If you were wondering what kind of financial inducement Auburn would have to offer Gus Malzahn’s replacement — after all, it’s not every day a school punts a coach who’s beaten Saban a few times and gone to a national title game — to entice him to come to the Plains, well, here you go:
New Auburn football coach Bryan Harsin has signed a six-year contract with the school that will pay him an average of $5.25 million, according to documents released Monday…
If Auburn fires Harsin without cause, it will owe the coach 70% of his remaining salary through the contract term, half of which will be paid within 30 days of termination. The remaining 50% would be paid out over four years, and Harsin’s guarantee is not subject to offset or mitigation. Auburn had a similarly structured agreement with Harsin’s predecessor, Gus Malzahn, who was fired in December.
Harsin made $1.85 million in his last season at Boise State and reportedly was looking to move on to a place with greater financial resources. He must think he died and went to heaven with this deal. And, although I don’t believe Jimmy Sexton represents Harsin, he probably feels the same way, too.
Boy, it sure is a good thing schools have grasped some degree of financial sanity in the wake of the pandemic.
Get The Picture 
If our 2nd biggest rival (arguably) wants to follow The Tennessee Model For Coaching Compensation Absurdity, I’m hip.
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I don’t think it was a matter of choice, at least not if they wanted someone like Harsin. Canning Malzahn the way they did makes it harder (i.e., more expensive) to hire a credible successor.
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I’m reminded of the “I’ll have what she’s having” scene in When Harry Met Sally.
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Agreed. The next few years will be very interesting down at The Loveliest Village.
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Can a university Athletic Dept. declare bankruptcy? They can’t keep on bleeding cash forever without suffering some sort of consequence. At some point the fat cat boosters will close their wallets and say “enough is enough”. This is not corporate money. Taxpayers will eventually revolt.
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If most athletic departments are like the UGAAA, there is no taxpayer money that goes to them. Therefore, yes in theory, a public university’s athletic association could seek protection under the federal bankruptcy laws.
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Army, it sounds pretty revolting right now!
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Getting your financial due is one thing, getting consumed by the #AUBURN SUCKS! cesspool is another…some never recover, some enjoy the stink, just ask the barner hoops hc who is a pearl in name only….
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It`s another great day to be a Georgia Bulldawg!
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I can’t post a tweet, unfortunately, but an Auburn beat writer tallied up that Auburn is on the hook for $73.3 million between old staff buyouts and new staff commitments.
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Here’s a concept I’ve yet to grasp. Why do universities continue to pay Kings ransoms to coaches who are mediocre at best. For example, Tom Cream makes over $3 million pet annum and has done little to advance UGA’s basketball program. It is hard to believe there aren’t young guys out there who would jump at the chance to make $1 million and perform the same if not better.
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Its really hard to ID those young guys for a big AD.
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We have gone down that path repeatedly and been disappointed in the result. I have no idea why Crean hasn’t gotten us to the tournament. It’s the same problem this program has always had … they go through scoring droughts and have problems handling the ball. A close game turns into a double digit deficit in the blink of an eye.
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$30 million to get his ass handed to him over 5 years and then go rehab his career at Arkansas St. Not bad.
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Auburn really is the embodiment of their “all in” motto.
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Excuse me for laughing (I literally did) at the opening paragraph describing Gus in glowing language!
I understand why I really do. It’s about the Barn and the crazy mixed up expectation fueled, uncanny actions of the money folks that bankroll the program. But it’s mostly just fun to take a shot at Auburn (or Tennesse, etc.)
But we could go back and find many, many posts on GTP describing Gus in much more unflattering and even disparaging language.
He was an asshat while at Auburn. Now that they’ve fired him, he was the first cousin and almost clone of St. Nick.
Don’t get me wrong. I love it. If it’s against AU, it’s appropriate. But it’s still funny.
And NATS was crazy to fire Fish-fry too!
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“…it will owe the coach 70% of his remaining salary through the contract term, half of which will be paid within 30 days of termination. The remaining 50%” At Auburn, math is really difficult. Looks like they have just agreed to a 120% buyout clause.
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Nah, the 70% would be paid in two equal installments.
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Looks like math is difficult for me! Or reading.
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I just read in another forum that Auburn is going to pay 73 million and some change on current and former coaches in 2021. That’s just freaking nuts
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The fans will be screaming for his head in under 2 years. Having Bama UGA LSU and a now formidable A&M on the schedule annually certainly won’t help the guy. Oh, and that’s just on saturdays. Good luck with recruiting against those same teams fella. He’ll have to ramp up recruiting just a little compared to Boise and the mtn west.
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^^This. Harsin won’t be able to crack the top 5 in the conference in recruiting. Probably worse. It will show on the field too. The Aubies have a short appreciation span too. He’ll be lucky to make it through his 4th year. That said, he’ll be rich and can still rehab his career at Colorado State or someplace like that. Or not. When Bill Battle got fired from UT he went into business using his buyout and made millions. Ray Goff too.
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