Nate Oats will earn an average of $2.462 million annually over the course of his five-year contract as Alabama’s head basketball coach, according to the memorandum of understanding with UA signed earlier this week.
The final contract must be approved by the University of Alabama Board of Trustees.
The Buffalo News first reported the terms of the MOU, which it learned through an open records request.
According to the memorandum of understanding, signed March 27 by Oats and March 28 by Alabama athletic director Greg Byrne and Alabama president Dr. Stuart Bell, Oats will earn a base salary of $275,000, a talent fee of $2.175 million a year, and has an expense account of $12,000 a year.
UA also released the specifics of Avery Johnson’s negotiated buyout. Johnson will receive a total of $5.5 million from UA, which also gave up its rights to offset the buyout from Johnson’s future compensation.
Johnson’s existing contract, which would have allowed for an $8 million buyout, was superseded by the negotiated agreement.
Oats’ buyout clauses are structured similarly to these in Johnson’s superseded contract. If Oats leaves Alabama prior to March 14, 2020, he owes the school $8 million. That buyout decreases by $2 million each year through 2023 and drops to a $1 million buyout after that.
If Alabama terminates Oats without cause prior to March 14, 2020, the school will owe him $9,187,500. That total decreases by $1,837,500 a year, through March 2023.
Alabama will also pay Oats’ buyout ($750,000) to Buffalo “upon presentation of sufficient documentation to support such buyout payment.”
Oats also stands to earn a bonus of $50,000 each year if Alabama makes the NCAA Tournament in his first two years. That bonus drops to $25,000 in the third, fourth and fifth years of his contract.
The new coach will also earn $25,000 for each NCAA Tournament win in the first four rounds, then will earn $50,000 for wins in the Final Four and the national title games.
Reach Cecil Hurt at cecil@tidesports.com or 205-722-0225
