Breaking Down Cal's Coordinator Contracts

Cal's coordinators on offense, defense, and special teams have had their contract details released to GoldenBearReport.com by way of FoIA requests and we're here to break it down.

What's similar between the contracts:

The coaches have a similar bonus structure as far as winning goes. Provided that they're not breaking rules around conduct, doing the job how it's laid out (i.e. supporting the head coach, recruiting players that "represent the university with the highest character and integrity," building relationships with donors/sponsors/etc., be in compliance with NCAA bylaws, same stuff that goes into every contract), and 4-year APR is above 930, they get a shot at these bonuses:

(numbers are the maximum bonus amounts)

- Make it to the Pac-12 title game: $15,000

- Make it to one of the Rose, Fiesta, Sugar, Orange, Cotton, or Peach Bowls: $25,000

- Make it to the National Championship: $10,000

- Finish above 50% win percentage and make it to a bowl not named above: $10,000

- Finish below 50% win percentage and make it to a bowl not named above: up to $5000

These bonuses stack, so if they win the Pac-12, make it to the Rose Bowl, and win the National Championship, the coaches are making an extra 50k.

Everything about what constitutes a fireable offense is standardized as well, which are:

- Fraud or dishonesty

- Failure to maintain appropriate standards of performance

- Failure to represent the University well publicly or privately

- Violating the law

- Selling any drug or narcotic, steroid, or other illegal chemical (and obviously, being caught)

- Breach of any rules or standards to which the university adheres, whether they be NCAA or Pac-12 or otherwise

- Failure to follow high moral standards expected of a coach

After that, there's bits on benefits, other ways of the termination of the contract (by mutual agreement, by death), but after that is where the contracts of Beau Baldwin, Tim DeRuyter, and Charlie Ragle differ.

Baldwin:

Beau Baldwin got a hefty bump in pay coming down to Berkeley from Cheney, Washington, as he got paid a reported $240,000 a year to lead Eastern Washington as their head coach. At Cal, he makes more than that as a base salary, making $250,000 a year as a base. He also makes $320,000 with his talent fee, which is meant to represent being paid to go to booster gatherings, related University and alumni functions, make TV and radio appearances and so forth. Baldwin is signed for a three-year term for this contract.

In addition to the $570,000 a year, Baldwin gets a retention bonus for remaining at Cal on three separate occasions (October 1st 2017, August 1st, 2018, and August 1st, 2019), receiving $80,000 on each occasion. Baldwin also received a $25,000 hiring bonus, which he'd have to repay if he left for another job before the end of the 2017 season.

In the event that Baldwin is fired without cause, he will receive 70% of the base salary, talent fee, and any retention bonuses he has earned.

Baldwin is the only coordinator with a section entitled "Termination by Coach" which essentially states that if Baldwin wants to leave for another school in the Pac-12 or a scheduled non-conference opponent as anything other than a head coach, he (or the next school) has to pay 100% of the remaining base salary for the remainder of the contract.

Baldwin is getting a bump up from what previous offensive coordinator Jake Spavital made a year ago, which totaled $385,000. Baldwin is the highest paid member of the assistant coaches, which makes sense considering his assistant head coach title.

DeRuyter:

Tim DeRuyter came to Cal after a prior stint as Fresno State's head coach, and after being fired from that position, he is in the process of receiving a reported 3.44 million buyout (set to be paid until the end of 2018). His contract at Cal will offset some of that money.

DeRuyter received a three-year deal as well, with a base salary of $250,000. The talent fee numbers differ from year to year, seemingly coinciding with the Fresno State buyout ending, and those look as follows.

- $50,000 this year

- $140,000 next year

- $257,000 the year after that

DeRuyter only has one retention bonus, and it's a big one, as he earns $300,000 if he's still with the Bears on August 1, 2019 (and continuously employed at Cal from now until then).

In the event DeRuyter is fired without cause during the three-year term, he will receive 100% of his base salary and any retention bonus he's earned. There are no restrictions on him leaving for another job. DeRuyter did not receive a hiring bonus.

DeRuyter is being paid considerably less than predecessor Art Kaufman, who made $593,000 a year ago, but this is partially due to the Fresno buyout money, as DeRuyter has a solid reputation as a defensive coordinator at Texas A&M and Air Force.

Ragle:

Charlie Ragle also got a bump up in salary, coming up to Cal from Arizona to be Cal's special teams coordinator and tight ends coach. He reportedly made $223,900 a year ago in Tucson. Unlike the other two coordinators, Ragle has a two year deal, with a $200,000 base salary and a talent fee of $60,000.

Ragle got a higher hiring bonus than Baldwin and a few other Cal coaches, with his being listed as $65,000 as specified by his contract. He does not have a retention bonus, or any restrictions on him leaving for another job. The hiring bonus comes with the caveat of him having to repay if he leaves for another job before the end of the 2017 season.

If fired without cause, Ragle would receive 100% of the base salary and talent fee for the remainder of the term.

Ragle is getting a bump up from his predecessor, Mark Tommerdahl, who made a reported $242,000 a year ago.