Greg Schiano Has a Lot of Extra Clauses in His Latest Contract

In the world of college football coaches, Greg Schiano's name continues to be one of the hottest. He has been pursued for the Miami and Michigan jobs. He is at the forefront of every speculative story on "who will be the next coach at Penn State when the Zombie King is has salt poured into his mouth and his lips sewn shut Joe Paterno retires?" So it shouldn't be a surprise there are lots of interesting little extras in his latest contract to keep him happy in New Jersey.

A salary boost that could pay up to $2 million with bonuses? Check. More money for his assistant coaches? Check. Free and unlimited use of a helicopter and jet for recruiting visits "university business?" Check. How about another $250,000 not actually disclosed? Yep.

In the addendum to his contract, dated July 2, 2007, the university arranged for Nelligan Sports Marketing, the exclusive marketing agent for Rutgers, to pay the coach the additional $250,000 -- keeping the payments off the school's payroll.

The money was deducted from sponsorship revenues collected on the university's behalf by the marketing firm, but the amount was guaranteed by Rutgers. It was listed as a payment for "personal services" and was made to a limited liability company established by Schiano.

Rutgers Athletic Director Robert Mulcahy considered this being "a little resourceful" in coming up with extra money to pay Schiano. Not that they were trying to keep it off the books or anything.
Sure looks like it, though. The athletic department is getting less money from the marketing firm. Shifting that money to Schiano's LLC. The only difference is that the athletic department is directly paying Schiano that money. Cutting out the middleman?

It also turns out that Schiano had a "Jeff Tedford clause" in the contract.

Rutgers University made a secret deal allowing the head football coach to walk away from his contract without penalty if it did not complete a major expansion of its football stadium by 2009.

Under his current agreement, Greg Schiano is required to pay $500,000 for breaking his 10-year contract if he leaves following the 2009 football season. However, an addendum to that contract, never divulged by Rutgers, releases him from those same damages if the construction is not completed on time.

Rutgers school president has apologized over the "lack of transparency" to Schiano's contract and now has regrets over the way it was handled.

Considering Rutgers is a state school and facing budget issues as the whole state of New Jersey is in a budget crisis, this information is a bit embarrassing to the school and a potential annoyance. Especially since it, unsurprisingly, has resulted in politicians calling for investigations into the matter.

It does, however, explain why the athletic department was so gung-ho about getting the stadium expansion underway, even in the face of a money crunch. And why they are pushing forward as the potential to go significantly over budget looms.