Relax, Fox’s deal has huge buyout

Amid the celebrations of Georgia’s basketball upsets of Georgia Tech and Tennessee this month, some of you asked: What’s the buyout in Mark Fox’s contract?

The question, of course, conveyed concern that a Basketball School might swoop in before too long and try to hire Fox away from UGA.

The answer, you’ll be glad to know if you don’t already, is that Fox’s contract carries a large buyout.

An unusually large buyout.

The contract would require Fox to pay UGA $2 million within 45 days if he resigns at any time before the six-year deal expires on March 15, 2015.

The buyout, negotiated when Fox was hired last spring, reflected UGA’s desire to make it as difficult as possible for a successful coach to leave. And Fox’s willing acceptance of the unusually large buyout clause backed up his statements that he saw Georgia as a place where he and his family would put down roots.

In addition to the buyout, Fox’s 27-page contract also includes a $600,000 “longevity bonus”  that the coach would forfeit if he left before March 15, 2015.

So, basically, there’s a $2.6 million disincentive to leave.

All of which is to say . . . if someone tries to hire Fox away, it’d have to be someone with very deep pockets.

As for salary, the contract pays Fox $1.2 million per year — $250,000 in base salary, $500,000 for radio/TV shows and other appearances, $150,000 for conducting camps and $300,000 in supplemental income related to equipment and apparel deals. Add another $100,000 per year from the longevity bonus.

The contract states that the base salary, radio/TV income and supplemental income will be reviewed on an annual basis. Those amounts can be increased, but not decreased, upon each review.

The contract also specifies a long list of performance bonuses that would  reward Fox for team success. Such bonuses include $25,000 for being named the SEC Coach of the Year, $25,000 for winning the SEC East regular-season title, $75,000 for winning the SEC Tournament, $150,000 for winning the NCAA championship, etc.

Oh yes, the contract also provides Fox free use of two cars. Which brings me to Pat Forde’s column on ESPN.com yesterday.  Under the heading “Coach who earned his comp car this week,” Forde wrote:

Georgia’s Mark Fox took over a struggling program and hasn’t seemed to notice that the Bulldogs are supposed to be terrible. Fox’s team drilled No. 8 Tennessee on Saturday and upset rival Georgia Tech a couple of weeks ago. In between, UGA played Kentucky closer than anyone else has to date in the SEC, and they lost close games to Ole Miss and Mississippi State. At this rate, Georgia has a shot at a wholly unlikely .500 league record.

Next up: at Florida tonight.

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78 comments Add your comment

SEC hoops = terrible

January 27th, 2010
6:05 pm

No one wants Mark Fox.

Glenn

January 27th, 2010
6:52 pm

Like I told you three weeks ago, if Fox can recruit, and I believe he can and will. The DAWGS will be back on the hoops map in the SEC.

Lippy Louie

January 27th, 2010
7:03 pm

What’s going on tonight, popsicle lips?

Louie

January 27th, 2010
8:00 pm

Well, where do I start?
Fox ( if successful ) will leave mutt town as fast as he arrived.
Look what happened to Tubby Smith. He had enough of cow town and got the hell out.
No one is going to stay there if they have a brain.
Fox will leave, count on it, mutts.
Another pity party coming.
STILL L M F A O

Wreckmaniac

January 27th, 2010
8:14 pm

Tech fans, let’s not get goofy about the Chris Terry arrest as many UGA fans did when Joe Hamilton was arrested. This is a regretable event and I wish the young man well.

Hat turnt sideways

January 27th, 2010
8:25 pm

Ithink louie wears his hat straigt on. but him pants on the ground

Hat turnt sideways

January 27th, 2010
8:29 pm

lik wise to german shapperd dawg

Floundering Fox Hounds Batman!

January 27th, 2010
8:33 pm

Them dawgies are getting lit up by them Garors right now.. oh well what else is new !

Floundering Fox Hounds Batman!

January 27th, 2010
8:41 pm

Turn out the lights the party is OVA !!!!

Louie

January 27th, 2010
8:43 pm

Later, mutts.

Keith

January 27th, 2010
8:59 pm

We still own Tech in the two major sports, ha ha ha. Nice loss to FSU nerds the other night.

Dawg 3/20

January 27th, 2010
10:02 pm

Headline in another AJC article – Dogs are routed by Gators. Gee, where have we seen that headline before? 41-17

Mark Fox

January 27th, 2010
10:10 pm

Tweet! We still suck at hoops! Last place, SEC Least!

bugsquacher

January 28th, 2010
12:14 am

Craig James is a big baby…..

bugsquacher

January 28th, 2010
12:16 am

and his son is a spoiled brat…. I guess daddy will be suing the NFL if his son ever played……which will never happen

MESSENGER

January 28th, 2010
4:23 am

A Bunch of Nobodies for Georgia tek anyway, is all that Giff Smith could get to come here – especially just 3 who want to play in this high school offense.

Javaris Crittenton is a thug, a college drop-out of Georgia tek, who yesterday was kicked out of basketball for the remainder of the year when David Stern announced that Javaris Crittenton plead Guilty to Gun Possession in the locker-room in a dispute with another player, just like Stephon Marbury. No different. Either one. Thugs. “Possession of Guns will not be tolerated in the workplace,” Stern announced. Crittenton admitted brandishing guns he brought into the Wizards’ locker room — violating a provision added to the collective bargaining agreement in 2005 — after a dispute stemming from a card game on a team flight where the gambling debts are welched and so they draw down on each other like the Old West. Crittenton was injured and wasn’t playing anyway, but forfeits his pay starting today for the rest of the year. Mired in a horrible season, this Georgia tek thug was not going to help his teammates and fans with a play-off anyway, and now he loses all his pay. Javaris Crittenton is a Thug from Georgia tek, if there ever was a Thug from Georgia tek.

Paul Hewitt currently has Georgia tek on NCAA Probation following a ruling that the Academic Progress Rate of the Georgia tek men’s basketball Thugs is 914, the lowest in the nation. The NCAA has limited Paul Hewitt to only 11 Scholarships today January 28, 2010 for the Thug basketball he is promoting at Georgia tek. UGA men’s basketball enjoys a huge advantage Academically over the Thugs from Georgia tek on Paul Hewitt’s teams, with a much Higher NCAA Academic Progress Rate for UGA compared to Paul Hewitt as well. And by the way Paul Hewitt has a Losing Record by Several Games to UGA.

Stephon Marbury is a thug, a college drop-out of Georgia tek, who in 2007 defended Michael Vick in the infamous Newsweek interview where Marbury thug said “We don’t react the same when other animals are being killed for sport or for the sake of human pleasure.” It’s not wrong to kill dogs like Michael Vick did holding them up and cutting their throats when they didn’t perform well in dogfights, according to this Georgia tek Thug. In 2005, married with 2 children, Marbury had sex in the back of his pick-up truck with a loose woman on an outing to a strip club. Marbury has had numerous public fights with teammates and his coaches such as Larry Brown in 2006. The Knicks’ poor performance combined with Marbury’s public spats with his coach led to a severe decline in Marbury’s popularity, with Frank Isola and Michael O’Keefe of the New York Daily News stating that Marbury is “the most reviled athlete in New York.” In 2007, Isiah Thomas as his coach then removed Marbury from the line-up and Marbury just left the team and said in public that Marbury would blackmail Isiah Thomas for removing Marbury from the line-up and got into a fisticuffs over it on the plane flight. Marbury is a thug who was hated by all his teammates, hated by all his coaches, and who was wildly booed by the fans the loudest of all boos ever before being run out of basketball. Run out. And, now 2 weeks ago, it is announced that Marbury has signed with Shanxi, a Chinese basketball team. Marbury, a Thug, is not a team player as demonstrated in the 2004 Olympics when for the 1st time in history the U.S. Dream Team lost and lost and got only a bronze medal. Stephon Marbury is a Thug from Georgia tek, if there ever was a Thug from Georgia tek.

This is who Paul Hewitt brings to Georgia tek to get Beat by UGA, and why.

MaChelle Joseph, Georgia tek women’s basketball coach, refused to shake the hand of Andy Landers when The Lady Dawgs beat the crap out of Georgia tek’s women’s basketball team again and now have a 29-3 record against Georgia tek women. Poor sportsmanship is a theme at Georgia tek nowadays. She also has a worse NCAA Academic Progress Rate than UGA Lady Bulldogs, which is another Theme in Academics of your Athletics’ Department at Georgia tek.

Paul Johnson’s Recruiting Coordinator Giff Smith, on the same day yesterday, one week prior to Signing Date for the Nation’s Number 44 Football Recruiting Class, quits the position of Paul Johnson’s Recruiting Coordinator. How is that going to affect the Number 44 Recruiting Class in the Nation ? Uh, it cannot get any worse. Very disappointing recruiting class for Paul Johnson, again and for Giff Smith. No wonder he quit with the Number 44 Ranked Recruiting Class of just Thugs anyway. Thugs who Flunk Out. Thugs who cannot win a bowl game. Thugs who are 1-8 vs. Coach Richt. This is yet another serious black eye for Georgia tek and Paul Johnson. Obviously, Giff Smith is not needed in Buffalo in the next 6 days, so why burn Paul Johnson and Georgia tek like this, instead of waiting until after next Wednesday ?

Little Joey Hamilton, Georgia tek Thug.

Paul Johnson’s Director of Player Personnel was arrested for leaving the scene of an accident, was found a few blocks away with pot in his car, and was drunk. This was what little Joey Hamilton did with his 1st Paul Johnson Paycheck as Paul Johnson’s Director of Player Personnel. Then, the week of the Georgia tek Georgia football game Paul Johnson’s wife is interviewed and Paul Johnson’s wife states that she doesn’t even care about football.

Paul Johnson’s football team has a way worse NCAA Academic Progress Rate than UGA football players too.

HIT UGA FANS IN THE FACE after Losing Game CPJ said game not important.

Paul Johnson all week prior to the game, said that he Paul Johnson didn’t think that the UGA game was all that important to him personally. Then, after the game, Paul Johnson yells to reporters of the AJ-C that they should write to the Georgia tek fans having to deal with the aftermath of the 24-30 Loss to a team Paul Johnson didn’t care about beating and said was not an important game to him, that the Georgia tek fans should hit UGA fans in the face.

The 60th win by UGA over Georgia tek in football to 37 losses to Georgia tek with 5 ties. This sport too is not clean old fashioned hate by Georgia tek who have To Hell With Georgia in their Fight Song, which I still say is the cause of the really nasty Georgia tek antics in all sports against UGA. In football, you recall it all started in 1893 when Georgia tek hired 3 football players to play in the game against UGA. Players who were not students at Georgia tek. You named a dorm after one of them on the ramp at North Avenue. They were stoned in the train which then wrecked into the back of a freight train coming back to Atlanta. The photo in the 1893 AJ-C read RAMBLING WRECK RETURNS TO ATLANTA. Since that wrecked TRAIN, Georgia tek has now tried to pass off a 1930 automobile as the WRECKED TRAIN. You have NO HISTORY at Georgia tek except cheating and poor sportsmanship against UGA.

Campus Crime at Georgia tek is rampant. It is mostly your “student-athletes” yet you whine about the Thugs in the surrounding neighborhood.

Before your football games, your Athletics Department has to Warn Georgia tek fans not to throw whiskey bottles at the players of your opponents as they go through the tunnels to the Bobby Dodd stadium named for another college drop-out of the University of Tennessee at Knoxville who never not once beat Vince Dooley, but instead Lost every time and then quit.

Of course on a campus of 30 percent Asian males and only 29 percent women in the slums of a city of 6 million people, Georgia tek fans seriously are not safe and that is the reason why no one goes to any of your games Number 48 in the nation in Attendance while you play 6 teams who did not even go to a bowl game. That’s who Georgia tek can beat, while by direct comparison Georgia tek has not won a Major Bowl Game now since 1955, a span now of 56 years in a Row.

Javarius Crittenton apologized for what he called an “embarrassment”

A long string of continuous embarrassments for Georgia tek.

MESSENGER

January 28th, 2010
4:32 am

Where do you get this crap that our football coaching staff is all that great, except for the 1 guy we just hired with 11 years NFL experience who doesn’t fit in with the other all out of position coaches on Coach Richt’s Coaching Staff ?

If we are so great a complete entire coaching staff, why did we only get 5 recruits to come here last year in our recruiting for our Mike Bobo Offense and now this year only 7 ?

Buckhead Bulldog

January 28th, 2010
7:17 am

MESSENGER: I agree with you on Bobo. I don’t understand this “work in progress” that Richt seems to be doing with Bobo.

MESSENGER, I do wonder how much Pres. M. Adams is involved with who Richt can/cannot hire? Adams does like to stick his fat head into Athletics.

dap01

January 28th, 2010
7:39 am

Fox is the best basketball coach in the state. Not even close.

Floundering Fox Hounds Batman!

January 28th, 2010
8:42 am

Well back to reality for dawg fans… NOOOO CIGAR ! Gators put a stomping on the mutts last night. WAS NEVER CLOSE !!! I bet ole Damon is having second thoughts on that buy out clause now for CMF

Jim

January 28th, 2010
10:34 am

Imagine how bad it would have been last night had the dogs not pulled a miracle and had their best shooting night of the season. 60% from the field overall and 57% from 3.

This could have been a 40 point game.

Yellow Fuzz

January 28th, 2010
6:10 pm

bigdawg01

January 28th, 2010
2:51 pm
Da’Rick will be a Dawg. Stop all the freaking out.

bigdawg01

January 9th, 2010
4:42 pm
Kirby Smart will be the next DC at Georgia. I GUARANTEE IT!

hmmmmmmmmm?

Coffee Bluff DAWG

January 28th, 2010
7:00 pm

It could also have been a UGA win without 19 TOs and 33 UF points due to TOs. Fox will correct how our backcourt is exposed.

Did you also notice the disparity between UF and UGA fouls? UGA-UF game will be different in Athens. Count on it.

Louie

January 28th, 2010
8:01 pm

Well, where do I start.
I guess you mutts had nothing to report today.
YOU MEAN NO FORMER PLAYERS ARRESTED FOR DRUGS, THEFT, MUGGINGS, ARMED ROBBERIES?
YOU GOTTA BE KIDDING ME !!!!!!!!!!!!!!
STILL L M F A O

MESSENGER

January 28th, 2010
10:30 pm

You Georgia tek fans (both of you) make me puke.

Who in the hell was kicked out of basketball last night ?

Another Georgia tek Thug basketball player recruit of Paul Hewitt.

You LOSE to UGA in EVERY SPORT

even with your THUGS

And, your men’s basketball team is on NCAA PROBATION in ACADEMICS

Yet, you show up on our blog to act like NONE OF THAT HAPPENS

Good try Nerds.

MESSENGER

January 29th, 2010
12:13 am

NCAA Division I Academic Progress Rate

Penalty Summary

Institution: Georgia Institute of Technology

Date of Report: 05/01/2009

Page 4 of 4

This report is based on data submitted by the institution.

This report provides a summary of the teams identified at your institution that are subject to a contemporaneous penalty and/or historical penalty and their multiyear APR. The historical-penalty structure has a cumulative effect that continues to apply each year as a team progresses through the structure. Each year a team fails the historical-penalty review another stage of penalties will be added.

Sport

Multiyear APR Contemporaneous Penalty Historical Penalty -

Men’s Basketball 914 Limited to awarding 11 athletic scholarship renewals

http://web1.ncaa.org/app_data/apr2008/255_2008_apr.pdf

David

January 30th, 2010
3:27 am

About Coach Fox:

If he can nail down the best talent out of this state every year in recruiting, he and UGA will do very well in the SEC and be one of those teams that gets in the NCAA. He is a good enough coach to win anyway; but he only has one top player because no one ready wants to go to UGA for some straight reason.

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