In addition to annual compensation of $2.25 million per season for five years, new Washington State football coach Mike Leach will take home another $100,000 if the Cougars win the Pacific-12 Conference title game, play in a BCS nontitle bowl or finish in the top 10 in any of the four major polls.
Should the Cougars play in the BCS title game, that’s worth $200,000 to Leach.
A non-BCS bowl pays Leach $75,000. He’ll earn $50,000 if the Cougars win the Pac-12 North Division or crack a final Top 25 poll, of if Leach wins a national coach of the year award.
A Pac-12 coach of the year award would earn Leach $25,000, as would an Apple Cup win over Washington.
Leach’s contract also provides him with one of the smallest (12 seats) of the three types of being suites being constructed at Martin Stadium, plus 20 tickets to every football game.
He gets two courtesy vehicles, one country club or health club membership and the right to distribute net proceeds from WSU’s summer football camps in any manner he chooses.
The contract has a rollover provision that keeps Leach under contract for five years unless he or the school opt out of that arrangement.
If Leach chose to leave WSU before completing the first five years of the contract, he would owe the school $2,250,000 less $450,000 for each year he coaches until there would be no cost to Leach after five years.
If Leach would be “terminated without cause,” he would be owed 60 percent ($1.2 million) of his base annual salary of $2 million for each year remaining on his contract.
CHOW TO HAWAII?
Utah offensive coordinator Norm Chow reportedly accepted the job as Hawaii’s new coach.
“I don’t know what the reports are saying, but there’s nothing been finalized,” Chow said after practice. “I haven’t signed a piece of paper. … I’m not trying to be coy. I’m here coaching football for the University of Utah. We have a nice game to play in, and I’m real excited about that. We’ll just have to wait and see.”
When asked whether he plans to coach in the Sun Bowl on Dec. 31, Chow replied, “If Kyle (Whittingham) would have me, I would be honored to stay.”
Chow served as offensive coordinator at UCLA, for the Tennessee Titans, and at Southern California, North Carolina State and Brigham Young.
He was born and raised in Waialua, located on Oahu’s North Shore.
MARSHALL WINS
Rakeem Cato threw for 226 yards and two touchdowns and Tyler Warner kicked a pair of field goals, helping Marshall beat Florida International, 20-10, in the Beef ‘O’Brady’s Bowl in St. Petersburg, Fla.
Marshall (7-6) overcame a slow start to win five of its last seven games.
The Panthers (8-5) were denied a school-record ninth victory and there is speculation that coach Mario Cristobal may be a leading candidate to fill a job opening at Pittsburgh.
EXTRA POINTS
LSU’s Les Miles was voted The Associated Press coach of the year, getting 30 of the 56 votes. Bill Snyder of Kansas State was second with 16; Mike Gundy of Oklahoma State had six. … Iowa suspended star running back Marcus Coker from the Dec. 30 Insight Bowl against Oklahoma for violating the university’s student-athlete code of conduct, and defensive line coach Rick Kaczenski left to pursue another coaching job. … South Carolina defensive coordinator Ellis Johnson was hired as head coach at Southern Miss. He previously worked as defensive coordinator at Mississippi State and Southern Miss. … Illinois interim coach Vic Koenning said starting fullback Jay Prosch was hospitalized with a staph infection and starting tailback Jason Ford may be academically ineligible for the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl against UCLA on New Year’s Eve. … North Carolina declared top receiver Dwight Jones ineligible for the Independence Bowl after the senior allowed his name and photo to be used on a flier promoting a party at a club in his hometown of Burlington, N.C. … More than 340 players once coached by Joe Paterno have shown support for their former Penn State coach through a letter released in time for his 85th birthday today. … Georgia coach Mark Richt unknowingly violated NCAA rules by paying staffers out of his own pocket, a secondary violation. The payments ranged from $6,000 to $15,000. The NCAA consideres the issue closed. … Nebraska coach Bo Pelini said defensive end Eric Martin will play in the Capital One Bowl but face disciplinary action for being ticketed for leaving the scene of an accident.
Correspondent Howie Stalwick contributed to this report.
TODAY’S BOWL GAME
POINSETTIA BOWL
Louisiana Tech (8-4) vs. TCU (10-2), SAN DIEGO, 5 p.m., ESPN
Line: TCU by 11
Bowl bits: Louisiana Tech has won seven in a row, including six since Colby Cameron replaced Nick Isham as the Bulldogs’ quarterback. … Louisiana Tech’s Ryan Allen, an Oregon State transfer, won the Ray Guy Award as the nation’s top punter. … TCU did the BCS a big-time favor when it beat Boise State in November to knock the Broncos out of a prestigious bowl. Instead, BSU (11-1) is playing Arizona State in the Las Vegas Bowl next Thursday. … TCU won the Rose Bowl last year. … The Horned Frogs’ two losses this year were at Baylor in the season opener, 50-48, and in overtime against SMU, 40-33.
The pick: TCU, 52-17
McClatchy news services
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