Will Muschamp, USC agree to reduced buyout figure, documents show BY GREG HADLEY JANUARY 22, 2021 07:01 PM, UPDATED JANUARY 23, 2021 09:32 AM
The University of South Carolina and former football coach Will Muschamp have reached a deal to reduce his buyout by more than $2 million, according to documents obtained by The State through a Freedom of Information Act request.
Under the terms of a settlement signed by both parties on Dec. 30, USC has paid Muschamp a lump sum of $12.9 million. Prior to that, Muschamp was scheduled to be make $15.3 million, spread out through 2024. The settlement dictated that the lump sum payment be made by Dec. 31, 2020.
As part of the settlement, both sides have now fully released each other from all claims and promised not to sue each other. Muschamp also agreed that he will not “actively recruit or encourage” any current student-athletes at South Carolina to enter the transfer portal or transfer to another school, “through direct or indirect communication.”
If he is found to have done so, he will owe USC the entire lump sum back. Any disputes as part of the settlement will first go to non-binding arbitration.
South Carolina athletic director Ray Tanner told The State last Friday that negotiations between him and Muschamp “may be in a position of finality,” but deferred to the school’s legal counsel. Tanner had previously said he had dealt with Muschamp directly in hopes of reaching an “amicable” agreement.
Under Muschamp’s contract, he would have been owed 75% of his salary for the life of the deal — the last signed amendment to the contract extended through 2024 at more than $20.6 million total, putting the 75% buyout at around $15.3 million.
Since Muschamp’s dismissal in November, the status of his buyout has been scrutinized, especially given the massive deficit the Gamecocks athletics department is expected to face as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
In January, The State confirmed that Muschamp’s contract did not include mitigation language, included in some coaches’ contracts, which reduces the school’s buyout bill by however much money the coach makes at his next job.
The State also confirmed that an amendment to Muschamp’s contract that would have reduced USC’s buyout commitment to $13.2 million never went into effect. Muschamp had agreed to a pay cut to fund a raise for running backs coach Thomas Brown, but Brown soon left South Carolina for a job in the NFL and the amendment, although passed by USC’s board of trustees, was never signed.
South Carolina’s new head coach, Shane Beamer, has signed a contract worth $2.75 million per year for five years, making him the lowest paid coach among the 13 SEC schools who publicly report their salaries. His own buyout calls for him to be paid 65% of his salary, should he be fired.
On Friday, South Carolina’s board of trustees approved the final coaching contracts for Beamer’s assistants. The Gamecocks are spending $5 million per year on the 10 assistants, though the school is also scheduled to get $250,000 in buyouts from three assistants — Mike Bobo, Will Friend and Tracy Rocker — who left this offseason to go to Auburn. |