I saw a Wally Hall column a couple of weeks ago stating that the Razorback Foundation was paying just over $320,000 a month to Bret Bielema to satisfy the buyout provision of his contract. This last year he worked as a “Special Assistant” to Bill Belichick. So, is it wrong to conclude that the Foundation paid his salary to work in the New England Patriot organization? Furthermore, what kind of job does he have to take to stop further payments (an Assistant Coaching job in either college or the NFL, a Coordinator job in college or the NFL, or a Head Coach job in any league)? How does this all work?
What Bielema made from the Pats is supposed to offset what he’s getting from UA. And I’m pretty sure Wally is just throwing numbers out and has no idea how big the checks actually are (the RF is not subject to FOI requests).
So if New England was paying him $20,000 a month, just to have a number, that $20,000 would be subtracted from what the Foundation pays him, so his UA check would be $300,000.
That makes sense. So, Bielema can go to work for some football program or franchise and the Foundation would still have to pay the difference between what he is receiving right now from us offset by what he receives from his new employer. However, what kind of job would he have to take so that the Foundation no longer owes him anything? Or is the Foundation going to subsidize his new employer’s salary package until the 11 + million dollar buyout is satisfied?
His pay would have to exceed the total amount owed by the RF. That’s the way it sounds.
Pretty much we owe him the whole thing minus any offsets. So he would have to find a job paying $3 million plus before we’d get out of the obligation completely.
It could be worse. Kevin Sumlin’s contract with Texas A&M had no offsets, so he was due the amount in full whether he got another coaching job or not.
Amended. Just found out from Matt that there is no offset if the new job pays $125,000 or less. So he gets the full amount from UA PLUS what the Pats paid him if it’s less than $125K. I bet his salary from NE is just about $125,000.
So the take away from this is that Bret Bielema is going to have to find a job that pays $3,000,000 annually or the Razorback Foundation is going to pay out the entire $11,000,000 + contract (whichever comes last) to fulfill the contract’s final obligations? Am I missing something? In the meantime, whoever hires him could very well have part of its salary package for his (Bielema’s) services be paid for by the Razorback Foundation. If my interpretation is wrong (please correct me but if this is true), is it any wonder why Jeff Long is no longer employed by the University of Arkansas?
I realize that Kevin Summlin got an even more lucrative buy out. It’s that kind of thinking that leaves not doubt why the Aggies have a whole line of comedic material written about them.
As a low dollar contributor (and nosebleed season ticker holder) to the Razorback Foundation, it is disheartening to know that a very small portion of my hard earned money is (or has) been spent to pay Coach Bielema’s salary from the New England Patriots. I have sat in the stands at War Memorial or Razorback stadium drinking from a $4 bottle of water and watched our team get beat by the likes of Toledo or North Texas State. Is it any wonder why the Razorback fan base feels so negative about things related to football. I can only hope that Chad Morris can show us some consistent improvement this next year and beyond. If not, then I think the powers that be really need to make some hard decisions about our whole football program from the concessions we buy to what type of jock our guys use. Patience is slowly running out.
No we’re not paying his salary from the Patriots. What we are doing is giving NE a bargain. They’re able to pay him $125K instead of what he might be earning if there were no buyout being paid.
No one or college other than the U of A is foolish enough to pay $3 million per year or even $1 million per year. Outside the NFL, at best he can get a head coaching job at some small college paying up $500,000 per year or an assistant, but not top assistant paying almost that amount. The rest is on the UofA and deserving so for foolish hiring someone like White with his agenda to destroy Frank Broyles even at the cost of badly damaging UofA sports and who in turn hired Jeff Long all with the approval of our incompetent BOD.
No one or college other than the U of A is foolish enough to pay $3 million per year or even $1 million per year. Outside the NFL, at best he can get a head coaching job at some small college paying up $500,000 per year or an assistant, but not top assistant paying almost that amount. The rest is on the UofA and deserving so for foolish hiring someone like White with his agenda to destroy Frank Broyles even at the cost of badly damaging UofA sports and who in turn hired Jeff Long all with the approval of our incompetent BOD.
A Patriots writer with no bones to pick with Jeff Long, John White or anyone else in NWA thinks BB is being groomed to take over as the OL coach in New England once the current OL coach, Dante Scarnecchia, retires (again). Scarnecchia is 71 and has already retired once; they brought him back in 2016. I don’t think BB will ever coach in college again, and I probably wouldn’t either. NFL assistant salaries for someone with extensive experience (BB has been coaching since 1994) are in the high six figures, and he could end up as a coordinator with a seven-figure salary. And New England coordinators tend to become NFL head coaches. Which would absolutely drive some people in Arkansas insane.
Is “groomed” a new drink in a New England bar?
Funny how the best football coach on the planet has a lot higher opinion of Bret Bielema than some armchair ADs in Arkansas.
That certainly would be nice since it would reduce how much we pay him. However, my advice is “Don’t hold your breath!”
Per Mike Irwin over on Hogville, something occurred with Bret’s buyout status freeing up the money to Fire Mike, pay him his buyout, and offer a substantial pay raise to the next coach. Every name I’ve seen but Beard and the NBA guys the supposed $3-4 million would be substantial. Beard, only because he’s already currently on that low end number.
Not all that interested in Beard, plus I don’t think he’ll move because of family considerations. And he’s already a little above 3 million.
If something happened to substantially reduce Bret’s buyout that’s wonderful, but I don’t know what it would be. Even if Bret got a high paying coaching job, it wouldn’t immediately reduce the buyout by much. Of course if he retains the high paying job over the duration of the buyout, it might substantially reduce the buyout.
Greg Schiano stepped down today, speculation Bret is the replacement. May have been something addressed last week but not announced until today.
If Bret is the replacement, that will help a little because it should reduce his annual buyout from $3.8 million to about $3 million.
If Bret is the replacement, that will help a little because it should reduce his annual buyout from $3.8 million to about $3 million.