If the University of Memphis joins the Big Ten, SEC, ACC or Big 12 conferences, newly hired athletic director Ed Scott will receive a $250,000 bonus, according to a memorandum of understanding obtained by The Commercial Appeal through an open records request.
The Tigers currently compete in the American Athletic Conference, but Scott said at his introductory news conference that he won't shy away from talking about his goals to join a different league.
The push to join a power conference has been a consistent storyline at Memphis for years.
"There's really two options that everybody knows about: The Big 12 and the ACC," Scott said. "I think the Big 12 is pretty firm with their membership right now. I'm coming from the ACC, there's some lawsuits pending the last time I heard. So I don't know what's going to happen there. But I can tell you my job is to position us to be ready if something were to happen in one of those two conferences. I think we fit well in both."
As reported by Johah Dylan of The Commercial Appeal, the MOU shows that the university prioritized conference realignment during the recruitment process for a new athletic director to replace Laird Veatch, who left in April to become the athletic director at Missouri.
"In the event University is invited to and joins a conference with an automatic bid to the College Football Playoff (currently the Southeastern Conference, Big Ten Conference, Big Twelve Conference, Atlantic Coast Conference), University shall pay to Athletics Director a one-time lump sum payment of $250,000.00 in recognition of his efforts in securing such invitation," the MOU says.
Per Dylan's reporting:
Scott will be paid $550,000 a year over five years, according to the MOU.
Scott also can earn up to $200,000 for "various performance goals" based on academics, athletic department performance, revenue generation and annual goals. The MOU does not specify what exactly constitutes hitting those goals.
The MOU also contains a provision that Scott will not "seek or apply for other positions without prior notice." He will have to pay 70% of his base salary for the remainder of the contract if he leaves before the second year of his contract or 50% if he leaves after the second year.
