As the 2020-21 Men’s Basketball Season was winding to and end, it was revealed that Utah State had successfully completed a contract extension with Head Coach Craig Smith. The long-awaited news was welcomed in Aggie Nation, and is well deserved. Coach Smith has the best winning percentage of any coach in the history of the program. Not only has he been great in the regular season, but he is currently undefeated in the Mountain West Conference Tournament, winning the championship the past two seasons.
With Coach Smith and the Aggies preparing for the championship game tonight, let’s take a look at the last two amendments to Coach Smith’s contract. USUStats has obtained copies of both amendments to the contract, and the details from the original contract can be found here.
Amendment 1 (April 1, 2019)
This amendment was unknown to the general public. USUStats found out about the amendment and extension by requesting Craig Smith’s latest contract which was titled “Amendment 2”.
The main takeaways from this amendment were:
- Contract terms were extended by one year, through the 2023-2024 season
- Added a clause to automatically extend the contract by 1 season if the team makes the NCAA Tournament
- Bumped the total salary up by $75,000 by increasing the “Media Compensation” in year two of the contract, and subsequently thereafter
- Increased allotment designated for Assistant Coaches Salaries by $80,000
- Increased incentive payments allotments for Assistant Coaches
- Assistant Coach Incentives are earned if the team receives an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament
- Reduced the buyout amount if the coach were to terminate the contract from 75% of the remaining contract amount to 30% of the remaining contract amount
Download Contract Amendment 1
Amendment 2 (December 21, 2020)
- Added two more seasons to the contract, extending it through the 2025-26 season
- Kept the automatic extension clause for an NCAA Tournament appearance
- Reduced the buyout amount if the coach were to terminate the contract from 30% of the remaining contract amount to 25% of the remaining contract amount