Football season has finally arrived. Time to represent your Tigers and show your stripes!
Clemson officially extended Brad Brownell’s contract Friday. And with it came a raise that will put him in the top half of the ACC when it comes to compensation for head men’s basketball coaches.
Brownell’s original contract had three years remaining on it before the university’s Board of Trustees approved a two-year extension that will run it through the 2025-26 season.
“I want to thank (athletic director) Dan Radakovich, President Jim Clements and the Board of Trustees for continuing to support my leadership of our Clemson basketball program,” Brownell said in a statement. “None of this would be possible without the outstanding young men I’ve coached and dedicated assistant coaches and staff who have worked alongside me the past 11 years. I am blessed to continue to coach at this great university. I am proud of what we have been able to accomplish both on and off the court and look forward to continuing our program’s upward trajectory.”
Brownell, who has led Clemson to two of the last three NCAA Tournaments, was initially set to make $2.2 million in total compensation for the upcoming season, but his base salary is increasing from $245,000 to $290,000 while his supplemental income is increasing from $1,655,000 to $1,785,000 for the upcoming season, according to a copy of the contract term sheet obtained by TCI through an open records request.
With personal licensing fees (a bump to $300,000 from $200,000) and a deferred payment of $225,000, Brownell’s total compensation for the 2021-22 season will be $2.6 million as part of his restructured contract. As for the remaining years of his new deal, his base salary will remain the same, but his supplemental income will jump to $1,935,000 for two years starting with the 2022-23 season before getting an even larger bump to $2,410,000 in the fourth year.
There’s no deferred payment after the first three years of the contract, but the other raises will bring Brownell’s total compensation to $3 million for the final two years. To put that in perspective, only four ACC head men’s basketball coaches made at least $3 million in total pay last season, according to USA Today’s coaching salaries database.
But the increases don’t stop there.
Like most coaches, Brownell has performance-related incentives built into his contract. Even the amount he can earn for achievements such as conference wins, postseason berths and teamwide academic success has gone up.
Previously, Brownell could earn as much as $150,000 for his team earning a top-4 seed in the ACC Tournament. That number would double if Clemson were to win the regular-season conference title. Winning the league tournament would now earn him a $200,000 bonus (up from $100,000) while making the NCAA Tournament would earn him $100,000 (up from $50,000). Between a berth and subsequent wins in the NCAA Tournament, Brownell can max out his tournament-related bonus earnings at $800,000 (up from $700,000).
National coach of the year honors from the Associated Press or the U.S. Basketball Writer’s Association would be good for $50,000 while being selected conference coach of the year would net a $25,000 bonus. An Academic Progress Rate score of at least 950 for Brownell’s team would earn him $25,000, and a National Invitation Tournament championship would net him $15,000.
Brownell is entering his 12th season at the helm. He’s Clemson’s all-time winningest men’s basketball coach with a 201-150 record.
