting quarterback Ryan Schneider - were suspended or booted for actions that included forging classroom attendance slips.
Kruczek's base salary was $185,000 a year. He had the option of continuing to receive his salary on a regular basis through the life of that canceled contract or accept the one-time payment.
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