BearGoggles said:
FWIW - I took a quick look at the contract and it appears that if Cal fires Wilcox without cause, it is obligated to pay Wilcox the full remaining amount of his contract, per Section 12 of his original 2020 contract. As of today, that is over $24M.
Here is the breakdown in salary:
Edit: For clarity sake, the years above are calendar years (not football seasons). Wilcox's contract ends on 12/31/2027
Thanks to GB and CB for their efforts to provide the source materials.
My read is that the buy-out amount today probably is higher than $24.3M. I think you have to look at the numbers listed in the Third Amendment dated 12/31/2021 from the "base salary, talent fee, and retention bonus as set forth in Section 2 (A), (B), & (F) in the Contract Addendum", assuming retention bonuses are paid after year end, etc. Depending on a proration of Wilcox's salary and fee income, the number probably around $27 to 28 million, not taking into account the value of any vested pension benefits, or offset by standard mitigation duties. The amounts would be payable over time from date of termination through 12/31/27. The course of conduct typically in these matters is to negotiate a lower one-time buy out, and to eliminate the duty to mitigate, and someone with a sports agent background (if he reads this) could speculate what the numbers might be.
Quibbling over the numbers is IMO a useless endeavor at this point. Like the alum who inquired of Knowlton was told, the pay-out is too large to fund, whatever it might be, and there really is no strong desire either from the administration or fan base to terminate Wilcox, presumably if he takes action to address the current problems with the program. The assumption was that both the administration and fan base at the time of third extension were willing to ride with Wilcox for some time, and the concern was that he would leave the program for another suitor like Oregon. In that regard, the consideration for the additional compensation and buy out in the Third Amendment appear to be the amendment to Section 13, where the amounts Wilcox would have to pay Cal if he left Cal were dramatically increased. Cal administrators wanted a "golden handcuff" on Wilcox, and paid for it. You may not like the outcome of that thinking presently, but what that Third Amendment effectively did was bond Wilcox and Cal together for some time. It was a calculated risk (at least I hope some calculation went into that strategy), and if Wilcox turns it around, all of a sudden, Cal looks a lot better. It is not unusual these days to see a contract like this with a big buy-out for both the program and the coach, when dealing with a coach who is in high demand. In any event, my two cents.