The final season in the Mike London era came with an average of 43,285 fans entering the 61,500-seat Scott Stadium for Virginia football games.
The Bronco Mendenhall era will begin with a financial incentive to help make the 84-year-old venue full again.
A $20,000 bonus for each stadium sellout is one of the many intriguing items in Mendenhall’s contract with UVa, signed last Friday and obtained Wednesday though a public records request by The Daily Progress.
Mendenhall, who will join the Cavaliers full-time after BYU’s Las Vegas Bowl on Dec. 19, is due to make $17,750,000 in base and supplemental payments over his five-year deal.
Some highlights:
» Mendenhall’s base salary is $500,000. His annual supplemental compensation starts at $2,750,000 in Year One and increases to $2,900,000 in Year Two, to $3,050,000 in Year Three, to $3,200,000 in Year 4, to $3,350,000 in Year 5.
London’s base salary was never higher than $399,300 and supplemental compensation was never above $2,169,679.
» Virginia will pay BYU up to $1,185,000 to buy out Mendenhall’s contract with the Cougars. Such a contract is not available to the public because BYU is a private institution. Mendenhall is 99-42 over 11 seasons with the Cougars.
» In addition to paying a common carrier for Mendenhall’s cross-country move, Virginia will pay Mendenhall a one-time signing bonus of $25,000 to assist with “other transition expenses.”
» Mendenhall will receive a $1 million bonus should he lead UVa to a national championship and will receive a $500,000 bonus should he get the Cavaliers in the College Football Playoff.
An ACC championship is a $100,000 bonus. A bowl appearance is a $75,000 bonus. Bonuses for final rankings in the two major polls range from $150,000 (Nos. 1-5) to $75,000 (Nos. 16-20).
Bonuses for team GPA range from $50,000 (3.0 or better) to $10,000 (2.80 to 2.89).
He’ll earn $50,000 should he take official ACC coach of the year honors.
» Virginia is providing Mendenhall a salary pool of $3 million for assistant coaches, which will increase annually by 5 percent.
» A $3 million buyout is in place should Mendenhall leave within the first three years of the contract. That decreases by $600,000 in each of the deal’s final two years.
I’m not sure his #1 priority is what he says it is.