Loyalty now required to coach at Missouri

NT80 · March 29, 2006

A new thing in coaching contracts? A great idea; plus 30 public appearances ! Note the salary he made at UAB also.

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Loyalty mandated in contract for new Missouri basketball coach

ALAN SCHER ZAGIER

Associated Press

COLUMBIA, Mo. - New Missouri basketball coach Mike Anderson will earn a minimum of $850,000 annually over the next five years - as long as he "agrees to be a loyal employee" and doesn't bad-mouth the school.

Those clauses are just some of the conduct requirements spelled out in the 22-page employment contract, which was signed Monday and released to The Associated Press on Tuesday through the state's public records laws.

Anderson, who comes to Missouri after four years as Alabama-Birmingham coach, will also be expected to:

_"maintain a mature and rational attitude, keep emotions in control and downplay defeats";

_"establish and maintain a frequent and systematic program of personal communication with the university's administration, faculty, staff and student body";

_"keep public statements complimentary to the athletic program and the university";

_make a minimum of 30 public appearances annually at booster lunches, alumni dinners and similar community events.

No such behavioral requirements, nor a stipulated minimum number of public appearances, are found in the contracts of either Missouri football coach Gary Pinkel or Anderson's predecessor, Quin Snyder, who resigned in mid-February with six regular season games remaining.

Anderson's base salary is less than the $1.015 million a year Snyder earned before he left during his seventh season at Missouri. But the new coach's contract is loaded with more incentives than Snyder had, including an extra $10,000 for reaching at least 20 wins against Division I opponents and $25,000 for drawing at least 10,000 paying fans on average to Mizzou Arena.

Anderson will be allowed up to $20,000 each year in discretionary expenses. He receives a free membership to the Country Club of Missouri and the use of two courtesy cars donated by local dealers - one fewer than Snyder had.

Should he reach all outlined goals, Anderson's yearly salary with incentives would climb to $1.465 million - a sizable increase from his base annual salary of $600,000 at UAB.

University officials were not available Tuesday to discuss the contract.

Among the criticisms of Snyder, who came to Missouri after serving as Mike Krzyzewski's top assistant at Duke, was his inaccessibility. Critics complained that Snyder, a native of Washington state, didn't blend in well in the Midwest, unlike his successor Norm Stewart, a Missouri native.

An external investigation of the circumstance surrounding Snyder's resignation attributed some of the tension between Alden and Snyder - by the time Snyder quit the two weren't even on speaking terms - to Snyder's resistance to public appearances "in which Alden thought he should participate."

Anderson, 46, is a former assistant to Nolan Richardson at Arkansas and played for Richardson at Tulsa.

He had an 89-41 record at UAB with three NCAA Tournament appearances. The team was 24-7 this season and lost to Kentucky 69-64 in the first round of the tournament.

Anderson was introduced as Missouri's new head coach on Sunday - just hours after Missouri curators met behind closed doors to consider firing Alden over his role in the Snyder resignation.

Snyder has said Alden sent Tiger broadcaster Gary Link, also an Alden assistant, to deliver an ultimatum: Quit now or be fired at season's end. Alden denied that account, and two university investigations stopped short of assigning blame.

The incentives in Anderson's contract include an extra $25,000 should the Tigers win either the Big 12 Conference regular season title or its year-end tournament; $25,000 if Anderson's players meet established academic goals; $100,000 if average paid attendance at Mizzou Arena exceeds 13,000; an extra $25,000 if the team reaches the Sweet 16; $100,000 for reaching the Final Four; and an additional $250,000 if Anderson's team wins the national championship.

Missouri also will pay $300,000 to buy out his contract at UAB. And should Anderson be fired without cause, he would receive liquidated damages worth $500,000 for each year remaining in his contract.

If Anderson were to leave Missouri early, he would owe the school $250,000 for each year remaining on his contract.

DeepGreen · March 29, 2006

Gee, rewarding an employee for productivity and a positive attitude towards the the employer(Missouri) that hired him.

FirefightnRick · March 30, 2006

Interesting. Why do you think a BCS program such as Mizzou would think some of these bahavioral stipulations are important? Let me see........?

Rick

NT80 · March 30, 2006

Interesting. Why do you think a BCS program such as Mizzou would think some of these bahavioral stipulations are important? Let me see........?
Rick
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BCS programs have a LOT of $$ at risk by turning off fans because of a coach's statement or actions. Unfortunately at UNT we haven't built our season ticket base or Mean Green Club numbers up enough to where the loss of fans or donors from negative statements about fans or the school itself is considered contract-worthy yet.