When Jim Smith, a former Atlanta brave executive, was hired as a sports director at the University of Maryland in May, he wasted no time describing his priorities.
“We are going to focus on income,” said Smith at his introductory press conference on May 22. “Make no mistake – if we want to compete with the best schools, not only in the Big Ten, but across the country, we have to increase our income.”
Improving Maryland’s results could also be useful for Smith personally. According to a copy of his work agreement obtained by SportyThe new announcement will earn $ 1.5 million per year in basic compensation, with the potential for additional performance and retention incentives.
The biggest bonus? Smith will receive a payment equal to its basic salary then running if the income from the Sports Department in the 2029-20 years exceeds the total $ 2024-2010 of $ 50 million-adjusted for inflation and excluding the increase in distribution of the Big Ten Conference of the School.
The exact basic line of income will only be known when Maryland deposits its FY25 finances from the NCAA at the beginning of next year. For the 2010 financial year, the school declared $ 132.8 million in total sports income, which placing it 12th in 13 public universities Big Ten, according to Sporty‘s University sports finance database.
Aside from the distributions of Big Ten, the language of the Smith contract does not place any other restriction on which income sources – such as study costs or direct institutional support – can count for the increase in $ 50 million. In response to a question, a university spokesperson said that the income in question “are a mutually agreed format based on annual NCAA reports”.
A contractual amendment signed on May 16 – two days after the Smith initial agreement was signed – slightly modified the terms of its long -term incentive plan. Originally, the Smith bonus would have been triggered if revenues from the 2030 fiscal year exceeded 50% income for the 2010 financial year.
Smith’s agreement underlines how, in the undoubtedly marketed today university sports, universities explicitly favor income on all other forms of verifiable success. As such, sports directors are increasingly treated as CEOs, their wages to take directly linked to the results of their services. The challenge: university sports accounting is an evolutionary but very imperfect form of the social sciences.
Smith succeeds the former sports director of Maryland, Damon Evans, who left for SMU in March after a shuddering conflict with the former trainer of male basketball Kevin Willard came to the head during the race for the NCAA tournament of Terrapins last season.
Evans had received a Contract extension In August 2024, increasing its non-Bonus remuneration to 1.28 million dollars, which was to see him continue in the role until mid-2029. Willard left UMD to take over as a chief coach of Villanova at the end of March; The Terps then hired the former Texas coach A&M Buzz Williams for a six -year agreement which will pay him $ 4.8 million this season to come.
Before joining Maryland, Smith was vice-president of the Braves of Atlanta. Before that, he was president and chief executive officer of Ohio State University Alumni Association.
In addition to his annual basic salary and his additional remuneration, Smith is eligible to win up to $ 45,000 per year thanks to performance bonuses related to recall commitment, sports success and academic success.
Smith can be terminated for reasons or in the “best interest of the university”. In the latter case, the school must pay him damages equal to 18 months’ salary or until the end of his duration of the contract – which comes first. Conversely, if Smith finally ends the agreement early, he owes the same amount in compensation to university.
