The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
UT, Mack Brown agree on new 10-year deal
08.28.2007 | Football
AUSTIN, Texas -- The University of Texas System Board of Regents has approved a new 10-year contract for 10th-year head football coach Mack Brown, Men's Athletics Director DeLoss Dodds announced on Tuesday. The contract rewards Brown, who has guided Texas to the nation's best record (93-22) over the last nine seasons, including the school's first National Championship in 35 years in 2005.
Brown's new contract runs through the 2016 season. His total compensation, effective September 1, will be $2.8 million, with increases in payment for radio/TV from $800,000 to $875,000 and for product endorsements from $580,000 to $655,000. Brown's base salary will increase by a minimum of $100,000 annually, including a $100,000 special payment payable on September 1. The contract features incentive bonuses of $1 million if Brown remains as head coach as of January 1, 2009 and another $2 million if he remains in that position on January 1, 2010.
Brown's salary is paid from athletics revenues. Per state law, neither public tax money nor appropriated state funds may be utilized for UT Athletics.
The contract also includes increased incentive bonuses when the Longhorns advance to the Big 12 Championship game ($50,000), win the league title ($100,000) or claim a National Championship ($450,000). If Brown leads the Longhorns to a No. 2 or No. 3 final national ranking, the incentive is $100,000; a No. 4 or No. 5 ranking incentive is $50,000 and a No. 6 through No. 10 ranking is $25,000. Brown will also receive a $100,000 bonus for leading the Longhorns to a BCS Bowl game and $50,000 for a non-BCS bowl.
A major contract revision approved by the Board of Regents provides that should Brown voluntarily relinquish his duties as head football coach he will be reassigned to another significant position with The University.
"Mack is the winningest coach in college football for the last nine years," Dodds said. "He brought new life to our program and he's done it with great integrity and class. He is who we want at Texas for the long term."
During Brown's tenure, Texas has had great success both on the field and in the classroom. More than a third of his players have regularly earned 3.0 grade point averages and achieved spots on the Big 12 Commissioner's List and the UT Athletics Director's honor roll. Almost 200 of his former Longhorns players have earned their degrees since 1998. In the 2005 National Championship game against USC, 16 of the 32 seniors on the Texas team had already earned their degrees and 53 Longhorns posted at least a 3.0 GPA that fall semester.
Those efforts are reflected in the new contract as well. Brown will receive a $150,000 bonus when his program posts a graduation rate of 75% or better. The bonuses for graduation rates begin at 50% in the new contract with Brown receiving $20,000 if the program has a graduation rate of 50%, $30,000 for 55%, $40,000 for 60%, $60,000 for 65% and $100,000 for 70%.
"Mack Brown is the right person to be our head football coach," said UT President William Powers, Jr. said. "He has done an outstanding job, and in the nine years he's been here, he has generated tens of millions of dollars in new revenue. Mack is in high demand around the country, and it is critical that we have a salary strategy to keep him here."
Since taking over a program that was coming off a 4-7 season in 1998 and that had suffered six non-winning seasons in the 12 years prior to his arrival, Brown has taken the Horns on a run of consistent success that's unmatched nationally. He has led UT to a school record 10 (or more) wins in each of the last six seasons and at least nine victories in each of his first nine seasons with the Longhorns, both the nation's longest active streaks. UT registered back-to-back 11-win seasons for the first time in UT history in 2001-02 and repeated the feat in 2004-05, including a school-record 13 wins in 2005.
"I appreciate The University and the Board of Regents' confidence in me and our staff," said Brown.
Under his guidance, Texas has finished the year ranked among the nation's Top 15 in each of the past seven years -- a UT best -- and his 60-12 record in Big 12 Conference games during his tenure is by far the best in the league. His Longhorns also boast the nation's longest active streak in both the USA Today Coaches (137 weeks) and The Associated Press (109 weeks) Top 25 polls. His current 80.9% winning percentage at UT is the best in school history.
When Brown took over in 1998, Texas had gone through a draught, failing to finish a year with a Top 10-ranking since 1983. He has since guided the Horns to Top 10 finishes in four of the last six seasons and a Top 25 finish in each of his nine years in Austin. Texas also is riding a streak of nine straight bowl appearances (best at UT since the Horns went to nine straight bowls from 1977-85) and the Horns three consecutive bowl victories is a UT record. The Longhorns have won five of their last six bowl games.
Individually, Texas has expanded on its trophy case during the Brown era with players claiming the Heisman Trophy, Maxwell Award (2), Butkus Award, Cingular One/ABC Sports Player of the Year (2), Doak Walker Award (2), Nagurski Award, O'Brien Award, Manning Award, Thorpe Award (2) and Walter Camp Player of the Year. During Brown's nine seasons, 34 players earned All-America honors, 52 claimed first-team All-Big 12 recognition and seven were tabbed Big 12 Offensive or Defensive Player of the Year.
Fan interest has been steadily on the rise too. In nine seasons, Texas has increased its season ticket sales by nearly 34,000 -- up to a school-record 74,000 in 2006. UT has set school attendance records while playing in front of sellout crowds in each of the last 39 home games.
The fan support has created a home field advantage for the Horns who have won 47 of 52 (90.4%) home games and posted two of the five longest winning streaks in school history. Texas won 20 in a row from 1999-2003 (third-longest in school history). Then, from 2003-06, the Horns won 16 straight home games, which tied for the fourth longest string on UT record. Brown's Longhorns have been equally as successful on the road, winning 29 of 31 true road games (not including neutral site contests).
In the Big 12 Conference, Texas has won or shared four south division titles while posting the league's longest overall winning streak (21 games/2004-06), longest home winning streak (26/1999-2006) and longest road victory string (13/2004-06).
Brown and his staff have also had a great deal of success developing NFL prospects. Texas has had seven players selected among the top 10 picks of the last seven NFL Drafts and five were taken among the top five during that stretch, both of which are the most among any college program during that time. UT has had two players taken in the first round of the NFL Draft in each of the last three years and five of the last six drafts. Seventeen of Brown's players have been selected in the first-round of the past nine NFL Drafts and 27 have been drafted overall. Thirty-three of Brown's former Longhorns are currently on NFL rosters. The Longhorns have had three players in the Pro Bowl in each of the last two years and QB Vince Young became the first rookie QB ever to play in the game.
