K-State AD explains why Wildcats gave Chris Klieman new contract during a pandemic
Gene Taylor says there is an unwritten rule within the Kansas State athletic department that none of its coaches should lag behind their conference peers in terms of salary.
“We are never going to be a school that can pay at the top of the Big 12,” Taylor said during a phone interview, “but we need to be competitive.”
Abiding by that unwritten rule was one of the main reasons why Taylor, K-State’s athletic director, rewarded Wildcats football coach Chris Klieman with a new contract this week that is worth $23.5 million over the next six years.
When K-State originally hired Klieman away from North Dakota State late in 2018, the school lured him to Manhattan with a contract that paid him a base salary of $2.3 million. That was a massive raise from the $300,000 he was previously making with the Bison, but it was also the lowest salary of any Big 12 coach.
Klieman was hired at the same time as KU coach Les Miles ($2.7 million), Texas Tech coach Matt Wells ($2.8 million) and West Virginia coach Neal Brown ($3.05 million), but his salary lagged well behind all of them. At Texas, Tom Herman ($6.75 million) was making nearly triple his salary.
Last offseason felt like a good time to change that when Klieman had the best debut of any new Big 12 coach, as he led the Wildcats to eight victories and a trip to the Liberty Bowl.
Taylor said he began working with Klieman on a new deal shortly after that bowl trip and took a long, meandering path to signing a new contract late last month with the Wildcats fresh off an upset of Oklahoma and on top of the Big 12 standings.
He also gave raises to all of K-State’s assistant coaches.
No one batted an eye when those new deals were finished last spring, but there were some negative optics involved with Klieman’s new contract this week. The coronavirus pandemic has forced K-State to reduce salaries and to layoff employees across its campus. Klieman’s salary has been reduced by 13% this season.
And yet, the Wildcats announced a big raise for their football coach.
“There’s never a good time,” Klieman said. “But I just appreciate the faith that Gene Taylor has in me and the faith President Myers has, and there’s also a big piece to this in recruiting. Not only the players that aren’t here, but the players that are here, they know there is a commitment to our staff for the long haul and for the future.”
So how can K-State afford this new contract with a reduced budget during a pandemic?
Taylor said the Wildcats intentionally back-loaded the deal and made sure not to increase Klieman’s salary until 2021, when the athletic department projects to return to a normal budget north of $70 million. As long as that happens, K-State won’t need to ask for additional money from boosters to cover the cost. If the school’s athletic budget remains low, Taylor said he may explore ways to delay Klieman’s bump in salary until 2022 while still honoring the total value of the contract.
“Chris was a little nervous about announcing this right now, but we were afraid it would get out and we decided we need to get this out there,” Taylor said. “If there are people who don’t understand it, that’s fine. We will deal with it. But I will say the reaction has been fairly positive.”
When Klieman’s raise kicks in next season, he will be earning $3.1 million. That number will climb to $4.3 million by the end of his new deal. Only four coaches in the Big 12 currently make more.
“We got him at a pretty good bargain,” Taylor said. “I knew when he signed him that we might have to get him a raise because of where he was compared to the other Big 12 coaches that signed that same year. We wanted to get him there eventually and knew we could if he had a good year or two like we thought he would. Sure enough, he did. I figured why not go ahead and get it started.”
Taylor rewarded Klieman handsomely, not only in terms of salary but also incentives and buyout numbers.
For example: Anytime K-State wins eight or more games and plays in a bowl over the next three seasons, Klieman will trigger a one-year extension at a salary of $4.3 million. He only needs six victories and a bowl this season.
If the Wildcats decide for any reason they want to fire Klieman without cause, they would owe him between $4.3 million and $17.6 million depending on timing. If Klieman opts to leave K-State for any reason, he would owe K-State between $1 million and $5 million depending on timing.
The Wildcats hope that sends a message to any school that might try to poach Klieman.
“I have got a couple friends in the business that work at other schools and they have told me, ‘If we ever have an opening I just want you to know I’m coming after your guy,’” Taylor said. “I know he wants to be here and now I feel confident that if there is something that breaks a year or two down the road and another school comes after him it will be harder for him to leave. He is committed to staying here.”
This story was originally published October 8, 2020 at 12:49 PM with the headline "K-State AD explains why Wildcats gave Chris Klieman new contract during a pandemic."