UCLA Coach Mick Cronin Signs Six-Year Contract: Salary, Buyout, Incentives

UCLA Coach Mick Cronin signed a six-year contract with the university in May that has a contract term through March 31, 2025, as he replaces former UCLA Coach Steve Alford.

Stadium obtained a copy of the signed contract via public records request.

Cronin will earn an annual base salary of $300,000, plus an annual talent fee that starts in $3.2 million and increases by $100,000 in each subsequent year of the contract:

  • Contract Year 1: $3,200,000
  • Contract Year 2: $3,300,000
  • Contract Year 3: $3,400,000
  • Contract Year 4: $3,500,000
  • Contract Year 5: $3,600,000
  • Contract Year 6: $3,700,000

 

He’ll receive a one-time hiring bonus of $2 million if he remains UCLA’s head coach through March 31, 2020. Cronin can also earn annual compensation up to $250,000 from camps/clinics conducted during the holidays and/or the summer.

The contract makes Cronin one of the highest-paid coaches in the country.

Cronin will also have the opportunity to earn performance-based incentives, which are outlined below:

  • Win Pac-12 regular season championship: $25,000
  • Win Pac-12 Tournament: $15,000
  • NCAA Tournament participation (Round of 64): $25,000
  • NCAA Tournament third round participation (Round of 32): $25,000
  • NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 participation: $25,000
  • NCAA Tournament Elite Eight participation: $25,000
  • NCAA Tournament Final Four participation: $25,000
  • NCAA Tournament Championship Game participation: $25,000
  • NCAA Tournament Champion: $50,000

 

Cronin is eligible for the incentive bonuses if he’s in compliance with the obligations agreed to in his contract, if the team is not on NCAA probation during the relevant contract year and if the team’s Academic Progress Rate (APR) is at least 930. His bonuses are capped at $300,000 annually.

Cronin can also earn bonuses from the team’s APR score:

  • Single-year APR greater than 930: $20,000
  • Single-year APR greater than 970: $20,000
  • Single-year APR score of 1000: $20,000

 

Cronin can’t earn any bonus until “the date that is two years following the last day of the Contract Year to which the bonus relates, provided that the team has not been sanctioned by the NCAA for Level I or Level II violation(s), or multiple Level III violations … that occurred during the relevant Contract Year and in which Coach was directly involved.”

If UCLA receives penalties or sanctions from the NCAA, Pac-12 or other governing body that requires the reduction of scholarships, limitations on recruiting or postseason play, based in whole or in part on activities or conduct that occurred before the effective date of Cronin’s contract, then UCLA’s AD will meet with Cronin “in good faith” to discuss “the potential for reasonable updates to the Agreement, taking into consideration the actual impact of such penalty on Coach (if any), including but not limited to performance bonuses.”

If UCLA terminates its contract with Cronin without cause, it’ll owe him the following buyout:

  • During Contract Year 1 (through March 31, 2020): $19 million
  • During Contract Year 2 (through March 31, 2021): $15.4 million
  • During Contract Year 3 (through March 31, 2022): $8.775 million
  • During Contract Year 4 (through March 31, 2023): $5.925 million
  • During Contract Year 5 (through March 31, 2024): $3 million
  • During Contract Year 6 (through March 31, 2025): the remaining unpaid amount of guaranteed compensation of base salary plus talent fee

 

If Cronin terminates the contract before the term has expired, he’ll owe UCLA the following:

  • During Contract Year 1 (through March 31, 2020): $19 million
  • During Contract Year 2 (through March 31, 2021): $15.4 million
  • During Contract Year 3 (through March 31, 2022): $8.775 million
  • During Contract Year 4 (through March 31, 2023): $5.925 million
  • During Contract Year 5 (through March 31, 2024): $3 million
  • During Contract Year 6 (through March 31, 2025): the remaining unpaid amount of guaranteed compensation of base salary plus talent fee

 

MORE: Up-To-Date List of College Basketball Coaching Changes