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Palm Beach Post (Florida)
NEWPORT BEACH, Calif. -- Coach Jimbo Fisher will earn an average of $4.07 million a season if he remains at Florida State for the duration of his recently signed extension, according to a copy of the contract released Sunday.
The contract, starting this year, calls for an annual base salary of $225,000 plus additional compensation starting at $3.275 million this year and escalating to $4.275 in 2018, the final year of the contract.
Additionally, Fisher receives $100,000 for each year of the contract he completes starting in 2015.
Fisher's buyout could reach as high as $5.4 million.
"The market changes every year," FSU Athletic Director Stan Wilcox said. "You want to make sure you're staying with the market trends and that everybody is happy and feeling comfortable with their situation."
Fisher's contract places him in the top 10 among college coaches, although he will drop one spot with Charlie Strong reportedly ready to sign for about $5 million a year with Texas.
Alabama's Nick Saban is the highest-paid college coach, recently signing an extension that reportedly will exceed $7 million a year.
Wilcox was asked how high salaries can go.
"I hope not very high," he said, laughing. "I'm hoping it's not going much higher. Each year it tends to be going up and you got to be aware of it and you got to stay on top of it."
The long list of incentives for Fisher includes:
- $200,000 each for going undefeated, winning the national championship, playing in the national championship game and finishing in the top five of the Associated Press poll.
- $100,000 each for winning the ACC division title, winning the ACC title, playing in a major bowl and finishing in the top 10 of the AP poll.
- $75,000 each for being in the four-team playoff (which starts next season) and winning national coach of the year.
- The contract also calls for the salary pool for the nine assistant coaches to increase by $500,000.
Wilcox spoke about the importance of Fisher signing the deal from two standpoints: recruiting and stability.
"You're in the midst of recruiting," he said. "The kids you are recruiting don't want to have questions on their mind when they're committing to a university whether or not the possibility that the coach recruiting you is not going to be there.
"In order to have consistency and stability, you want to have the right leader in place and you want to have him in place for as long as you possibly can. Having Jimbo, I don't want to say off the market, but having Jimbo committed to Florida State and having Florida State committed to Jimbo is a very good thing."
Bowden visits practice: Former coach Bobby Bowden was at practice Saturday. He and Fisher have spoken a few times in the past week. Fisher has praised Bowden each of the last two days, giving him credit for FSU's rise.
"I think Bobby Bowden will always be a piece of Florida State," Fisher said. "He made Florida State a national brand name ... and it has allowed us to have the successes we're having right now. Someone had to start this thing and build it up and he took it and did it."
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